Blue-eyed bias no more as new coach Dave Rennie shows little interest in faltering Waratahs
With Michael Cheika gone the NSW Waratahs were always going to take a hit at the selection table for the Wallabies’ wider national squad, but as the numbers stand it is a massive fall from grace.
Rugby
Don't miss out on the headlines from Rugby. Followed categories will be added to My News.
The days of Michael Cheika’s Waratahs-laden Wallabies are over, with as few as three players from the current list included in Dave Rennie’s wider squad.
Captain Michael Hooper, capped halfback Jake Gordon and rookie prop Angus Bell are the only three members of Rob Penney’s NSW squad included in Rennie’s “players of national interest” list, The Weekend Australian can reveal.
The Reds have the greatest representation in the squad with 14 players, while the Brumbies had a couple less despite sitting second on the Super Rugby standings before COVID-19 forced the suspension of the tournament after seven rounds.
Stream over 50 sports on-demand with KAYO SPORTS on your TV, computer, mobile or tablet. Just $25/month, no lock-in contract. Get your 14-day free trial and start streaming instantly >
Dave Wessels’ Rebels, who after a slow start were finding their feet before the suspension, have eight in the squad.
Although the list is said to be fluid, sources said it has been put together with a strategic view of a group of players. It has also allowed for head of athletic performance Dean Benton to focus on a core group of players.
Highly respected assistant coaches Scott Wisemantel and Matt Taylor have been influential in helping put together the list, with Rennie not due to arrive in Australia from Scotland until June.
It’s a massive fall from grace for NSW, where Cheika, who led the Waratahs to their maiden Super Rugby triumph in 2014 during his three-year stint at the franchise, often copped criticism for his blue-eyed bias. In 2015, 13 of Cheika’s 31-man World Cup squad came from the Waratahs.
After missing the finals in three of the previous four Super Rugby campaigns, that number dropped to eight in 2019.
Incidentally, it also came on the back of Rugby Australia director of rugby Scott Johnson and Michael O’Connor joining Cheika in a new three-person coaching panel last year after three years of poor results.
But the drop to three puts in black and white the tumbling stocks at the Waratahs, who had managed just one victory from six matches before COVID-19 saved the franchise from likely further embarrassment in 2020.
While the Waratahs farewelled World Cup squad members Adam Ashley-Cooper, Sekope Kepu and Tolu Latu in 2019, the absence of Test centurion Rob Simmons, Jack Dempsey and Kurtley Beale from the list is a telling sign of the new order under Rennie.
New Zealander Rennie, who won two titles with the Chiefs before joining Glasgow in 2017, spoke with all the members of the squad, including Reds young guns Liam Wright, Fraser McReight and Hunter Paisami.
He also spoke with other high profile players not included in the squad, including Beale.
With the two-match series against Ireland in July all but dead because of travel restrictions, the Wallabies are unlikely to play until August at the earliest.
It’s hoped that either an “inbound” or “outbound” series against the All Blacks can take place later in the year, sources have told The Weekend Australian.
The series would allow for the Wallabies to not only play the All Blacks, but also take on some of New Zealand’s Super Rugby franchises in a mini-series not too dissimilar to the British and Irish Lions’ tour in 2017 when they played 10 matches.
MORE RUGBY
FEAST: RUGBY’S RICH BYGONE ERA ON THE WAY BACK?
UGLY EXIT: CASTLE’S SELFLESS MESSAGE TO WALLABIES COACH
BLEDISLOE: OLD SCHOOL TOURS TO REVIVE LEGENDARY RIVALRY
Originally published as Blue-eyed bias no more as new coach Dave Rennie shows little interest in faltering Waratahs