Dave Rennie could leave Wallabies post if Raelene Castle is sacked - report
Rugby Australia could lose more than just their chief executive should Raelene Castle be axed from her position.
According to a report from the Sydney Morning Herald, incoming Wallabies head coach Dave Rennie would reconsider his future if Castle is let go by RA.
Castle has come under heavy criticism in recent times as the coronavirus pandemic has laid bare RA’s financial issues and forced the organisation to further delay its broadcast deal negotiations.
With no rugby to be played for the foreseeable future, the professional and community game faces an uncertain future as RA stares down the barrel of a financial loss of up to $120 million.
Rennie, who was seeing out the remainder of the PRO14 campaign with the Glasgow Warriors before coronavirus halted its progress, was due to join the Wallabies set-up before their test series against Ireland in July.
The SMH reports that Rennie is rattled by speculation over Castle’s future, and would reassess his plans if she was sacked.
The two-time Super Rugby-winning coach has spoken highly of Castle since signing on with RA, citing that his decision to take the Wallabies job offer came from a long lunch with the former Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs and Netball New Zealand boss last year.
For all the havoc that COVID-19 has wreaked since it exploded into life, it may have provided Kiwi rugby with at least one small silver lining.
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— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) April 6, 2020
“I had a lot of time to think about it. I got an approach from Australia reasonably early on, so I did my homework,” he said in January.
“Raelene flew to Jersey, we had a sit down for a few hours. She really impressed me. Smart and tough, really keen for change, and driven. The fact I know [director of rugby Scott Johnson], I felt the leadership here was really strong, I felt they’d have my back. That was a big part of it.”
Rennie’s acquisition at the end of 2019 was a big win for RA after two years of disappointment which culminated in poor test results, the Israel Folau drama and a quarter-final exit at the World Cup.
The 56-year-old only put pen to paper for the Wallabies job after Castle and director of rugby Scott Johnson spent six months trying to lure the former Chiefs and New Zealand U20 coach from his job in Scotland.
Should Rennie follow Castle out the door in Australia, it would undo a significant amount of work which led to the signing of one of the most world’s most highly-regarded coaches.
Will Genia is saying what everyone else is thinking. #Wallabieshttps://t.co/p6KZh8nVX2
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) April 5, 2020
Without Rennie at the helm, the Wallabies would have no head coach, which could force Johnson to step in as interim head coach alongside assistants Scott Wisemantel and Matt Taylor.
Brumbies boss Dan McKellar was understood to have been pursued by Rennie and Johnson as the new forwards coach for the Wallabies, and he could act as an emergency option if need be.
However, SMH reports it’s unlikely he would desert the Brumbies in such circumstances after they were left hanging in second place at the time of the Super Rugby suspension following round seven.
Castle said last week that RA’s cost-cutting efforts – which has seen her own salary slashed by 50 percent, staff wages drop by 30 percent and 75 percent of staff stood down until July 1 – wouldn’t impact Rennie immediately.
The organisation is currently staring down a revenue hole of $120 million if faced with the worst-case scenario of no rugby being played for the remainder of the year.
Comments on RugbyPass
Why 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 commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
4 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
30 Go to comments