‘Not jumping for joy’: No fist pumps, just relief for All Blacks coach Dave Rennie

Sunday, 5 July 2026

Dave Rennie didn't look emotionally drained after the All Blacks' 34-32 win over France, but then he gave the game away by admitting he couldn't bring himself to punch the air with delight.

As he sat in front of a media contingent inside One New Zealand Stadium in Christchurch, Rennie said relief – not elation – was his usual default mode after coaching a team to victory and nothing had changed on Saturday night.

“We certainly weren't high-fiving or jumping for joy afterwards, but we were happy to win and we have a game under our belt now and we will build on that,” Rennie stated.

If it was any comfort to Rennie, he wasn't alone.

After the All Blacks repelled a French comeback when Matthieu Jalibert scored a converted try in the 78th minute, the 30,000 fans inside the enclosed arena looked anxiously towards the sky and asked whether the rugby gods would smile on new All Blacks boss Rennie and captain Ardie Savea.

It turns out someone, or something, was on their side.

Because when the All Blacks ran down the clock by holding possession, the French were unable to force an error and when referee Luke Pearce decided to call time, the sound of the fulltime whistle must have been one of the sweetest sounds Rennie had heard in his life.

The last thing he, or anyone involved with the All Blacks, wanted was to begin the new era with a defeat to an understrength French team.

“It's generally relief when you are coaching,” Rennie acknowledged.

“You [media] did a pretty good job of talking the French side down but we were well aware of their quality. They are good enough to take opportunities and we probably gifted them possession in key spots, so we have got to get better there.”

No 8 Savea, who sat beside Rennie post-match with blood oozing out of his damaged left ear, gave Rennie a major scare before kick-off when he crumbled to the grass during the warm-ups.

A blow to a nerve near Savea groin caused leg to go numb and there appeared to be genuine concerns about his welfare before he dusted himself off and joined his team-mates in the drills.

Rennie had a wry smile when Savea was asked about the incident after the game. It was another drama he could have done without.

Given reserve lock Patrick Tuipulotu had been a late withdrawal because of a calf strain, which meant Jamie Hannah made his debut when he left the bench and replaced Josh Lord in the 60th minute, Rennie had already had his incidents to deal with.

Hannah and another debutant, wing Fehi Finenaganofo, the latter replaced Caleb Clarke in the 69th minute, were exposed to the white-hot intensity of a test fixture as they gathered to listen to Savea deliver his messages following the try to Jallibert.

The All Blacks will now prepare to play Italy in Wellington next weekend.

Rennie said he has a long list of things to present to his players when it comes to the subject of improving areas of their game.

“I loved the effort, I loved the optimism. There was one time when we were probably overly-optimistic, we had a penalty and we had two [players] and they had four. But, yeah, I thought we were able to play with a really high tempo.

“Lightning quick ball, almost 85% which is just outrageous, so I thought we did a lot of really good things with the ball but we just needed to play through them.

“Their big men were tired and were able to play high on the edge, and we made a few errors there. Can't fault the effort, I loved the mindset. We just have to be a lot more accurate.”