Dave Rennie has moved to clarify Andrew Kellaway’s comments that the All Blacks’ “aura has worn off a little bit,” stressing that the Wallabies respect but don’t fear the Bledisloe Cup holders.
Winger Kellaway made the comments in a radio interview with the Big Sports Breakfast after scoring his first Test try in the 33-25 loss at Eden Park last weekend.
“A couple of those boys have played the All Blacks for the first time, myself included,” Kellaway said.
“Maybe the aura has worn off a little bit. To be honest, the pressure is pretty much on them. You don’t want to be the first All Blacks team to lose at Eden Park. There’s no real pressure on our end. Hopefully we roll out there and do a number.”
Wallabies coach Rennie was asked to weigh in after switching Kellaway from the left to right wing for Saturday’s rematch in Auckland.
“He wasn’t saying that,” Rennie said.
“What he was saying is there’s a bit of an aura around the All Blacks and he’d never experienced that before because he’d never played them.
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“For him it was a little bit of heading into the unknown. He’s played them once now so he knows what to expect.
“The old journos, they’re pretty good at plucking out four words from a massive statement and putting a headline.
“I assure you that we’ve got plenty of respect for the All Blacks. We don’t fear them though and that’s going to be important again on Saturday night.”
All Blacks denied insane try
Officiating was another talking point in Rennie’s chat with the media as the Wallabies seek more space between the lineouts in the second Test.
Referee Paul Williams controlled last weekend’s match and another New Zealander, Brendon Pickerill, is in charge on Saturday.
“The All Blacks are sharp defensively, they closed the space and were all over us so we’ve had a chat to the ref around that for this week,” Rennie said.
“What we’ll demand is a little bit of space between the two lineouts and we’ve got confidence that we can get that going.
“They penalised the first one and then forgot about it. They’re pretty clear pictures which Paul Williams agreed with so I’m assuming they’ll be policed better this week.”
Rennie also spoke with Williams about why no All Blacks were yellow carded last weekend despite a heavy penalty count.
“There was no real obvious, he felt, time to issue a card,” Rennie relayed.
“One time they got penalised and there was three advantages but then we scored so I guess he felt we’d scored so move on.”
Rennie also shot down any concerns over Lachlan Swinton’s lack of discipline after recalling the firebrand flanker to his starting side.
“He’s got a reputation for being reckless but that’s far from the case,” Rennie said.
“He got a red card against the All Blacks in Brisbane, the next red card he got was squashed so that’s no longer part of his record and the other red card he got was for fisticuffs in a club game which is pretty common for forwards.
“We don’t have an issue. He’ll certainly bring an edge.”
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