Dave Rennie responds to Felix Jones' issues with All Blacks
All Blacks coach Dave Rennie has dismissed claims from Springboks coach Felix Jones regarding illegal play during recent matches. Rennie characterized the alleged issues as isolated incidents and emphasized that his team is focused on discipline ahead of their upcoming game.
Why it matters
Public disputes between coaching staffs of rival national teams often heighten tensions and media scrutiny leading up to major international sporting events.
All Blacks head coach Dave Rennie has dismissed claims that there are illegal “themes” present in his team’s game, painting the instances that Springboks defence coach Felix Jones identified at a press conference this week as one-offs.
Jones called out the All Blacks for entering rucks with “tucked shoulders” and lifting legs in the maul, saying the URC teams the All Blacks have faced over the past two weeks were caught out by the illegal acts.
Rennie acknowledged the specific calls that went against his side, but refuted the idea that there were trends his men were guilty of.
“I think Felix was pointing out a handful of things; clawing a leg, we did that once and got penalised. We threw a guy across the lineout once and got penalised. We were pulling back at the back of a maul, got penalised, and were sin-binned,” the Kiwi coach recalled.
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