Rennie hedges his bets: I’ll take a one-point win

Non-plussed with world rankings or bookmakers’ odds for Saturday’s clash in Cape Town, Dave Rennie emphasised the All Blacks’ focus is on beating the Springboks – again, reports DEVIN HERMANUS.

New Zealand will go 2-0 up in the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series with victory at Cape Town Stadium, and then cannot lose the four-Test series ahead of the Soweto and Baltimore legs.

It would also give Rennie’s charges another boost on the World Rugby standings after the Kiwis unseated Rassie Erasmus’ world champions at the summit with a 33-16 defeat in Joburg last week.

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An All Blacks win by 16 points or more in the Mother City can increase their tally by 1.23 to 95.26, with the Boks’ dropping by 1.23 to 90.98.

“We haven’t talked at all about the series [and] I’m not remotely interested in world rankings,” Rennie said in a Newlands presser on Thursday, after naming his lineup for this weekend’s battle. 

“I don’t even understand them, and they can change on a whim somehow. It counts for very little though. You win a World Cup, you’re a world champion, and you’ve got that tag for four years. 

“Our focus is on the 80 minutes on Saturday.”

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A member at the media gathering put it to Rennie whether the contest will be as close as the betting odds for the match. His response? “God, I mean, I’ll take a one-point win. 

“What is the spread? [7.5 points] Which way? [Both ways, plus or minus]. Hmm… It’s hard to say, isn’t it? 

“It could be an absolute arm-wrestle and both sides have got enough X factor that I guess, like we did last week, we finished pretty strong in what really was a very tight match. 

“I’ll keep away from the bookies. I’m not even allowed to look at that sort of stuff.”

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Photo: Grant Pitcher/Gallo Images