The 10 steps new Wallabies coach Dave Rennis must take to take Australia back to the top
The Wallabies history is littered with aberrational success, if incoming head coach Dave Rennie wants to do better then these are the steps he must take.
Rugby
Don't miss out on the headlines from Rugby. Followed categories will be added to My News.
No one was hissing about Robbie Deans being born in New Zealand rather than Noosa when he won five Tests in a row to launch his reign with the Wallabies in 2008.
We even found it quirky rather than infuriating that he didn’t know all the words to the Australian anthem when he had to tangle with “girt by sea” for the first time.
The Wallabies’ first foreign coach was lauded as “the ringmaster” who had “restimulated the fading pulse of Australian rugby.”
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 >
Yes, I wrote that and hope to plagiarise more of the superlatives used at that time to describe the opening months of new boss Dave Rennie’s tenure.
Rennie will have earned them if he can get through his tough initiation … Tests against recent world No. 1 Ireland, world champions South Africa, Argentina and, of course, the All Blacks.
Deans sometimes spoke in riddles but one thing he said a decade ago still resonates as the great truth of the modern Wallabies.
“Recent history is littered with aberrational success for the Wallabies and what we want is much more than that,” Deans said.
He could never quite nail the greater consistency he was desperately chasing. Nor could departed coach Michael Cheika.
He roused the Wallabies to three great victories over the All Blacks (2015, 2017 and 2019), inspired a brilliant World Cup run in 2015 and stirred magic in other Tests but the rollercoaster bumped off the rails way too often.
So what has Rennie got to do to fix the Wallabies.
1 FRESH PLAYERS
Doomsday forecasters are moaning about the exodus abroad. Don’t shed a tear. Rennie will have the talent. Apart from a core of very good mid-20s Test players, he’ll be charged with cultivating talents like Tate McDermott, Tom Banks, Jordan Petaia, Rob Valetini and Fraser McReight.
2 IT’S NOT ALL BROKE
A different coach with the same players might have got the Wallabies to the World Cup semi-finals in Japan. Cheika was too stubborn to add more kicking to his game plan when every other top nation was getting value. Rennie will sharpen kicking. Tick.
3 BANG SOME HEADS
The Wallabies and the four Super Rugby clubs are working more cohesively but much can still be improved. Rennie will have no clue of the politics so director of rugby Scott Johnson must be in the trenches on this.
4 DON’T WORRY ABOUT ISRAEL FOLAU
He’s off fighting bushfires of his own making so he’s too busy to play Test rugby again.
5 WIN BACK THE BLEDISLOE CUP
Nothing will calm the chatter about being a Kiwi taking on the Kiwis than beating them. That’s when you’ll have won over the marginal rugby voters.
6 DON’T BELIEVE EVERYTHING RUGBY AUSTRALIA TELLS YOU
Get out to the Super Rugby teams, club land and schools, as Deans did, to really find out what makes Australian rugby tick because it’s different to the view through Sydney-centric glasses.
If Rennie asks for discretionary calls to bring back the likes of Will Skelton (Saracens, England) and Liam Gill (Lyon, France), he should have the power to assess whether they are good enough to chase full-time. Harness all the best talent.
8 ALL-AUSSIE SUPPORT CAST
Rennie may be a Kiwi but his coaching staff and team management must all be Aussies. There’s an embarrassing lack of development for young coaches in this country. Rennie needs to help coach young coaches.
9 PICK A BACKROW AND STICK TO IT
One of Cheika’s greatest flaws was his musical chairs mindset with the backrow because it was never greater than the sum of the three pieces. Better selection.
10 SHAKE HANDS WITH A SUPER RUGBY-WINNING COACH
If the Queensland Reds or ACT Brumbies can win a Super Rugby title or mount a big run to the final in 2020 or 2021, there’s the bedrock of your team. It’ll be harder work for the rebuilding NSW Waratahs and Melbourne Rebels.
Originally published as The 10 steps new Wallabies coach Dave Rennis must take to take Australia back to the top