Wallabies get their man as Kiwi Dave Rennie appointed new head coach in place of Michael Cheika
After months of speculation, Rugby Australia have settled on their replacement for Michael Cheika, and the departing coach isn’t likely to be too impressed with their choice.
Wallabies
Don't miss out on the headlines from Wallabies. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Kiwi Dave Rennie is confident he can win over fans dismayed at the Wallabies being led by a foreign coach now he has the job for four years.
Rugby Australia chief executive Raelene Castle said today that Rennie’s proven record as a Super Rugby-winning coach and team culture-builder made the appointment a clear call.
Castle also repeated her brutal assessment that a world-class foreign coach was appointed from a field of six or seven “given we didn’t have an Australian candidate.”
The harsh reality that the Australian system has not developed a single worthy candidate for this peak role during the five years of Michael Cheika’s reign is a huge and embarrassing failure.
Stream every match of the 2019/20 Gallagher Premiership Rugby Season Live & On-Demand on KAYO SPORTS. Get your 14-day free trial and start streaming instantly >
Castle revealed that England’s Aussie coach Eddie Jones had been canvassed “behind the scenes” before the recent Rugby World Cup but his ongoing commitment to England ruled him out of consideration.
As Cheika’s successor, Rennie, 56 on Friday this week, has been given the reins until the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France.
Rennie has a 20-year coaching resume but his reputation is built on the back-to-back titles in 2012-13 that shook the Chiefs from their reputation as serial underperformers.
In a video interview for rugby.com.au, Rennie tackled all the big issues on his exciting new role once he finishes with Scotland’s Glasgow Warriors in June.
He had a realistic and reassuring take on how Aussies would accept him after Australia’s previous coaching marriage to a Kiwi ended in tears with Robbie Deans (2008-13).
“I get it. I think Australians want their national team coached by an Australian,” Rennie said.
“I’m OK with that.
“I know they care about their team.
“All I can say is that everywhere I’ve gone I’ve immersed myself in the community and culture.
“I guess we’ll be judged by what we do, not what I say now, but I assure you I care about the future of Australian rugby.”
Rennie revealed his conversations with Rugby Australia had been going on for months not just in the weeks since the Wallabies’ crashlanding in the World Cup quarter-finals last month.
“The big thing was I’d been talking to Australia for a lot of months and the interest from the All Blacks (to be a coaching contender) came late in the piece,” Rennie said.
“By that stage, we’d done a lot of homework and were really excited about coming to Australia so it ended up an easy decision.”
Rennie said a four-hour lunch with Castle had helped convince him she was “driven, keen for change and down-to-earth” as a leader to drive things with director of rugby Scott Johnson.
England’s skills coach Scott Wisemantel and Scotland’s defence coach Matt Taylor, both Aussies, will be two top candidates when Rennie assembles a revamped coaching and management team around him.
“The first thing is to establish a high-quality management and coaching group and it’s important to have a really strong Australian flavour in that group,” Rennie said.
“I want to bring back guys (from overseas) who can offer a lot.”
Johnson said “Australians will like what Dave Rennie stands for” when calling him a hardworking, humble man with great people skills and big on skills development.
Rennie gave his pitch on what brand of rugby to expect from a Wallabies side which won just 10 of 23 Tests across Cheika’s final seasons of 2018-19.
“With the teams I coach, it’s a high-skill, high-speed type of game hopefully mixed with some rugby smarts and a bit of brutality,” Rennie said.
“There’s a positive mindset to play mixed with a sharp kicking game.”
Rennie will make a quick trip to Australia in January, when he will meet Australia’s four Super Rugby head coaches, but he’ll pull the strings on planning remotely before he shifts to Sydney in June before the July Tests against Ireland get underway.
Originally published as Wallabies get their man as Kiwi Dave Rennie appointed new head coach in place of Michael Cheika