Lima Sopoaga believes Dave Rennie\u2019s ability to \u201clove people\u201d has been crucial in helping him make an impressive start to his career as the All Blacks\u2019 new head coach.<\/p>\n
In March, New Zealand Rugby announced that Rennie would take over the All Blacks\u2019 coaching reins from Scott Robertson, who was axed from the position at the start of this year.<\/p>\n
Rennie<\/a> made a solid start to his reign as New Zealand<\/a>\u2018s coach as they kicked off their Nations Championship campaign with successive victories over France (34-32), Italy (47-17) and Ireland (40-21).<\/p>\n That means they are in joint-pole position with the Springboks atop the Nations Championship\u2019s Southern Hemisphere standings with their arch-rivals having a superior points difference.<\/p>\n While former All Blacks fly-half Sopoaga<\/a> acknowledged that they are not yet \u201cwhere they want to be\u201d, he said he has been impressed with the start which Rennie has made to his coaching tenure with the men in black.<\/p>\n During an appearance on the DSPN<\/a> podcast with Martin Devlin, the show\u2019s host asked him if the All Blacks are ready to beat the Springboks and he said yes, but revealed that there is something special brewing in the three-time world champions\u2019 camp under Rennie.<\/p>\n \u2018They\u2019re not the finished product\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cOne hundred percent,\u201d he replied to whether New Zealand could beat South Africa. \u201cThey\u2019re not the finished product (or) where they want to be.<\/p>\n \u201cWe know that and they would have talked about that themselves, but for me, I think what I\u2019m most impressed with it isn\u2019t defensive systems (or) attack, how we attack.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s actually things that don\u2019t come up on the stat sheet and one thing in particular that I felt over the three weeks watching this team and being around this team and you know getting little insights is connection.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd for me that has been the most important thing watching this team from France all the way through to Ireland is the connection and how this team has grown both individually and as a collective and that for me is the most important thing.\u201d<\/p>\n Dan Biggar: What All Blacks must do to beat the Springboks as Wales great makes bold Greatest Rivalry prediction<\/a><\/p>\n Sopoaga went on to explain the special quality which Rennie brings to his coaching and how it inspires his players to do well on the playing field.<\/p>\n