Bledisloe Cup: Dave Rennie demanding nothing but the best from Wallabies

Wallabies coach Dave Rennie has grand plans for his Australian team, plans that don’t include being satisfied with the overall outcome of the Bledisloe Cup series against the All Blacks.

Harry Wilson runs at the All Blacks defence during the Wallabies win at Suncorp Stadium Picture: Getty Images

Wallabies coach Dave Rennie has grand plans for his Australian team, plans that don’t include being satisfied with the overall outcome of the Bledisloe Cup series against the All Blacks.

Asked by The Australian whether he would have taken an unlucky draw in Wellington and a win in Brisbane against New Zealand before setting out on his first four Tests in charge of the Wallabies, Rennie replied tellingly: “You don’t win the Bledisloe Cup by winning one and drawing one.”

It is a record most Test coaches would grab in a heartbeat against the team that has largely dominated professional rugby over the last quarter-century but Rennie has made it clear he sees no reason why Australia should continue in forelock-tugging mode against the All Blacks or any other team.

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He had asked for a response from his team following the humiliating 43-5 defeat at ANZ Stadium on October 31 and the Wallabies provided it at Suncorp with a 40-point turnaround for a 24-22 victory over the All Blacks. Yes, the NZ team did include nine changes from Sydney but it also featured 11 players who took the field against England in the World Cup semi-final. Short explanation: any win over a team that carries the “All Blacks’ brand is one to be treasured.

“What it tells us if that if we work hard enough for each other we can get results against anyone,” Rennie said. “But it doesn’t count for much unless we back it up against Argentina in a couple of weeks.

“We are trying to grow our game. There’s a lot of stuff we haven’t had time to do because of the (global pandemic) situation, so I am excited about where we can take this team.”

Rugby Australia chairman Hamish McLennan matched that excitement. “Obviously a very pleasing night,” McLennan said. “The team showed great courage to bounce back from last week and Dave has the ingredients of a side that could be world-class over the next few years.”

Saturday’s result will have no impact on the broadcast deal to be announced shortly but whichever partner RA chooses, Nine or long-time partner Foxtel, will now know the Wallabies are back as a genuine international threat for the first time since 2015. Moreover, if Australia’s end goal is the 2023 World Cup, a number of essential pieces locked into place with a reassuring thud on Saturday night.

The three debutants, flanker Lachie Swinton, winger Tom Wright and loosehead Angus Bell, all distinguished themselves, even if Swinton also did so by becoming the first Wallaby debutant to be sent off. It is not likely he will now see action in either of Australia’s two remaining Tri Nations fixtures – against Argentina on November 21 in Newcastle and Bankwest Stadium on December 5 – but he did enough during his 34-minute cameo to be inked into Rennie’s plans for 2021 and beyond.

Wright had a near-faultless debut, capped by a try with his first touch in Test football when a Reece Hodge chipkick took what can only be described as “an All Blacks-style bounce” – perversely eluding two Kiwis and falling perfectly for fullback Tom Banks who flicked the ball to the winger. Bell, meanwhile, made a debut that would have made his scrum coach, fellow Wallaby and father, Mark, bursting with pride.

Did Hodge, one wonders, stake a claim for a permanent position in the Australian side or did he, conversely, merely reinforce his standing as the great supersub of world rugby? There were, frankly, many who believed his selection at five-eighth in place of Noah Lolesio weakened the Australian side but it did just the opposite.

His prodigious kicking is a weapon Australia must harness on a more permanent basis, just as tighthead Taniela Tupou’s battering ram charges deserve to be exploited right from the start.

Lolesio, to be fair, came off the bench and took the ball courageously to the line, demonstrating that his hesitant debut in Sydney gave very little hint of his true potential. Tate McDermott threatened, as he always does, from the ruck base but he also showed his kicking is becoming more targeted. Nonetheless, starting halfback Nic White demonstrated a relentless accuracy with the boot and there is no question NZ were seriously exposed by tantalising box kicks.