Dave Rennie has taken issue with the Springbok coaching staff's decision to raise discipline concerns about the All Blacks through the media ahead of Saturday's first Test.
Assistant coach Felix Jones this week cited feedback from the Sharks, Stormers and Bulls — all of whom faced the All Blacks on their South African tour — pointing to a common thread of complaints: tucked shoulders at the breakdown, interference at the maul and leg-lifting at lineouts. Jones described the lineout issue in particular as something he hadn't encountered before.
Rennie acknowledged the back-channel process of exchanging clips with match officials but drew a sharp distinction between that and going public.
"We sent in clips of concerns that we've got; I'm sure they've done the same thing," he said. "I'm not sure why they are trying to air that stuff in the media. I've got no plans on sharing any of the clips we've shared with the media."
The All Blacks' disciplinary record on tour has given the topic some grounding. They picked up three yellow cards against the Stormers — two for cynical or foul play — before showing marked improvement in the subsequent matches against the Sharks and Bulls. Rennie addressed Jones's specific allegations directly, noting that each of the infractions raised was penalised at the time.
"We threw a guy across the lineout once, and we got penalised; we were pulling at the back of the maul and got penalised and sin-binned. So, we have learnt," he said. "Discipline was much better on the weekend, and we know that's going to be important against the Springboks."