Dave Rennie not surprised at Australia's improving Super Rugby fortunes
The improved results of Australian Super Rugby Pacific teams may have surprised many but not Wallabies coach Dave Rennie, who said the signs were there.
The Waratahs, who didn’t win a single game last season and were paying $15 against the Crusaders, knocked over New Zealand heavyweights last round.
The Brumbies made it two from two, adding the scalp of the Hurricanes to their Kiwi collection.
Melbourne held out Auckland-based Moana Pasifika while Queensland and the Western Force both came within a try of victories over New Zealand teams.
The Perth side was particularly gallant, keeping the ladder-leading Blues try-less in the second half of their 22-18 defeat.
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The win record for that one round eclipsed the entire season of Super Rugby Trans-Tasman last year, when Australian teams only managed a miserly two from 25 games.
Upon taking over as Wallabies coach in early 2020, Rennie immediately identified fitness as a “non-negotiable” if the Australian players wanted to go toe-to-toe with the likes of the All Blacks.
He said a game-plan and skills would count for little if conditioning fell away at crucial moments.
With the Australian set-up working more closely with the Super Rugby sides, they are starting to reap the rewards.
“We gather GPS data from all the sides and our sports scientist Warwick Harrington goes through all of that and he shares information back to the clubs around the intensity and various numbers that are important to us,” Rennie told AAP.
“There’s been a distinct improvement this year and we’ve seen the benefits of that on the park.
“We’re really happy with the shifts made at Super level and I think our players are better conditioned.”
The skill levels of Australian players have also lagged behind their trans-Tasman counterparts but Rennie felt they were also on the up.
To compete technically and tactically he said they had to get the basics right.
“Skillsets have improved and there’s been a lot of emphasis put on that and at test level there’s even more pressure so we’ve still got a way to go,” said Rennie. “But there’s been good shifts, I reckon, and we’ve seen that on the weekend.
“It gives us confidence, it gives our players confidence to know that playing against some of the best players in the world they can stand up.”
Heading into round 12 the Brumbies sit second on the Super Rugby ladder and have scored the same number of tries as the table-topping Blues, with 41.
On Saturday they travel to Waikato to face the fourth-placed Chiefs, who lead many of the competition statistics.
The last time the Brumbies won three in a row against New Zealand opposition was in back 2014 when they bowed out in the semi-finals and the Wararahs won the trophy – the most-recent title by an Australian team.
The match will give a clearer indication of the real credentials of the Australian teams, given they all failed miserably on New Zealand soil last year.
Queensland currently sit fifth, the Waratahs sixth, the Rebels eighth and Western Force ninth, with the top eight playing finals, but that will be given a shake-up by the New Zealand teams when they’re hosting Australian teams in the closing rounds.
– Melissa Woods
Comments on RugbyPass
Pick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
15 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
4 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
4 Go to commentsAI is only as good as the information put in, the nuances of the sport, what you see out the corner of the eye, how you sum up in a split second the situation, yes the AI is a tool but will not help win games, more likely contribute to a loss, Rugby Players are not robots, all AI can do if offer a solution not the solution. AI will effect many sports, help train better golfers etc.
45 Go to commentsIt couldn’t have been Ryan Crotty. He wasn’t selected in either World Cup side - they chose Money Bill instead. And Money Bill only cared about himself, and that manager he had, not the team.
26 Go to commentsYawn 🥱 nobody would give a hoot about this new trophy. End of the day we just have to beat Ireland and NZ this year then they can finally shut up 🤐
15 Go to commentsTalking bout Ryan Crotty? Heard Crotty say in a interview once that SBW doesen't care about the team . He went on to say that whenever they lost a big game, SBW would be happy as if nothing happened, according to him someone who cares would look down.. Personally I think Crotty is in the wrong, not for feeling gutted but for expecting others 2 be like him… I have been a bad loser forever as it matters so much to me but good on you SBW for being able to see the bigger picture….
26 Go to commentsThis sounds like a WWE idea so Americans can also get excited about rugby, RUGBY NEEDS A INTERNATIONAL CALENDER .. The rugby Championship and Six Nations can be held at same time, top 3 of six nations and top 3 of Rugby championship (6 nations should include Georgia AND another qualifying country while Fiji, Japan and Samoa/Tonga qualifier should make out 6 Southern teams).. Scrap June internationals and year end tours. Have a Elite top six Cup and the Bottom 6 in a secondary comp….
15 Go to commentsThe rugby championship would be even stronger with Fiji in it… I know it doesen’t fit the long term plans of NZ or Aus but you are robbing a whole nation of being able to see their best players play for Fiji…. Every second player in NZ and AUS teams has Fijian surnames… shame on you!!! World rugby won’t step in either as France and England has now also joined in…. I guess where money is involved it will always be the poor countries missing out….
84 Go to commentsNo surprise there. How hard can it be to pick a ball off the ground and chuck it to a mate? 😂
2 Go to commentsSometimes people just like a moan mate!
4 Go to commentsexcellent idea ! rugby needs this 💪
15 Go to comments9 Brumbies! What a joke! The best performing team in Oz! Ditch Skelton for Swain or Neville. Ryan Lonergan ahead of McDermott any day! Best selection bolter is Toole … amazing player
14 Go to commentsI like this, but ultimately rugby already has enough trophies. Trying to make more games “consequential" might prove to be a fools errand, although this is a less bad idea than some others. Minor quibble with the title of the article; it isn’t very meaningful to say the boks are the unofficial world champions when it would be functionally impossible for the Raeburn trophy not to be held by the world champions. There’s a period of a few months every 4 years when there is no “unofficial” world champion, and the Raeburn trophy is held by the actual world champions.
15 Go to commentsIts a great idea but one that I dont think will have a lot of traction. It will depend on the prestige that they each hold but if you can do that it would be great. When Japan beat the Boks (my team) I was absolutely devestated but I wont deny the great game they played that day. We were outclassed and it was one of the best games of rugby I have seen. Using an idea like this you might just give the the underdog teams more of an opportunity to beat the big teams and I can absolutely see it being a brilliant display of rugby. They beat us because they planned for that game. It was a great moment for Japan. This way we can remove the 4 year wait and give teams something to aim for outside of World Cup years.
15 Go to commentsHi, Dave here. Happy to answer questions 🥰
15 Go to commentsDon’t think that headline is accurate. It’s great to see Aus doing better but I’m not sure they’ve shown much threat to the top of the table. They shouldn’t be inflating wins against the lousy Highlanders and Crusaders either.
3 Go to comments