Rennie will coach Wallabies at 2023 World Cup no matter what: McLennan

Dave Rennie’s position as Wallabies coach appears safe until next year’s World Cup, with Rugby Australia chairman Hamish McLennan declaring that his job was under no threat, regardless of what happens in the Bledisloe Cup or the remainder of the year.

Since taking over the Wallabies in 2020, Rennie has a win record of 40.7 per cent.

In his first year, the Wallabies won just one of their six Tests but three were draws. In 2021, the team won 50 per cent of matches, while this year the Wallabies have triumphed in three of their seven Tests.

If Australia were to lose both upcoming Bledisloe Cup matches, Rennie’s win rate would fall below 38 per cent.

No Wallabies coach in the professional era (1996 onwards) has had a winning record below 50 per cent. Rennie’s predecessor Michael Cheika’s win rate was exactly 50 per cent (34 wins from 68 Tests).

Speaking ahead of Australia’s opening Bledisloe Cup match in Melbourne while announcing a partnership between Rugby Australia and R.M Williams, McLennan was quizzed on the state of the Wallabies.

Michael Hooper (left), Dave Rennie (centre) and Hamish McLennan (right) in 2020. Credit: Getty

“I think Dave has made real progress,” McLennan said. “It’s pretty obvious to say this, but they need more consistency in their game. They’re heading in the right direction, there’s no doubt.

“It’s been a little frustrating but if you look at the Rugby Championship, every team has won one and lost one.”

McLennan was asked if he could guarantee Rennie would be in charge of the Wallabies at the game’s centrepiece event in France next year, even if results didn’t go Australia’s way for the remainder of 2022.

“Yes, absolutely,” McLennan said. “Dave’s done a great job. There’s been real progress that has been made. He’s as frustrated as anyone.

“The world rankings ... you can use them as a data point but everyone in world rugby could see that the Wallabies have come back and they’re on the move and heading in the right direction. I take a lot of heart from that.”

In 2020, McLennan famously said that even before Rennie had coached Australia, he was open to extending his contract beyond 2023.

The Wallabies face New Zealand next week in a second Bledisloe fixture before a five-Test tour to Europe in October and November. Australia have matches against Scotland, France, Italy, Ireland and Wales to round out 2022.

Meanwhile, McLennan has doubled down on his threat to walk away from Super Rugby Trans-Tasman in 2024.

RA and New Zealand Rugby are locked in negotiations around what the competition will look like in the future. McLennan has already gone on the record to say Australia wants a greater slice of broadcast revenue.

“We’re still talking about Super Rugby Trans Tasman. We’re not there,” McLennan said. “It’s grinding forward I would say. Hopefully, it’ll resolve itself, or we’ll go domestic.”

McLennan assured he wasn’t bluffing.

“We wouldn’t say it if we weren’t real,” McLennan said. “We’ve said publicly that the high-performance outcomes would probably be better with New Zealand in the mix but we’re not going to play second-fiddle. Time will tell if we’re bluffing. They know we’re serious.

“We’ve got the backing of our member unions, the Super Rugby club chairs and [host broadcaster] Channel Nine to go domestic. We haven’t won a Bledisloe in 20 years. Who’s to say that a domestic competition wouldn’t deliver more money to Rugby Australia and possibly with more teams and more players, better high-performance outcomes? We’ll see.”

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