NZ Rugby CEO Steve Lancaster has confirmed Dave Rennie will not face a formal performance assessment following the All Blacks' three consecutive Test defeats to the Springboks in Rugby's Greatest Rivalry.
The All Blacks won the series opener at Ellis Park before losing three straight to South Africa, a sequence that snapped an unbeaten run built across their Nations Championship fixtures in New Zealand. Lancaster describes the current break before the Bledisloe Cup Tests against the Wallabies as "a reset" ahead of a six-match run-in that includes the northern hemisphere leg of the Nations Championship.
"We don't have a set point where we will assess Dave Rennie, so to speak," Lancaster told the DSPN podcast. "We have appointed Dave through to the end of the World Cup next year, and everything that we're doing now is pointing towards the World Cup."
On immediate targets, Lancaster was direct: "We want them to win all of those games. The All Blacks' historical winning record is something that we are acutely aware of, very proud of, and having dropped three Tests, it's pretty important that we right the ledger over the remainder of the year."
Lancaster acknowledged a full post-season review will take place after the November internationals — the same process that led to Scott Robertson's dismissal a year ago — but stressed it will be framed by the context of Rennie's compressed preparation time. Rennie inherited the role with roughly ten days before the first Nations Championship Test.
An internal review conducted by the management group following the South Africa tour was, according to Lancaster, broadly positive. "They're really happy with where they're at as a group," he said, citing the logistical challenge of moving and maintaining a 90-person squad across South Africa as one area handled well despite the scoreline.