Dave Rennie praises All Blacks fightback against Lions

All Blacks head coach Dave Rennie praised his side’s composure after New Zealand recovered from an 18-point deficit to defeat the Lions 41-35 at Ellis Park and complete an unbeaten run against South Africa’s franchise teams.

All Blacks recover from 35-17 deficit

The Lions made a flying start and led 21-17 at half-time before extending their advantage to 35-17 early in the second half.

New Zealand responded strongly, scoring four unanswered tries during the closing stages to turn the contest around and maintain their unbeaten South African tour.

Rennie acknowledged that his side had been placed under significant pressure, particularly during the opening stages of both halves.

“At 35-17, we were under a bit of heat,” Rennie said, while praising the character shown by his players to regain control during the final half-hour.

Rennie praises composure under pressure

The All Blacks coach felt New Zealand created numerous attacking opportunities throughout the match, despite struggling for consistency and accuracy at times.

“The Lions got off to a flyer at the start of both halves,” added Rennie.

“I think our boys showed a lot of character to fight our way back into that; we created so many opportunities. If you look at the numbers, we dominated defenders beaten, line breaks, and offloads and so on.

“You’ve got to give credit to the Lions; they came to play tonight, they got the crowd into the game".

The Lions repeatedly challenged the visitors with their intensity and attacking approach, while their strong start helped bring the Ellis Park crowd into the contest.

New Zealand eventually capitalised on turnovers and began finding more space as the match entered its closing stages.

New Zealand complete franchise clean sweep

The Lions encounter was New Zealand’s final match against a South African franchise during the Greatest Rivalry tour.

Rennie’s side had already recorded victories over the Stormers, Sharks and Bulls before surviving their toughest franchise challenge against the Lions. They are also currently leading the four Test series 1-0 following their win over the Springboks in the opening Test in Johannebsurg.

The All Blacks now turn their attention back to Test rugby and the second clash against the Springboks in Cape Town.