The All Blacks have fired a thunderous warning shot across the Springboks’ bow, although coach Dave Rennie knows Saturday’s 50-19 demolition of the Bulls at Loftus Versfeld was merely the opening act.
In front of more than 30 000 spectators in Pretoria, New Zealand turned the Bulls’ home fortress into a black-and-white playground, scoring eight tries to three and dominating possession, territory and the set piece.
It was ruthless rugby with a smile, the All Blacks’ attack slicing through the Bulls defence like a hot knife through butter.
Rennie was pleased with the performance, particularly after three matches designed to spread the workload across his wider squad.
“50 points against a very good Bulls side is a positive,” Rennie said.
“We played a team that was prepared to play and really took it to us. I thought our set piece was strong, especially the scrum.”
New Zealand produced 11 line breaks to the Bulls’ one, a statistic that tells its own brutal story.
“We created so many opportunities, 11 line breaks to one, so we probably left a few points out there, which is frustrating, but I can’t fault the effort,” Rennie said.
The victory also provided valuable altitude conditioning ahead of next Saturday’s first Test of Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry Tour against the double World Cup-winning Springboks at Ellis Park.
“It’s good for us; we’ve now got a game at altitude, and the guys have an appreciation for that. I thought we worked hard in those circumstances, and we’ll be better for it.”
Yet Rennie was quick to pour cold water on any suggestion that the Bulls-beating XV will march into Johannesburg unchanged.
“That certainly wasn’t our Test side tonight, and so there will be a number of changes,” he said.
“There were some really good performances that will put pressure on us from a selection point of view.”
Cam Roigard and Will Jordan are expected to return after missing the opening three matches through injury, while Damian McKenzie is touch-and-go after twisting his ankle against the Sharks.
Rennie believes his team has already been sharpening its defensive claws for the Boks.
“It was almost like we were training for the Springboks; we were coming a lot harder defensively.”
Then came the reality check.
“What we know is that the intensity levels and the quality we’re going to come up against next week are three, four, or fivefold.”
The Loftus demolition may have been loud. Ellis Park promises to be deafening.
