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Jamie Joseph’s classy gesture after All Blacks coaching snub
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Dave Rennie's simple outlook on where the All Blacks can improve
By Henry Lee
62-year-old new All Blacks head coach Dave Rennie has already given fans and pundits around the world a peek behind the curtains, outlining where he believes the All Blacks can improve.
Less than twelve hours after being announced as the new head coach of the All Blacks, the former Wallabies and Chiefs head coach is already clear on the specific aspects of the game he will attack first and foremost in the role.
Former All Blacks head coach Scott Robertson departed his role on January 15, and since then, a thorough and long process has been done by the New Zealand Rugby board and the appointed selection panel.
The detailed process included a Rennie requested trip for NZR CEO Steve Lancaster and former All Black Dane Coles to Japan, where the two selection panelists were on the ground to witness trainings and team meetings.
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Then the four hour long face-to-face interviews took place on Tuesday with both Jamie Joseph and Rennie, where NZR Chair David Kirk and the panel made the decision to appoint the latter as the team’s new head coach.
Rennie, who was clear he didn’t want to throw the previous regime under the bus, made it known that he wants his All Blacks side to be exceptional at the simple parts of the game.
“I mentioned in the press conference. I don’t want to go into massive detail, because I end up throwing someone under the bus, and that’s not fair,” Rennie told Jeff Wilson in a Sky Sport interview.
“But i’ve watched a lot of the All Blacks footy through this process, and cut 100 clips type of thing to give me a real clear understanding of shifts we can make.
“I think we need to be brilliant at basics, and so that got a lot of time put into the simple parts of our game, our footwork through contact, that ability to create one on one situations where we get better gain line and faster ball.
“And the quality of our catch and pass and their decision making and consistency around our lines and detail and I think if we can raise the bar in lots of areas, you know make a difference, and so that’ll be a focus for us.”
When asked about what specific things All Blacks fans and the public should be expecting from his side, Rennie didn’t hesitate with his response.
“I mean, what they should expect to see is that we will be really well organised. You know, I want us to have real clarity, and it’ll take a little bit of time, but I’m clear on the type of game we want to play,” the new head coach told Sky Sport NZ.
“And the athlete we need to play that game and the absolute detail within that so we’ll be really driving that and I want to surround our players with quality people.
“We’ve got 15 months, it’s going to be a sprint to a World Cup, so having people who I think can create change and make a difference will be ideal. I think we can do that.”
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