Coach Dave Rennie’s job on line as Wallabies face Sydney hoodoo in Allianz opening
Coach Dave Rennie’s job is under pressure as the Wallabies attempt to turn around a horror run of defeats in Sydney against South Africa this weekend.
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The Wallabies aren’t the only ones in the Australian camp under pressure to deliver a win in this weekend’s blockbuster showdown against South Africa at the new Allianz Stadium.
National coach Dave Rennie has quite rightly been put on notice by Wallabies’ legend David Campese that he also needs to be held accountable if his inconsistent team fluffs their lines again with the eyes of the nation watching the grand opening.
The Wallabies have developed a nasty habit of following up good performances with shoddy displays with fullback Reece Hodge admitting it was time the team got their act together and won back-to-back Tests.
“We have really struggled to back up performances so that’s definitely something that we’ve addressed and we’ve identified,” Hodge said.
“Everyone’s excited by the challenge and especially at a brand new stadium in Sydney that none of us have played at before and hopefully in front of a nice parochial crowd and sold out Sydney.”
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A shadow of the team that used to be the pride of the country, it’s rare for the Wallabies to play in front of full grandstands these days but the novelty of the brand new arena has presented a golden opportunity to win back the support of rugby’s traditional heartland after years of incompetence and unfulfilled promises.
But nothing less than a victory against the world champions will pass muster because the Wallabies’ long suffering supporters are fed up with all the embarrassing losses and lame excuses trotted out.
Three years into the job, Rennie has struggled to make a meaningful impact as Wallabies team coach – with the team winning just 11 of 26 matches he has been in control of – and not a single victory in Sydney.
In fact, the Wallabies have managed to win just one of their 10 tests in Sydney dating back over the last seven seasons.
There have been some mitigating circumstances for Rennie’s unflattering, slow start in the job – many caused by the global pandemic and the absence of so many top players – but the only thing that matters in professional sport are results and his raw numbers are terrible.
He has the worst record of any Australian coach in the professional era yet he has been spared the same scrutiny his predecessor Michael Cheika copped, even though he boasted a higher winning percentage.
Campese isn’t the only one that thinks Rennie’s honeymoon period has ended and it’s time he delivered.
Under the Kiwi’s guidance, the Wallabies have shown occasional glimpses of what they are capable of but it’s their inability to perform consistently that has most experts worried they just don’t have what it takes to make a deep run at next week’s World Cup in France.
Time and time again under Rennie, the Wallabies have failed to string together a sequence of wins.
This season alone, they won their first Test against England, only to lose the series 2-1. Then they followed up a confidence-boosting win in Argentina with a humiliating 48-17 defeat to the Pumas seven days later.
It’s little wonder they were warned not to celebrate too hard after last weekend’s 25-17 win over South Africa in Adelaide, knowing the stakes will be higher for everyone at this weekend’s Allianz Stadium grand opening.
“Any win in a Test match we savour but we’re not going to get ahead of ourselves,” Hodge said.
“They’re obviously the world champions and have been one of the top three sides in the world for years now and they’re going to come out with some serious fire in the belly in Sydney.”
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Originally published as Coach Dave Rennie’s job on line as Wallabies face Sydney hoodoo in Allianz opening
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