Dave Rennie can't make the same mistake as Razor with the All Blacks

I was a journalism student when I first interviewed Dave Rennie.

He was Wellington coach at the time and I was, well, a waste of his time quite frankly. Nervous, dim, I had no idea what I was doing.

Rennie was patient. He was encouraging, calm. He treated ill-informed questions as pertinent ones and almost coached me along in the art of interviewing.

Most of all, Rennie didn’t make me feel small. He didn’t lord his status over me or show any signs of contempt.

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The Aotearoa Rugby Pod look at the All Blacks’ 74% winning percentage and discuss whether it was okay or not. Watch the full show on RugbyPass TV.

Watch now

He could have. Lots of coaches do.

They’re someone and you’re no-one and it’s important for a number of rugby people, be they players, coaches administrators or even communications staff, to remind you of that.

It’s 26 years since I first sat in Rennie’s office. Our paths have crossed plenty of times since and he’s never changed.

I don’t mention this as a way to insert myself into the story of Rennie’s ascension to the position of All Blacks coach. It’s simply to try and demonstrate the quality of the man and give a first-hand illustration of how he treats people.

People should enjoy Rennie, be it the All Blacks themselves or the wider public. They’ll see he’s genuine and that he cares.

Fans should feel proud that he’s the man at the helm of our national team. They’ll never be left cringing or confused.

In a rugby sense, Rennie will have his hands full. His entire repertoire of people skills are going to be required to cajole the players into performing to their potential and putting the greater good ahead of their own.

I see folk expressing curiosity about who Rennie will appoint as assistant coaches. I’m not sure it matters.

Scott Robertson’s All Blacks had no identity. He appeared to stamp his mark on nothing, whether it was the personality of the team or their playing style.

I suspect his attempts were rebuffed by the players, which kind of made him an odd appointment in the first place.

The All Blacks could have had him in 2022, when Ian Foster seemed one defeat away from the sack, and signalled pretty clearly that they didn’t fancy him.

I assume they approve of Rennie, otherwise he wouldn’t have gotten the job. So that’s a start.

But we shouldn’t underestimate the size of the task, nor expect instant results.

There’s a general malaise around the public’s feeling towards the All Blacks and, therefore, rugby in general. Results have been consistently average for a long time now and, rightly or wrongly, people like winners.

The game in New Zealand works if the All Blacks are working.

Rennie is a man with the interests of others at heart. There’s no discernible ego or awareness of his own brand.

I imagine he’ll run a happy All Blacks camp, but the emphasis here is on the fact that he’ll run it. Yes people will be empowered and yes they’ll be valued and yes the environment will be collegial, but there’ll also be a clear figurehead.

That’s why I mentioned the bit about the assistants.

When the tone is clearly and obviously set by someone who has the respect of all involved, things run smoothly.

Robertson, on reflection, didn’t have broad experience. He knew a lot about rugby in Christchurch, but he was potentially ignorant of methods elsewhere as well as being an international novice.

Rennie – win, lose or draw – won’t have to answer criticism that he doesn’t know what he’s doing. His systems have stood up to scrutiny with a variety of teams in a variety of places for decades.

It won’t be his fault if this team doesn’t improve.