Dave Rennie should focus on his own team before complaining about time-wasting

RUGBY'S GREATEST RIVALRY

Leighton Koopman

14 AUG 2026, 06:45

3 min read

COMMENT

All Blacks head coach Dave Rennie should sweep in front of his own door before complaining about time-wasting in rugby matches.

While the New Zealanders have made it clear that they want to play a fast-paced style, judging by their first two tour matches of Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry, playing a Test against the Springboks is a different kettle of fish.

The Kiwis faced two United Rugby Championship (URC) sides still in pre-season, and it is understandable that the pace of rugby against the second-ranked side in the world would eventually catch up with them. And it did in the second half of both games.

However, the Boks are conditioned for 80-plus minutes of high-intensity rugby, and Rennie’s men can brace themselves for a high-paced clash in the first Test at Ellis Park next weekend. In fact, this could be some good mind games from the All Blacks coach, because in the last couple of Tests between the two sides, it was New Zealand who looked out on their feet against South Africa when the intensity went up a notch.

So, the comments of the All Blacks head coach after the first couple of tour matches should be taken with a pinch of salt for now, because they have an altitude tour game to get through on Saturday and then next weekend’s Test against the Springboks.

That duel will show if the visitors can keep up with the pace when their scrum is under heavy scrutiny from the world champions and when their rolling maul is in reverse gear, much like it was against the Stormers in the opening clash.

In that game, they too were guilty of slowing the game down when the Cape side still had legs and the scores were 14-all at one stage. However, the superior fitness of the visitors was on display against the two URC clubs, but it will be interesting to see if Rennie sings from the same hymn sheet once that first Test is done.

Unlike Bok coach Rassie Erasmus, the New Zealand mentor has had interactions with the referees involved in the series, so he’s had a “first go” at getting them to notice things he’d like to have looked at in the Tests.

Erasmus recently lamented the new protocols where formal queries submitted by coaches are viewable by competing teams and other referees.

“How it works now is the referee for the day will email you asking if you want a meeting, and if both coaches do not say yes, then you don’t have a meeting; and if both coaches say yes, then you meet together with the referee,” Erasmus revealed last month.

That shows that the communication aspect for teams with referees before a match hinges on whether the opposition coach agrees, with the talks then taking place with both coaches.

It certainly makes things interesting for the upcoming series, but publicly voicing concerns about the opposition slowing the game down could come back to bite the All Blacks once they face the world champions.

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