Rennie demands more after Bledisloe thrashing

DAVE Rennie blamed poor defence and sloppy ball retention for the Wallabies 27-7 defeat in last Sunday’s second Bledisloe Cup game against New Zealand.

Having brought line speed, accuracy and strong tackling in the first match which ended 16-16, last week the Wallabies failed to apply enough pressure, missed too many tackles and paid the price.

They also lost too much turnover ball after loose carries.

“We turned the ball over a lot and missed too many tackles. Individual tackling was poor and we got put under some heat because of that,” head coach Rennie said.

“They scored a couple of quick tries and we had a couple of opportunities that we couldn’t finish. You just can’t gift the All Blacks that much ball. They have too many athletes who can hurt you. I think right across the board we weren’t as sharp as the week before and gave them a lot of opportunity.”

The sides meet again next week and Rennie added: “I am pretty confident we will be a better side (next week). We have got to be better.”

The All Blacks led 10-7 at half-time and scored three quick tries after the restart to run away with the game.

Victory maintains New Zealand’s impressive record at Eden Park, where they have not lost in 44 Tests since 1994 and where Australia have not won since 1986.

The All Blacks now need to win only one of the two remaining games in the Bledisloe series, which will be played in Australia as part of the upcoming TriNations tournament, to retain the trophy they have held since 2003.

Richie Mo’unga converted a 19th-minute penalty to open the scoring before scrum-half Aaron Smith went over for the first try minutes later after an attacking scrum.

The Wallabies bounced back when winger Marika Koroibete crossed after a turnover and James O’Connor’s conversion narrowed the gap to 10-7.

All Black winger Caleb Clarke, making his first start, then created tries within the space of three second-half minutes for Beauden Barrett and Ardie Savea with two powerful runs.

New Zealand captain Sam Cane completed the scoring 90 seconds later.