Tamati Ellison: All Blacks assistant coach on the All Blacks beating South Africa 24-17 at Eden Park
September 6, 2025 • 9 mins
The All Blacks have bounced back following their recent defeat and kept up their hot streak at Eden Park.
The Kiwi side beat out South Africa with a 24-17 victory, led by two first-half tries.
All Blacks assistant coach Tamati Ellison joined Piney to discuss.
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Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Weekend Sport podcast with Jason Vine
from Newstalks, ed B.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
And Slide Twaler. Turf gets up, goes againbody na dummy
the right way?
Speaker 3 (00:17):
Quarter time, ninety seconds on the.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
Clock and eat a butt.
Speaker 3 (00:22):
Yeah. All Blacks couldn't have wanted for a better start,
could they? With them on another were scoring a try
early well Jordan. Shortly after that fourteen nil they were
up that South Africa came back as they always do.
All Blacks twenty four, South Africa seventeen. All Black's assistant
coach Tamothy Allison is with us. Tarmody, congratulations on the win.
That's why I think they call them test matches because
(00:42):
they do test every member of both sides. What stands
out first of all in general terms when you think
back to the performance the All Black spot on last night.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
Our physical super physical from the start and yeah this
didn't really change before gritty performances to hang and the
all the way to the end.
Speaker 3 (01:04):
What were you proudest of as a coaching group?
Speaker 2 (01:08):
I think the leaders just the way they lit on
the field in pressure moments. They stood up there really
clear around what they wanted to do and they drove
the week and they drove the efforts out there to
start with.
Speaker 3 (01:22):
At twenty four seventeen ahead Ardie Savie wants to turnover
penaly Right at the end, you must have thought you
had it won, but somehow South Africa got the ball
back and came again. How are the emotions then right
at the end as they as they had ball in
hand and you had to repel one more attack.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
Yeah, I mean believe a more clinical than a couple
of areas there to start with, Bowie. We back our
defense and the efforts the boys that keep getting up
and keep showing up for their mate. So yeah, definitely
made it an eighty minute performance for the crowd, that's
for sure.
Speaker 3 (01:57):
Indeed, indeed, how much did the rain which wasn't really forecast,
I don't think how much did that affect things in
terms of the slippery ground, the slippery.
Speaker 2 (02:05):
Ball, just just the obvious, you know, whether it be
I think the thing when the rain comes and goes,
even once it's gone, it's it's still left on the
ground and on the ball on the jersey. So you're
really playing in a in a game that has rain,
where it's raining at the time or not so you
have to adapt to those conditions pretty quick.
Speaker 3 (02:26):
Over sixty kicks in play last night across the two teams,
many of them box kicks. A lot of chat about
the aerial battle. How do you evaluate how the All
Blacks went in the air last night?
Speaker 2 (02:37):
Yeah, I think the intent was really good. You know,
you saw the money, you know, flying into the air
there at the start, just just the intent to want
to rarely compete in the air. I thought there was
a shift there.
Speaker 3 (02:49):
How big a part of your brief as a coach
is the aerial game.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
That's a handover, you know, from the attacking side of
the board to the d So it's critical that we're
aligned on where those kicks are going and then looking
forward to putting press on the air and then the
ground once it kicks a center. It's a massive part
of the transition part of the game.
Speaker 3 (03:11):
What the what are the key what are the really
important parts of being good defensively in the air? Because
I think we all knew that you know the bombs
were coming, you obviously did. How do you best strategize
to deal with them?
Speaker 2 (03:28):
I think some of a skill set getting high in
the opposition, timing you jump and making sure you're the
highest in the air, whether that's with your knee or
with your hands. It's skill set's important, but it really
comes down to being fearless in the air. It's just
the person who wants to get up in the owner
as normally the person who gets the ball or it's
(03:48):
the best part of the scraps anyway. So I thought
we were really good there with the unten.
Speaker 3 (03:52):
How much is the changing rules and that you know
you basically can't block runners in any any way, shape
or form. Now, how much has that changed things?
Speaker 2 (04:01):
Yeah, I don't think that's made the air any safer
to be fair, like a it's a collision in the
air now. So while those are the rules, you know,
we're definitely pay by the rules and make the best
out of it. But you know, the protection for the
man in the air, there's not a lot there. So
as it stands, we play where it lays.
Speaker 3 (04:23):
Ardie Savia became the latest All Blacks Test centurion last night.
They were celebrated on the field after the game. How
do you celebrate that sort of milestone internally?
