JOHANNESBURG (AP) — The sweat was barely dried after a “special win” against South Africa at Ellis Park on Saturday and New Zealand coach Dave Rennie was already anticipating the Springboks’ fiery reaction.Rennie’s brief tenure in charge of the All Blacks got a statement victory after taking down two-time world champion South Africa 33-16 in the first test of their four-test series.Halftime came as a relief to the All Blacks, who trailed by one and overcame a beating in the scrums to ultimately whack the Springboks by five tries to one.“We were under the pump and the boys barred up,” Rennie said. “We defended and defended, and then we were clinical when we got our opportunities. So, yeah, I’m proud, a massive effort. It’s a great result for us, but we’re wary of the response we’ll get next week.”Going 1-0 up in the series “doesn’t guarantee anything,” he added. “Next week is going to be just as tough. We’ll enjoy the moment.”
The scrums played a big role. New Zealand was overwhelmed in the first half. Loosehead prop Ethan de Groot was getting done over by Wilco Louw. Rennie said de Groot was ill on Friday and left the captain’s run early to return to bed.Rennie said they were debating when to replace de Groot when he came off in the 38th minute along with lock Josh Lord after their heads collided. Rennie didn’t anticipate concussion protocols allowing both forwards to be available for the second test in Cape Town next Saturday.
