Dave Rennie clarifies Andrew Kellaway's All Blacks 'losing their aura' comments

Wallabies coach Dave Rennie made four changes to his side that lost 33-25 to the All Blacks at Eden Park in Game 1.

The Wallabies will welcome back Marika Koroibete who was missing from Game 1 after being suspended for breaking a team curfew with a now-infamous drinking session.

Rennie was asked a lot about Koroibete in Thursday’s press conference and he gave the winger huge praise.

“Yep (it was an easy decision – to bring him back). He’s been one of our best players. It’s been a tough week but he’s jumping out of his skin,” Rennie said.

“He’s not a big talker. He’ll speak with his actions on the weekend. He certainly knows he’s let himself and the team down.”

“He’s very excited. He was down on Saturday. It was a tough watch for him. He’s trained superbly.”

“He’s right up there as far as elite rugby players in the world. Incredibly quick, very physical. He’s not a big man but he’s made of concrete so he hits hard and he carries hard. Phenomenal work ethic and work rate. His ability to get back from a counter perspective – his numbers are outrageous. It gives us a point of difference with him coming back”

The other big decision and talking point was bringing back Lachie Swinton.

“We picked Lachie for a reason,” Rennie said.

“He’s got a reputation as being reckless but that’s far from the case. He got a red card against the All Blacks in Brisbane. The next red card he got was squashed so it’s no longer part of his record and the other red card he got was fisty cuffs in a club game which is pretty common for forwards. We don’t have an issue (with his discipline).”

“What we know is that we need to go for 80 minutes – physically and be able to get in their face and with Swinno (Lachie Swinton) and with Matt coming in we think that gives us more of an edge.”

Other highlights on Wednesday’s press conference included the refereeing at the lineout, the All Blacks aura, and what he expects from the opposition.

(Photo by Anthony Au-Yeung/Getty Images)

On Andrew Kellaway’s All Blacks ‘losing their aura’ comments

“He wasn’t saying that. What he’s saying is there’s a bit of aura around the All Blacks and he’d never experienced that before because he’s never played against them. For him it was a bit of getting into the unknown. He’s played them once now so now he knows what to expect. You know, the old journos they’re pretty good at plucking out four words from a massive statement and putting a headline.”

“I assure you we’ve got plenty of respect for the All Blacks. We don’t fear them though and that’s going to be important again on Saturday night.”

Having Nic White on the bench

“He’s ready to go. We’ve got very good depth at 9. Jake Gordon’s pretty unlucky. We’re continuing to reward Tate (McDermott) because he’s done everything that we’ve asked for him and he’s growing at this level. We’ve even got Ryan Lonergan in the background.”

The Lineout woes

“The lineout was excellent against France. We’ll demand a little bit of space between the two lineouts. We’ve got confidence that we can get that going. After the first three or four lineouts it was pretty sharp. You can’t give up soft possession against the All Blacks.”

“They (the referee/TMO) penalised their first one and then forgot about the rest. They were pretty clear pictures which Paul Williams agreed with so I’m assuming it will be policed better this week.”

All Blacks historically stepping up in Game 2

“The history around Eden Park and all the talk about that. The All Blacks don’t play well in their first Test but I mean this is their fourth Test isn’t it? So I think neither side played well in the first 20 minutes. We had opportunities to ram home an advantage and we just couldn’t get our lineout going.”

“The All Blacks are sharp defensively. They closed the space and were all over us. We’ve had a chat to referee around that firstly but we’ve got to take opportunities. As I mentioned they’re too good of a side to go any less than 80 minutes against.”

(Photo by Anthony Au-Yeung/Getty Images)

On Noah Lolesio’s poor kicking in Game 1

“He was disappointed because he’s been kicking really well and he struggled in that breeze as did Richie (Mo’unga), but he’s a young man and he’s learning and he gets another crack this weekend.”

Matt To’omua back in the midfield

“We thought he was pretty good off the bench. He’s got a huge amount of experience. His voice is really crucial and we thought putting him in amongst a couple of young backs was important.”