Speaker 2 (04:35):
Artie had as fun out here yesterday, you know, his
big brother. It was just great too. You bring them
inside the team environment and they had had their own
little thing as well, so it was just great to
have his parents and and sas and the kids and
everyone here. So I think, you know, we all just
(04:56):
sit back and in awe of Ardi and their family
and how well they've done and how much self given
to New Zealand rugby.
Speaker 3 (05:04):
Do you remember the young Artis Vire who you played
against at the back end of your own career.
Speaker 2 (05:11):
My memories of Artie was his brother to start with,
playing with it and against Julian and then hearing that
there's a there's another Savia coming and he and he
might be better. So I actually heard about him before
I ever met him. And you know the proofs in
the putting.
Speaker 3 (05:29):
Scott Robinson said during the week he is a man
a few words and and you know humility is obviously
a quality where you can all see in Ardie Savia.
How deep though, is his influence in the playing group.
Speaker 2 (05:40):
It's messis it's action based on the field. It's obvious
off the field, you know that that leader who's he's
got a shoulder for for younger players, but he also
keeps standards for everyone else. So it's massive and I'm
talking coaches, management, players to the influence he has, and
I think it's everyone in this group would do anything
(06:04):
for ards and just special that could get over the
line for him.
Speaker 3 (06:07):
Last night, at the other end of the scale, you
had a test debutant last night and half back Kyle Preston,
this is I think, come quicker than he could have
possibly imagined. How has he conducted himself across the week.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
Yeah, I think kp is really consistent in his habit
and that's probably what's got him here and what will
keep him going is he's super diligent. He's head down,
and I think he's always been that way. So yeah,
you don't hear a lot out of him, but he's
into his work, and not just as a younger person,
it's just the way he's always gone about his business.
So to get out of there last night.
Speaker 3 (06:41):
No yellow cards last night was discipline a specific focus
given the yellow cards you've been handed in the last
couple of games.
Speaker 2 (06:49):
It always is, you know, we're trying to be as
safe as we can, but aggressive as we can as well.
If you're on the sideline, you see the impact of
the collisions and sometimes you know people get them get
them wrong. It's both sides of the ball sometimes for
a leading head from a ball carrier, can you know.
So it's always a focus. We're always trying to upskill
(07:12):
and be better in the collisions, you know, a week
on week and we're really genuine about that prep.
Speaker 3 (07:17):
Did you feel extra pressure ahead of this game given
the enormity of the occasion, the loss in Argentina, the
eden Park record to protect it? Was there an extra
edge about this week?
Speaker 2 (07:31):
I think there was always going to be an extra
edge with the spring Box and eden Park, and you know,
concerning about these hundred, there was always going to be
an extra edge. I'm not sure the pressure changes. I
think if you really clear around your process, you know,
(07:52):
the peaks in the valleys of the game. My job
trying and make players better. So you know, wake up
this morning and it's the same process for me around
how do I make them better? So, yeah, there was edge.
I'm not sure there was unnecessary pressure.
Speaker 3 (08:08):
And in terms of the players themselves, is there any
need to ensure they don't play the game before the
game arrives? If you know what I mean? Again, so
much hype, you know, it's a long week in many ways.
Is there any strategy needed in that regard?
Speaker 2 (08:23):
I think so. We're very blessed with McGill here. It's
been here a very long time. He knows how to
menace the energy loads of the week and it's got
a great feel for where the group is. At the
same time, you've got body Beard and Cody, Taylor and
Ardi who have been here a long time, so they
know how to manage the group and the mindset and
(08:43):
communicate with the coaches around what's needed. So we're really
well led in that space.
Speaker 3 (08:49):
Do you still get nervous?
Speaker 2 (08:52):
Yeah, yeah, I do. I think that's a great part
about it. When you're not on that side of the line.
The nerves are meant to be there, and you know,
the feeling is so much meant to be there, means
you here and even this morning and going into the
far this week, that they'll be there as well, and
it helps you go deep in your preparation.
Speaker 3 (09:10):
All right, just to finish on to Wellington. Now, will
you do it all again next Saturday. That's that's just
the nature of elite international sport, isn't It is a
week enough to recover and then get your players ready
physically and even mentally to go into battle again six
days from now.
Speaker 2 (09:27):
Yeah, it has to be and then that's what what's
the monder of the Jusian expectation? So yep, we have
to make it work.
Speaker 3 (09:34):
Travel safe, Tammody, great to chat to your mate. All
the best, Congratulations on the win last night.
Speaker 2 (09:38):
Thanks appreciate the support.
