STOP WHINGEING
Do your moaning in private, Rennie tells All Blacks
AN IRRITATED Dave Rennie has taken aim at the All Blacks’ attempts to influence refereeing in Sunday’s second Bledisloe Cup Test, saying that any complaints should be made in private through official channels.
Kiwi assistant coach John Plumtree whinged of supposed late shots by the Wallabies against his players in last weekend’s 16-16 draw, with suggestions that All Blacks playmaker Richie Mo’unga suffered a shoulder injury due to illegal play.
“In my opinion, we don’t need to air that sort of stuff through the media,” Rennie said.
“And why would we do that? Are we trying to influence the referee for the next game and that sort of thing?
“You’ve got an opportunity to go straight to the referee, so I’m not sure if he’s appealing to the masses. I’m a little bit surprised by those comments.”
New Zealand referee Paul Williams came under scrutiny over several contentious decisions in Wellington, and Australia’s Angus Gardner will hold the whistle at Eden Park.
Plumtree said earlier this week of the supposed late shots: “We knew that was coming. That kind of play on the field has to be dealt to by the referees.
“There were several occasions where there were some off-ball incidents, but it’s got to be dealt with properly on the field.
“There’s always going to be big talking moments in Test matches, and probably one of the bigger talking moments were some of the late hits, off-the-ball incidents and that. We’ve seen it all before in these Bledisloe Cup games, haven’t we?
“There were some late charges – you guys saw all that – and there were one or two other incidents, but All Blacks don’t cry, we just get on with it; we adjust to how the game is being refereed and that’s in every department.”
The public rebuke from Rennie – who has shown a number of times he won’t be bullied by Kiwi rivals – sets up an acrimonious showdown at
Andw hywould we we dothat?Are trying to influence the the referee for that nextgameand sort of thing? DAVERENNIE WALLABIESCOACH
Eden Park as the Wallabies seek to win their first match against the All Blacks at the venue since 1986.
Rennie ruthlessly cut hooker Folau Fainga’a, backrowers Pete Samu and Rob Valentini, and playmaker Noah Lolesio from his squad despite last weekend’s shock result. Ned Hanigan and Brandon Paenga-Amosa start, while Liam Wright and Jordan Petaia will come off the bench.
Hanigan was the biggest selection shock, but Rennie clearly wants to bolster his lineout after three lost throws in the first half last week, which have cost Fainga’a his place in the team.
“What we say to the boys is, ‘You’ve got to nail it’. We’re judging every performance, not just from a team perspective but individually,” Rennie said.
“(Hanigan has) trained superbly, he’s had a real edge about him at training. We’ve done a lot of full contact work and he’s been a standout.
“He’s a really good leader, a very good lineout forward, we think those elements will
be pretty week.”
Rennie added that Paenga-Amosa’s scrum work was strong.
Rennie said Samu has “been given a clear message” around the areas he needs to improve in, but refused to divulge them publicly.
All Blacks coach Ian Foster predicted it would be a rugged physical battle.
“Test rugby starts up front and some say it finishes up front,” Foster said.
“It was probably the most dominant scrum performance we‘ve had for a while. The lineout drive was good against the Australians but probably our game management – to know when and how to use them – was occasionally poor.
“We got a bit passive at times.”
important
this