Dave Rennie insists New Zealand are on the right path toward next year's World Cup despite surrendering the series to South Africa 3-1, with the Springboks closing out a 43-28 win in the final test in the United States on Saturday.
"We'll wake up tomorrow and know we're moving in the right direction. We scored 17 tries in the four tests. We're in a good place but tonight will hurt," Rennie said after the defeat.
The All Blacks won the opening test before losing three in succession as South Africa retained top world ranking. Rennie acknowledged the Springboks' clinical edge despite what he described as competitive overall numbers across the series.
"Look at all the numbers, and they're very even, but the Springboks were electric with their opportunities. We were trying to chase the game late and put ourselves under a bit more pressure."
Rennie framed South Africa as the standard-bearers with 12 months to go before the World Cup in Australia. "They're where we want to get to. We've been together for 10 or 11 weeks while they have a lot of experience," he said, adding a pointed observation about South Africa's squad age: "I'm not sure if all of those guys will still be here this time next year."
New Zealand's November Nations Championship schedule takes them to Scotland, Wales, and England, before they open their World Cup campaign against Chile in Perth on 2 October next year.