Speaker 3 (09:40):
Thank you, no, thank you for taking the call. Tamothy
Tomoty Ellison there assistant coach of the All Blacks or
one of For
Speaker 1 (09:47):
More from Weekend Sport with Jason Fine, listen live to
News Talks' b weekends from midday or follow the podcast
on iHeartRadio
You're listening to the Weekend Sport podcast with Jason Vine
from Newstalks, ed B.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
And Slide Twaler. Turf gets up, goes againbody na dummy
the right way?
Speaker 3 (00:17):
Quarter time, ninety seconds on the.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
Clock and eat a butt.
Speaker 3 (00:22):
Yeah. All Blacks couldn't have wanted for a better start,
could they? With them on another were scoring a try
early well Jordan. Shortly after that fourteen nil they were
up that South Africa came back as they always do.
All Blacks twenty four, South Africa seventeen. All Black's assistant
coach Tamothy Allison is with us. Tarmody, congratulations on the win.
That's why I think they call them test matches because
(00:42):
they do test every member of both sides. What stands
out first of all in general terms when you think
back to the performance the All Black spot on last night.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
Our physical super physical from the start and yeah this
didn't really change before gritty performances to hang and the
all the way to the end.
Speaker 3 (01:04):
What were you proudest of as a coaching group?
Speaker 2 (01:08):
I think the leaders just the way they lit on
the field in pressure moments. They stood up there really
clear around what they wanted to do and they drove
the week and they drove the efforts out there to
start with.
Speaker 3 (01:22):
At twenty four seventeen ahead Ardie Savie wants to turnover
penaly Right at the end, you must have thought you
had it won, but somehow South Africa got the ball
back and came again. How are the emotions then right
at the end as they as they had ball in
hand and you had to repel one more attack.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
Yeah, I mean believe a more clinical than a couple
of areas there to start with, Bowie. We back our
defense and the efforts the boys that keep getting up
and keep showing up for their mate. So yeah, definitely
made it an eighty minute performance for the crowd, that's
for sure.
Speaker 3 (01:57):
Indeed, indeed, how much did the rain which wasn't really forecast,
I don't think how much did that affect things in
terms of the slippery ground, the slippery.
Speaker 2 (02:05):
Ball, just just the obvious, you know, whether it be
I think the thing when the rain comes and goes,
even once it's gone, it's it's still left on the
ground and on the ball on the jersey. So you're
really playing in a in a game that has rain,
where it's raining at the time or not so you
have to adapt to those conditions pretty quick.
Speaker 3 (02:26):
Over sixty kicks in play last night across the two teams,
many of them box kicks. A lot of chat about
the aerial battle. How do you evaluate how the All
Blacks went in the air last night?
Speaker 2 (02:37):
Yeah, I think the intent was really good. You know,
you saw the money, you know, flying into the air
there at the start, just just the intent to want
to rarely compete in the air. I thought there was
a shift there.
Speaker 3 (02:49):
How big a part of your brief as a coach
is the aerial game.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
That's a handover, you know, from the attacking side of
the board to the d So it's critical that we're
aligned on where those kicks are going and then looking
forward to putting press on the air and then the
ground once it kicks a center. It's a massive part
of the transition part of the game.
Speaker 3 (03:11):
What the what are the key what are the really
important parts of being good defensively in the air? Because
I think we all knew that you know the bombs
were coming, you obviously did. How do you best strategize
to deal with them?
Speaker 2 (03:28):
I think some of a skill set getting high in
the opposition, timing you jump and making sure you're the
highest in the air, whether that's with your knee or
with your hands. It's skill set's important, but it really
comes down to being fearless in the air. It's just
the person who wants to get up in the owner
as normally the person who gets the ball or it's
(03:48):
the best part of the scraps anyway. So I thought
we were really good there with the unten.
Speaker 3 (03:52):
How much is the changing rules and that you know
you basically can't block runners in any any way, shape
or form. Now, how much has that changed things?
Speaker 2 (04:01):
Yeah, I don't think that's made the air any safer
to be fair, like a it's a collision in the
air now. So while those are the rules, you know,
we're definitely pay by the rules and make the best
out of it. But you know, the protection for the
man in the air, there's not a lot there. So
as it stands, we play where it lays.
Speaker 3 (04:23):
Ardie Savia became the latest All Blacks Test centurion last night.
They were celebrated on the field after the game. How
do you celebrate that sort of milestone internally?
Speaker 2 (04:35):
Artie had as fun out here yesterday, you know, his
big brother. It was just great too. You bring them
inside the team environment and they had had their own
little thing as well, so it was just great to
have his parents and and sas and the kids and
everyone here. So I think, you know, we all just
(04:56):
sit back and in awe of Ardi and their family
and how well they've done and how much self given
to New Zealand rugby.
