Wallabies must sack Dave Rennie and look to NRL coaches as crisis deepens
Rugby Australia needs to sack coach Dave Rennie before another crisis completely derails the Wallabies - and an NRL coach could be a smart replacement.
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How much more suffering do Wallabies fans have to put up with before someone in charge finally stops with all the hollow promises that things will get better in the future when there are so many glaring problems that need fixing right away?
Wallabies supporters might be among the most loyal and patient fans in Australian sport but they’re not stupid and they’re fed up with being treated as mugs by a failing team that has become an embarrassment to the gold jersey.
The only thing more disheartening than the Wallabies’ latest capitulation to New Zealand on the weekend are the pathetic excuses and lack of accountability from the team’s leaders and the Rugby Australia board.
But enough is enough because the spin doctors and their sycophantic enablers aren‘t fooling anyone.
Drastic action is needed right now because the Wallabies are in total crisis and things won’t change until someone in authority has the guts to make the tough decisions they always talk about but rarely carry through.
The first thing that has to change is the Wallabies head coach.
Dave Rennie isn’t to blame for all the deep-rooted problems within the Wallabies because most of them were already there when he came into the job.
But after three years in the job, he’s no closer now to finding the answers than when he was first appointed in the last days of Raelene Castle’s disastrous period as Chief Executive so it’s time to give someone else a chance because his record stinks.
ALL TIME LOW
Under Rennie’s watch, the Wallabies have slumped to an all-time low ranking of ninth in the world, winning just 11 of the 29 Tests he’s been in charge for.
That’s a strike-rate of less than 38% - the worst by any Wallabies coach in over half a century - and against the All Blacks, his success rate is a pitiful 11 per cent. No-one should even try to sugar-coat those numbers.
If you listen to Rennie and his apologists, all you’ll hear is excuses: how they’ve been plagued by injuries, how they’ve got no money to retain the best players, how the referees are out to get them, even how the laws of the game are against them.
Instead of owning up to their mistakes and taking responsibility, the Wallabies and Rugby Australia have become the biggest whingers in the game and it’s got to stop.
Nic White’s play-acting to milk a penalty against South Africa was a shameful indictment on the standards the Wallabies now accept, while Rugby Australia’s futile complaint to the game’s global rulers about the dodgy refereeing decision in the first Bledisloe Cup loss was just petty.
If the Wallabies and Rugby Australia want a clear picture of why they keep losing so badly all the time, then they should take a look in the mirror instead of pointing the finger at everyone else.
They should start by looking at the team’s serious lack of discipline because that’s no-one else’s fault but their own and the buck stops at the top.
They also lack leadership and game awareness and fall down badly in basic skills, often unable to execute even simple catches and passes.
Then there’s the baffling selection issues.
WHO WILL BE ACCOUNTABLE?
Someone really needs to explain what’s going on there, because no-one who follows the game can figure out why Rennie persists in going back to players whose best days are long past them, while the likes of Suliasi Vunivalu and Tate McDermott can’t get a run.
There have been whispers about Rennie’s future all season long but Rugby Australia chairman Hamish McLennan has promised the New Zealander that his job is safe until after next year’s World Cup in France.
But that’s far too late and McLennan needs to step outside the corporate suites and have a listen to what the Wallabies faithful are saying because they want changes right now.
If McLennan and the Rugby Australia board are serious about the Wallabies making a run at the 2023 World Cup, what are they waiting for? They need to appoint a new coach straight away who can lead the team on the end of season Spring tour to Europe.
And if McLennan and the board won’t listen to the fans and make that hard call, then they need to step aside and let someone else step up to the plate.
Of course, appointing a new coach isn’t a guarantee things will change but what is there to lose because things have hit rock bottom.
WHO CAN COME IN?
Dan McKellar is the obvious replacement but maybe it’s time to think outside the square a bit more.
Arguably the best provincial coach in the game, Scott Robertson hasn’t been given a national job yet. Has he been approached? And what about Eddie Jones? Or a left field pick from a different code?
The Wallabies are always looking for NRL players to switch codes, but why not league’s best coaches?
It’s a little-known secret that Wayne Bennett was once asked if he would consider coaching the Wallabies and he gave it some serious consideration before deciding to stick with league.
But what about Ricky Stuart, who played for the Wallabies? He’d be a sensation. Or Craig Bellamy? Or Trent Robinson? Rugby Australia should not be putting any limits on finding the right person.
The glimmer of hope is that it’s never too late to fix things because new coaches can turn things around quickly but time is of the essence.
Greg Smith resigned as Wallabies coach in 1997 before he was about to get the sack following a record defeat against South Africa.
He was replaced by Rod Macqueen and two years later, the Wallabies became the first team to win the World Cup for a second time.
South Africa won the last World Cup in 2019 after sacking Allister Coetzee as head coach in 2018 and replacing him with Rassie Erasmus.
The Springboks also won the 1995 World Cup after replacing their head coach the previous year.
The last time the Wallabies made the World Cup final was in 2015 when Michael Cheika took over from Ewen McKenzie the previous year.
Cheika’s magic had rubbed off long before the 2019 World Cup rolled around and everyone even knew it years in advance.
But Rugby Australia refused to listen then and were left with an almighty mess to clean up after the Wallabies suffered a humiliating quarterfinal exit in Japan. It remains to be seen, if they’ve learnt their lesson this time.
Originally published as Wallabies must sack Dave Rennie and look to NRL coaches as crisis deepens