Dave Rennie identifies All Blacks improvements after South Africa setback

Dave Rennie credited better ball retention and control of territory after New Zealand responded to their South Africa series defeat with a 50–19 victory over Australia.

The All Blacks scored five second-half tries at Eden Park to secure the Bledisloe Cup for a 24th consecutive year, turning a 17–14 half-time lead into a convincing win.

Rennie said his side had addressed areas exposed during their 3–1 series loss to the Springboks.

“We did a good job looking after the ball, and we played in the right parts of the field,” he said, in comments reported by RugbyPass.

Dave Rennie pleased with response in key moments

The New Zealand coach felt his players handled the decisive passages better than they had in South Africa.

“We were confident in our ability; we failed in Africa,” Rennie said, according to AFP.

He highlighted the importance of winning key moments and praised the physicality and leadership Scott Barrett brought to the side.

As our New Zealand v Australia match report details, the Wallabies remained within three points at the interval before the hosts pulled away.

Australia have another chance in Sydney

Rennie expects a response from his former team when the sides meet again in Sydney on Saturday 17 October.

He acknowledged Australia would be hurting after