Sir Steve Hansen says that Dave Rennie must address two areas of the All Blacks game before next year\u2019s Rugby World Cup.<\/p>\n
New Zealand and South Africa are on a collision course for the quarter-finals, and the legendary former head coach believes that the All Blacks must sort out their set-pieces before touching down in Australia.<\/p>\n
Still, Hansen was greatly impressed by the performances of Rennie\u2019s side during the Rugby\u2019s Greatest Rivalry Test matches in South Africa as they managed to defeat the Springboks in the opener at Ellis Park before falling to narrow defeats in Cape Town and Soweto.<\/p>\n
Sir Steve Hansen: The Springboks did what the Springboks do<\/p>\n
The 67-year-old aired his concerns after praising both nations for producing a fantastic game in the third Test match at the FNB Stadium.<\/p>\n
\u201cA wonderful game of footy,\u201d Hansen<\/a> remarked on the Rugby Unity podcast.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Springboks<\/a> did what the Springboks do. Their scrum and maul were unstoppable, but two missed tackles on their midfielders by Leroy Carter, and that was 14 points or thereabouts, and that\u2019s the game. That\u2019s how close they\u2019ve been.<\/p>\n \u201cI think the first game was the biggest margin, and the next two have only been seven or less. There\u2019s not much in it, but you\u2019ve got to make sure that you go for the whole 80 minutes, and if you don\u2019t, you\u2019re going to get second.\u201d<\/p>\n While the All Blacks<\/a> were incredibly competitive in the third Test match, they were forced to chase the game in the final quarter as they trailed the Boks by 12 points. However, Rennie\u2019s side struggled to really fire a shot until the final play of the game.<\/p>\n Sir Steve Hansen: What impresses me most about the Springboks and it\u2019s the biggest thing Rassie Erasmus has done<\/a><\/p>\n Law discussion: The referee\u2019s explanation that clears up Ruben Love\u2019s yellow card in the All Blacks\u2019 defeat<\/a><\/p>\n What the All Blacks need to fix the set-pieces<\/p>\n Hansen believes that was partly down to their set-piece struggles, with South Africa getting the upper hand in the scrums while the All Blacks resorted to throwing to the front of the lineout because of how the Boks were competing.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re not going to beat the Boks until you can get parity at scrum time and you can get decent ball in the lineout,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cA lot of the time, we were having to go to the front, and it was messy or ugly, and you\u2019re letting them get a free shot from the back with their defensive system the way it is.\u201d<\/p>\n Dave Rennie\u2019s verdict on Ruben Love\u2019s yellow card: \u2018It\u2019s definitely a penalty\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n Those two facets of the game need to be fixed before the World Cup according to the ex-head coach, who is backing Rennie and his staff to get it done.<\/p>\n \u201cSo, you\u2019ve really got to try and win the ball at the back [of the lineout], and we\u2019ve got until next year\u2019s World Cup to get these things right, and I think we will. Once we do that, then we\u2019re right on the hunt,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n Speaking to the media on Monday, Rennie addressed the set-piece issues, stating that the All Blacks and World Rugby are still at loggerheads over the scrums while the team was focused on simply retaining possession from lineouts.<\/p>\n