Speaker 3 (05:04):
Do you remember the young Artis Vire who you played
against at the back end of your own career.
Speaker 2 (05:11):
My memories of Artie was his brother to start with,
playing with it and against Julian and then hearing that
there's a there's another Savia coming and he and he
might be better. So I actually heard about him before
I ever met him. And you know the proofs in
the putting.
Speaker 3 (05:29):
Scott Robinson said during the week he is a man
a few words and and you know humility is obviously
a quality where you can all see in Ardie Savia.
How deep though, is his influence in the playing group.
Speaker 2 (05:40):
It's messis it's action based on the field. It's obvious
off the field, you know that that leader who's he's
got a shoulder for for younger players, but he also
keeps standards for everyone else. So it's massive and I'm
talking coaches, management, players to the influence he has, and
I think it's everyone in this group would do anything
(06:04):
for ards and just special that could get over the
line for him.
Speaker 3 (06:07):
Last night, at the other end of the scale, you
had a test debutant last night and half back Kyle Preston,
this is I think, come quicker than he could have
possibly imagined. How has he conducted himself across the week.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
Yeah, I think kp is really consistent in his habit
and that's probably what's got him here and what will
keep him going is he's super diligent. He's head down,
and I think he's always been that way. So yeah,
you don't hear a lot out of him, but he's
into his work, and not just as a younger person,
it's just the way he's always gone about his business.
So to get out of there last night.
Speaker 3 (06:41):
No yellow cards last night was discipline a specific focus
given the yellow cards you've been handed in the last
couple of games.
Speaker 2 (06:49):
It always is, you know, we're trying to be as
safe as we can, but aggressive as we can as well.
If you're on the sideline, you see the impact of
the collisions and sometimes you know people get them get
them wrong. It's both sides of the ball sometimes for
a leading head from a ball carrier, can you know.
So it's always a focus. We're always trying to upskill
(07:12):
and be better in the collisions, you know, a week
on week and we're really genuine about that prep.
Speaker 3 (07:17):
Did you feel extra pressure ahead of this game given
the enormity of the occasion, the loss in Argentina, the
eden Park record to protect it? Was there an extra
edge about this week?
Speaker 2 (07:31):
I think there was always going to be an extra
edge with the spring Box and eden Park, and you know,
concerning about these hundred, there was always going to be
an extra edge. I'm not sure the pressure changes. I
think if you really clear around your process, you know,
(07:52):
the peaks in the valleys of the game. My job
trying and make players better. So you know, wake up
this morning and it's the same process for me around
how do I make them better? So, yeah, there was edge.
I'm not sure there was unnecessary pressure.
Speaker 3 (08:08):
And in terms of the players themselves, is there any
need to ensure they don't play the game before the
game arrives? If you know what I mean? Again, so
much hype, you know, it's a long week in many ways.
Is there any strategy needed in that regard?
Speaker 2 (08:23):
I think so. We're very blessed with McGill here. It's
been here a very long time. He knows how to
menace the energy loads of the week and it's got
a great feel for where the group is. At the
same time, you've got body Beard and Cody, Taylor and
Ardi who have been here a long time, so they
know how to manage the group and the mindset and
(08:43):
communicate with the coaches around what's needed. So we're really
well led in that space.
Speaker 3 (08:49):
Do you still get nervous?
Speaker 2 (08:52):
Yeah, yeah, I do. I think that's a great part
about it. When you're not on that side of the line.
The nerves are meant to be there, and you know,
the feeling is so much meant to be there, means
you here and even this morning and going into the
far this week, that they'll be there as well, and
it helps you go deep in your preparation.
Speaker 3 (09:10):
All right, just to finish on to Wellington. Now, will
you do it all again next Saturday. That's that's just
the nature of elite international sport, isn't It is a
week enough to recover and then get your players ready
physically and even mentally to go into battle again six
days from now.
Speaker 2 (09:27):
Yeah, it has to be and then that's what what's
the monder of the Jusian expectation? So yep, we have
to make it work.
Speaker 3 (09:34):
Travel safe, Tammody, great to chat to your mate. All
the best, Congratulations on the win last night.
Speaker 2 (09:38):
Thanks appreciate the support.
Speaker 3 (09:40):
Thank you, no, thank you for taking the call. Tamothy
Tomoty Ellison there assistant coach of the All Blacks or
one of For
Speaker 1 (09:47):
More from Weekend Sport with Jason Fine, listen live to
News Talks' b weekends from midday or follow the podcast
on iHeartRadio
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