All Blacks taking on the Wallabies in Sydney and legendary New Zealand head coach Sir Steve Hansen.
Legendary All Blacks coach Sir Steve Hansen believes Dave Rennie’s side are starting to get “reward” for their hard work under the new boss.
New Zealand made it successive victories as they won the Bledisloe Cup series 2-0 by thrashing the Wallabies 43-21 in Sydney on Saturday.
Rennie’s men followed up their 50-19 hammering at Eden Park by producing an even better display in the first half by going 36-7 ahead at the break.
At one stage they were going at a point a minute following a seventh try early in the second period before Australia rallied to save some face later on in the contest.
Free-flowing All Blacks
While there are certain aspects which still need improvement, as Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry showed, the All Blacks have been much more effective in attack under Rennie.
Hansen highlighted a couple of areas which are working well but particularly praised one part of their game that fired in the success against the Wallabies.
“I thought some of the running lines from the All Blacks on attack were sublime, with their big forwards taking short balls or long balls into space or holes,” he told Rugby Unity podcast.
“The handling, there was a try where Codie Taylor was the last passer and he took it and passed, all under extreme pressure, so that’s something they’ve been working on a lot and you can start to see they’re getting reward for it.
“Roigard pass the ball in the tackle and normally most teams would hang onto the ball there but they’re brave enough to give them.
“I think the off-load is something in the modern game now which is so much more important because we’re getting it away from the breakdown. The breakdown is allowing teams to slow the game down.”
All Blacks weaknesses
The All Blacks were exposed by the Springboks in the set-piece and under the high ball, two areas they need to correct ahead of the Rugby World Cup.
There were improvements in both, especially the aerial work, where New Zealand managed to dominate the Wallabies in the kick chase and kick receipt.
“New Zealand continued to take their high balls well, they’re showing they can take those ones going backwards and feeling a lot more comfortable,” Hansen added.
“It’s allowing that player that’s coming forward to be able to have vision and run into space, which is good from their point of view.
“In the set-piece I thought both teams were pretty good but will probably want to get a little bit better.”