Rennie era is a passing ‘C’ grade

One win out of five. It was against the All Blacks but by then the Bledisloe Cup had already been lost for another year. So how do we grade Dave Rennie’s start to his Wallabies career?

Wallabies head coach Dave Rennie has had a difficult start to his tenure

One win out of five. It was against the All Blacks but by then the Bledisloe Cup had already been lost for another year. Two draws thrown in, both disappointing in their own way. And they do nothing for the coach’s winning percentage.

An inconclusive sort of season. Everyone sympathised with Dave Rennie, having to start off his international coaching career with four straight Tests against the All Blacks, but sympathy doesn’t last long in this game. Not nailing the Wellington Test was a waste. NZ showed signs of a revival in Auckland before putting the Wallabies to the sword at ANZ Stadium – the Bizzaro World equivalent of what Eden Park is to the All Blacks. They can’t lose there. Australia can’t win at Stadium Australia.

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By contrast, the Wallabies won in Brisbane, as they have been making a habit of lately, but even before the game, the suspicion was growing that this wasn’t a vintage crop of All Blacks. So it proved when they lost a second match in succession, for the first time in nine years, the following week to the Pumas. Who then came from 15-6 down in the final quarter to force a 15-15 draw with the Wallabies.

So it’s an inconclusive report card that Rennie is handed at the end of his first year. Not the resounding “A” that we – and no doubt he – hoped for, but then who looked at the cobbled-together draw match schedule and confidently predicted the Wallabies would wipe the floor with the All Blacks? But not a “B” either. Those two drawn matches would have needed to fall in the “win column” for that to happen.

A “C” then. Not good, not bad. A promise of better work to come but also with no guarantees of further relapses along the way. Making progress, but needs more time.

And now a close breakdown of the Rennie report card …

Fullback: Fuzzy at the start of the season. Still fuzzy. Too soon to talk of a reconciliation with you-know-who? Pity. So much attack in international football these days comes from the fullback and Australia is largely missing out.

Tom Banks played there in four of the five Tests and had the good sense not to be selected for Sydney. Has been safe under the high ball and makes his tackles but is yet to translate his running game to Test football. He has now reached double-digits – 10 Tests — without ever igniting a match. Dane Haylett-Petty? Solid, always beats the first defender. Could return to the side for the season-ender against the Pumas next Saturday. Jack Maddocks? Largely unsighted.

Wingers: Biggest growth area in the side, Marika Koroibete is one of only five players to start every Test and, if anything, has improved his game from last year when he won the John Eales Medal. Tom Wright looks comfortably at home after only two Tests. Filipo Daugunu has shown his shortcomings but also his upside. Worth persevering with.

Centres: Australia covered for the injured Matt To’omua pretty well. Hunter Paisami has shown astonishing improvement in every facet of his game. Still raw but he has handled every challenge so far.

Jordan Petaia looks exceptional but it’s about to get tougher for him. Defenders always show him the outside and he invariably takes it. Pumas chopped him down pretty effectively. Can’t do it all on his own.

Five-eighth: Rennie would love to marry James O’Connor’s game savvy with Reece Hodge’s prodigious right boot. They are two of the most versatile Wallabies of all time but five-eighth is a specialist position. Happily Noah Lolesio and Will Harrison look like vying for the 10 jersey for years to come, each offering a contrasting style of play.

Halfback: Nic White has weaknesses to his game, namely his cross-field running, but while his box kicking remains world-class he probably will remain the first-choice No 9. Tate McDermott is genuinely exciting but still has a lot to learn.

Backrow: The one area Rennie can’t get right and the problem rests largely with Michael Hooper. As a footballer, he is indispensable. As a flanker, he unbalances the backrow unit. Harry Wilson impressed on debut against the All Blacks and has kept on impressing. Rough skills but a huge engine and once he learns the art of running good support lines, he will be dynamite. Six? It probably should be Hooper but he is too small. Pity we didn’t see more of Lachie Swinton. Time to pick and stick.

Locks: Not the disaster Australians thought it would be. Covid thwarted the Giteau Law and Australia was forced to make do with homegrown talent, Matt Philip, Lukhan Salakaia-Loto and Rob Simmons. All up, they have done well. There is no Maro Itoje or Sam Whitelock there but the Wallabies managed reasonably well without the likes of Rory Arnold or Will Skelton.

Props: Had James Slipper not hurt his shoulder he would have started at loosehead in all five Tests. His defence has been enormous, so too his scrummaging. Angus Bell made an impressive debut which left everyone wanting more but it’s unlikely we will see a return to the days of Scott Sio starting 27 Tests in a row at loosehead.

Taniela Tupou demonstrated in Brisbane what a world-beater he can be but he needs to take the ragged edges out of his game. Allan Alaalatoa is a more than handy replacement and indeed started in two Testrs but it is the inconsistent Tupou who offers a point of difference.

Hooker: Given that he did not even feature on Rennie’s original team, Brandon Paenga-Amosa has done well to start the last four Tests at hooker. He is a good scrummager and effective around the field but his only real weaknesses is his lineout throwing. Folau Fainga’a is doing enough to hold down the reserves berth but he looks capable of more.

The unexpected winners this season have been debutants Wilson, Paisami and Wright. But what is entirely unexpected is the way Pete Samu has dropped off the radar after being named as Rennie’s original starting No 8. Not saying he should take Wilson’s place but he may have something to offer at blindside flanker. And speaking of which, whatever happened to Isi Naisarani?

Rennie has done remarkably well pulling together the team under bizarre circumstances this season. In his case, “second season syndrome” might not be as harrowing for him as for his 10 debutants. He inherited a broken team. On current indications, it’s well on the way to being healed.