Dave Rennie addresses Wallabies job speculation
Dave Rennie has shrugged off suggestions that he is in line to coach the Wallabies after the World Cup, saying that he would not quit his role with Glasgow Warriors for the Australian job.
Murmurings within Australian rugby circles hinted that Rennie would be Rugby Australia’s favoured option to take over from incumbent coach Michael Cheika from 2020 onwards if Wales coach Warren Gatland and England coach Eddie Jones were unavailable for the position.
Australia’s new director of rugby Scott Johnson is believed to be a fan of Rennie’s, with the duo both based in Scotland up until the end of the most recent Six Nations, when Johnson departed his role as Scotland’s director of rugby.
However, Rennie put those rumours to rest when quizzed about the topic by The Telegraph.
“It’s just a bit of speculation, as often happens when there’s a potential job up for grabs,” he said.
“I certainly haven’t spoken to anyone, and my contract with Glasgow takes me through until the middle of 2020. I’d imagine from an international point of view most of these jobs are going to be gobbled up straight after a World Cup.
“I knew that was probably going to be the case when I signed on for another season, so it’s just speculation.
“You never say never, but what I’ve said is I’m assuming that, like a lot of teams, they’ll probably make changes in coaches immediately after the World Cup. That’s November 2019. I’m committed here until July 2020, so that’s why it’s unlikely.”
The former back-to-back Super Rugby title-winning Chiefs coach will now turn his focus to the remainder of the Pro14 and European Champions Cup season with Glasgow.
The Warriors currently sit atop of their conference in the Pro14 with four regular season matches left to play, but Irish juggernauts Munster trail them by just three points.
If Rennie’s men can secure victory in their final four fixtures – starting with a home clash against the Cheetahs this weekend – to fight off the threat posed by Munster, then a home semi-final beckons as the Scottish club chase their second Pro14 title following their maiden crown in 2015.
Adding to that is a Champions Cup quarter-final bout with Saracens in London next week, with the club going in search of their first-ever European championship.
It’s a convoluted run of important fixtures across two competitions, but it’s a schedule that Rennie is relishing.
“The tough run is really good for us,” he said.
“This time last year we were 20 points clear and there was not a lot of edge about us.
“The previous three teams we played apart from Zebre were third in our conference and us getting points has increased the gap -between us.
“We have some tough games going into the play-offs which is good for us. We are excited by that and if we are good enough we will qualify top. If not we will still be in the mix somewhere.”
Watch – NRL chasing SBW again:
Comments on RugbyPass
“While Sotutu should start at No.8 for the All Blacks against England, but it’s only in that arena that he can prove just how good he really is.” And that my friends is where simply hasnt shone despite multiple opportunities. Even in this performance you can see what did him in in the test arena..he almost always still runs at the opposition almost ramrod upright making him easier to stop than it should be.
1 Go to commentsShould have been 0-0 and a message from SR CEO to both teams - “don’t worry about turning up next year”.
3 Go to commentsGreat work Owen Franks. A great of this team, scoring his first try for the Crusaders since 2010.He was beaming, justifiably. A fine win, he and the rest did the job up front.
1 Go to commentsDanny Care. Lang in die tand.
1 Go to commentsBig empty stadium does nothing for atmosphere but munster are playing well with solid performance
1 Go to commentsYes, Fiji can win the World Cup! With that belief plus their christian faith🙏 and hard work it is achievable. Great article. Ian Duncan Fiji resident 1981-84
2 Go to commentsInteresting comments about Touch. England’s hosting the Touch World Cup this year and the numbers have exploded since their last World Cup in 2019, something like 70% more teams and 40 nations taking part. And England Touch have made a big thing about how many universities are in their BUCS University Touch Championship as well as Sport England membership. Can only see this growing even more domestically as more people become aware of it
10 Go to comments“Cortez Ratima is light years ahead of anyone on current form, while TJ Perenara has also skyrocketed into contention following the unfortunate injury to the talented Cam Roigard.” At last some sanity. Hitherto so many pundits have been wittering on about Finlay Christie to the point one wondered if they were observing a FC in a parallel universe where the FC they saw wasnt just the mediocre Shayne Philpott project of Fosters hapless AB reign in the real world. Ratima, Perenara and Fakatava are the ONLY logical 9s for Razor now Roigard is crocked.
3 Go to commentsThis game was just as painful as the Hurricanes game. It was real fork-in-the-eye stuff.
3 Go to commentsNow if they could just fire the Crusaders ground PA guy who likes to play his dance music and just loves the sound of his own voice the entire game, even when play is going on. And I thought their brass band thing of a few years ago was bad.
5 Go to commentsUnfortunately when you lose by far the two form players this season in Roigard and Aumua, you're left replacing two game changing Tanks with a couple of pea-shooters. Which is also about the speed of TJs pass.
4 Go to commentsBit rich coming from the guy with zero loyalty to anyone or any team, including happily taking a players place in a league world cup squad because well, SBW wanted to play in it and thus an already named player got told he was no longer going. And airing stuff like this, which may or may not be true, doesn't exactly say you're a stand up guy either SBW. Just looking to keep his name in lights as usual.
38 Go to commentsTamati Tua. …the Taniwha NPC midfielder. Ollie Sapsford, Hawkes Bay NPC midfielder…doing well
4 Go to commentsFiji deserve to be in the rugby championship, fans love seeing the Fijian national team play, the Fijian Drua is a wonderful idea but the players can still be stolen to play for NZ and AUS…
2 Go to commentsThe first concern for this afternoon are wheather forecast…
1 Go to commentsWhy cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to comments