Former All Black Dan Carter weighs in on Rennie's axing
Dan Carter is backing ousted Wallabies mentor Dave Rennie to land on his feet and coach again at international level after being abruptly sacked by Rugby Australia.
With the World Cup looming, the All Blacks great expects Rennie’s successor Eddie Jones will harness the emotions of Test rugby to revitalise the faltering Wallabies.
A spring tour that yielded two wins from five games proved the last straw for Rennie, who was axed last week with the worst win percentage of the professional era and just under a year to run on his contract.
Carter played against the Chiefs during Rennie’s time coaching the Super Rugby side and despite the poor recent results said the dismissal had surprised him.
“I just felt like there was no communication or anything and then all of a sudden it kind of just came out of the blue,” he told AAP.
“He had a lot of respect from the players.
“You know that he’s a good coach, whether the record has shown that or not.”
Prior to his Wallabies appointment, Rennie led the Chiefs to the Super Rugby title twice in two years, beating Carter and the Crusaders in the semi-finals on both occasions.
It was this Super Rugby rivalry that first introduced Rennie to Carter, and that has left him without doubt Rennie will coach at the top level again.
“They were tough,” Carter said of Rennie’s Chiefs.
“They were really physical, really passionate. They really did challenge and test us a lot.
“In terms of culture you can often see when teams are playing for their coach, there’s so much respect in it. The Chiefs were definitely doing that when he was coaching there.
“I’m sure further down the track he’ll be coaching international rugby again.”
One of Carter’s earliest memories with the All Blacks was sitting on the bench as Jones’ Wallabies pulled off a stunning semi-final upset at the 2003 Rugby World Cup.
When he was coaching England, Jones upset the All Blacks in the corresponding fixture at the 2019 World Cup.
“Sometimes you felt like they knew what you were going to do before you even did it,” Carter said of playing against teams coached by Jones.
“They’re well-prepared sides.
“He just brings out the emotion of the players as well. He’ll draw inspiration from the rivalry that New Zealand and Australia has.
“That’ll start with the Bledisloe Cup games in the middle of the year. That’ll be a really exciting time to see exactly where the two teams are placed.”
As for the international calendar beyond that, Carter said all options were on the table.
“If you’ve seen rugby recently it could be one of seven or eight teams that could win that,” he said.
“I think it’s going to be the closest, most exciting Rugby World Cup that’s ever been.”
Comments
Join free and tell us what you really think!
Join Free
Latest Comments
Fully agree but would go further. The RFU Council needs a fundamental overhaul. The incompetence on display over recent years is staggering. One simple question I have is who is in charge of PR and Media Relations? These people are allowing the sport to be led by the nose by those who hate the fact rugby is a physical (and therefore has an associated risk). This constant handwringing about the risks of the game mean the main takeaway for potential future players is almost entirely negative. They even thought announcing a fundamental and surprise law change with the obvious ramifications JUST BEFORE THE 6 NATIONS was a good idea!!!
Go to commentsthe risk of serious knee injury could go up as well and as a amateur player id rather have a concussion over torn knee ligaments rugby league it is i guess since union players already dive straight into peoples knees majority of the time with out wrapping arms in tackles which refs dont seem to call at amateur or pro level.
Go to comments