Rennie says All Blacks ready for Springboks challenge after Bulls victory

All Blacks head coach Dave Rennie believes New Zealand have completed the key preparations required ahead of the opening Test in Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry against the Springboks.

New Zealand will face South Africa at Ellis Park in six days after ending their warm-up schedule with an emphatic 50-19 victory over the Bulls at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday evening.

The All Blacks produced another controlled display in Pretoria, maintaining the quick, attacking style that has characterised their rugby since Rennie took charge. They were willing to run the ball from deep positions and repeatedly put the Bulls’ defence under pressure.

However, Rennie knows the challenge will become considerably more demanding when New Zealand meet the Springboks. The All Blacks coach said the intensity and standard of opposition would rise sharply in the first Test of the series.

“I thought we had a lot of opportunities tonight to really play on top of the Bulls and force defenders to make decisions, and it was almost like we were training for the Springboks, who were coming a lot harder defensively,” Rennie told reporters after the match.

The victory also gave New Zealand valuable experience of playing at altitude, something Rennie believes will benefit the squad before their meeting with South Africa.

“It’s good for us. We’ve now got a game at altitude. The guys have got an appreciation for that.

“I thought we worked really hard in those circumstances, and we’ll be better for it. What we know is that the intensity level and the quality we’re going to come up against next week are three-, four-, five-fold. But, yeah, look, we’ve played reasonably well on tour, and we know we need to up the ante.”

The All Blacks have impressed during their tour, but Rennie stressed that their performance against the Bulls would not be enough on its own against the Springboks. New Zealand will need to raise their standards further when the two sides meet at Ellis Park.

Several All Blacks players strengthened their claims for selection in the final warm-up match. Flanker Anton Segner was particularly influential, making an impact across the field and proving a constant threat at the breakdown.

Rennie confirmed that Segner was among a group of players who had improved their prospects with their performances in Pretoria.

“Anton was massive. So, yeah, those guys are applying a lot of pressure,” Rennie said.

The coach added that selection plans were already in place, although a number of positions remained open before the first Test.

“We’ve got a plan around selection, and there was a handful of positions that were going to be decided based on tonight’s performance.”

The All Blacks and Springboks will meet at Ellis Park on Saturday, with kick-off scheduled for 17:10.