Dawn of Dave Rennie era as old and new Wallabies go back to school

As much as Dave Rennie was sizing up his players on Tuesday they too were running the ruler over the new Wallabies coach.

Harry Wilson joins his first Wallabies training session at Crowne Plaza in the Hunter Valley. Picture: Andrew Phan

As much as Dave Rennie was sizing up his players in their first-ever run under him on Tuesday in the Hunter Valley, they too were running the ruler over the new Wallabies coach and, from all reports, both parties liked what they were seeing.

Jordan Petaia, in particular, pleased his new boss and that was by doing pretty much nothing at all. But the word from the medical staff was that the hip flexor injury the 20-year-old flyer sustained putting Harry Wilson away for Queensland’s opening try against the Brumbies in the grand final on Saturday was not as serious as first reported. While Petaia did not join in training, the belief is that he might well be right in time for the opening Bledisloe Test against the All Blacks in Wellington on October 11.

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With 16 uncapped players in the squad of 44, new faces abounded. But more importantly, there was a new mindset running through the camp. The trans-Tasman relationship has been shaped by the grim fact that not since they handed over the Bledisloe Cup to the All Blacks on August 16, 2003 at Eden Park have the Wallabies laid hands on the trophy for anything other than photo shoots. Australia has won eight only of 47 Tests to NZ since then, never seriously stringing enough wins together to have any hope of reclaiming it.

Dave Rennie ovesees his first Wallabies training session. Picture: Andrew Phan

But, as Wilson noted on Tuesday, those endless defeats haven’t been the experience of the younger generations of Australian players. The Under 18s, the Under 20s, all scored decisive wins over New Zealand last year. And while enough of the old hard heads remain to give the All Blacks overwhelming favouritism going into the 2020 series, they might just encounter a Wallabies side whose expectation is of victory, not defeat.

“That’s one of the views we have here, we want to win and we are not going to shy away from that,” said Wilson, who played number eight in the Junior Wallabies side that lost to France in the Under 20 World Cup final by a point last year, having beaten the New Zealanders along the way.

“I guess that’s the past. They have won the past. But there are so many new people in here and yes, a lot of us haven’t lost to them. And even those that have, Australia has been improving a lot recently. We have new coaches, new everything here so it’s a fresh start and we look forward to it.”

Centre Irae Simone grew up a Wallabies fan despite being from New Zealand

Brumbies centre Irae Simone also sensed a change in the wind. Following his selection in the Australian team, Simone’s parents reminded him a homemade video they had made when he was 11 or 12. In it, they asked him what team he wanted to play for and he had no hesitation in answering “the Wallabies”. Nothing unusual about that. Thousands of kids would give that answer. Thousands of Australian kids. But Simone was a Kiwi growing up in South Auckland and wouldn’t cross the ditch until he had finished school.

“Back then, the Wallabies were at their peak,” said Simone, who was won over by the heady play of Matt Giteau. “It’s fair to say they have dropped down a few pegs in the last couple of years but I am with a special group here that will take it up again. Something special is brewing in this group and hopefully we can turn that into a winning mindset and win a few games.”

Wingers Reece Hodge and James Ramm face off. Picture: Andrew Phan

So while the uncapped players were taken back to their first day at school, even the 30-plus veterans, the James Slippers and Rob Simmons, the James O’Connor and Matt To’omua and Dane Haylett-Petty and Nic Whites all found themselves paying extra attention in the classroom yesterday as Rennie went through how he envisages his Wallabies playing. Then it was out onto the training field to see how much of the “learnings” had been absorbed.

“I’m liking the style that he wants,” said Simone. “It’s quick footy, mate. We want to play up-speed with a lot of tempo, a lot of good skills, playing smart footy. And on the back of them we want to be physical. We want to be dominant around the breakdown and that’s what we want. We just want to be physical. That’s what he is after and that’s what everyone is going to buy into. And off the back of that, play with a lot of skill and play some good footy.”

The “physical” part of the message would have been familiar enough, especially to the survivors of Michael Cheika 2019 World Cup campaign, but the repeated emphasis on skill — now this was new, even if vintage Rennie.

“On the field today he was running most of the drills and he was really good at keeping us honest and making sure we are doing everything 100 per cent,” said Wilson. “He knows how important it is against the NZ teams not to slack off. So he was really big today on doing everything right.”