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‘We’re minutes away’: Ieremia backs Rennie’s All Blacks to close the gap
Sport Nation • September 8th, 2026 7:08 am
Alama Ieremia | Photo: Photosport
Former All Black Alama Ieremia believes Dave Rennie’s side is closer to challenging South Africa than the results suggest.
The All Blacks lost two of their three Tests against the Springboks, but Ieremia was encouraged by the progress of a developing team and insisted they were only “minutes away” from turning the narrow defeats into victories.
“I think they’ve done really, really well,” Ieremia said.
“I actually thought that, yeah, we could potentially do this, and I think we’re just minutes away from possibly turning that result around.”
Ieremia said the tour had provided valuable lessons for a young group learning how to manage Test matches against one of the world’s most experienced teams.
The former centre was particularly impressed by the All Blacks’ response after a disappointing opening effort, praising the intensity they brought to the second Test.
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But he acknowledged the Springboks showed their experience in the closing stages, making the right decisions while New Zealand struggled to maintain its attacking momentum.
“South Africa are quite experienced. They’ve been together for a while and probably in the last 15 or 20 minutes they had the right calls,” he said.
“We sort of ran out of a bit of position where we could have run them off their feet, but the game didn’t go that way.”
The scrum remains a major concern, with the All Blacks coming under sustained pressure when South Africa lifted the intensity.
Ieremia believes the issue can be fixed before the World Cup, pointing to the experience within the squad and the time available to develop combinations.
“It won’t be an easy fix, but there’s enough experience and old heads there to come up with solutions,” he said.
He also backed the return of prop Tamaiti Williams to strengthen the pack, saying the All Blacks need greater size to compete with the Springboks.
“Size matters,” Ieremia said.
“We need big human beings over there to match those guys. Tamaiti is big and he’s pretty powerful as well.”
Photo: Kerry Marshall/Photosport
While the scrum was a key focus, Ieremia also identified South Africa’s rush defence and the All Blacks’ one-on-one tackling as areas requiring immediate attention.
He said the Springboks’ defensive system had evolved beyond a simple blitz, with players now able to rush and hold their line to create uncertainty for attacking teams.
As the match wore on, Ieremia felt the All Blacks became too deep and struggled to adjust.
He also pointed to missed tackles and inconsistent kicking as costly moments that prevented New Zealand from building momentum.
Despite those shortcomings, he believes the competition within the squad is a positive sign for Rennie.
The development of younger players, combined with the return of experienced campaigners, should give the All Blacks more options as they work towards the World Cup.
“I just think there are awesome opportunities for these guys to get another chance,” Ieremia said.
“What’s really exciting is that if you don’t perform, there’s enough competition there to play the best players every week.”
For Ieremia, the immediate challenge is not to panic or make wholesale changes, but to maintain consistency while addressing the areas South Africa exposed.
The All Blacks may still have plenty to fix, but he remains convinced the gap is narrowing.
“Everything’s a lesson for that group,” he said. “They’ll get better.”
Listen to the full interview below:
