Jamie Joseph’s classy gesture after All Blacks coaching snub

Despite just falling short of getting the coveted All Blacks head coaching role, current Highlanders coach Jamie Joseph reached out to Dave Rennie almost immediately after he received the news.

NZR Chair David Kirk directly called Joseph on Wednesday morning to give him the disappointing news around his unsuccessful application for the head coaching role, after three to four hours of face-to-face interviews on Tuesday.

Joseph and Rennie became two leading candidates pretty quickly after NZR announced the details of the application process, after former head coach Scott Robertson departed his role on January 15.

The appointment process included a trip for part of the selection panel to both Highlanders and Kobe Steelers trainings respectively, where NZR interim CEO Steve Lancaster and Dane Coles were in person to witness on-field sessions and team meetings.

Then came the in-person interviews this week, where Rennie emerged as the successful candidate to lead the All Blacks towards the 2027 Rugby World Cup in 2027.

The new All Blacks head coach was quick to highlight the message conversation he had with Joseph, the morning of the announcement.

“I’ll just add to what David said there. Jake (Joseph) messaged me immediately after he found out this morning, which shows the class of the man just congratulating me,” Rennie told media in Auckland.

The 62-year-old former Wallabies and Chiefs head coach was keen to catch up with Joseph if the timing aligned, as both face-to-face interviews with the selection panel took place in the past few days in Auckland.

“I was hoping his interview was yesterday morning, mine was yesterday afternoon, so we could have a beer last night just to catch up. But I really appreciate his message.”

Kirk, who also spoke to media in Auckland after the announcement, explained the long, and detailed process that the appointment panel went through to make this decision.

“I just wanted to start by just running through the process so everyone understands the comprehensiveness of the process that we’ve undertaken.

“Five people were chosen to undertake the selection job for the new head coach of the All Blacks, and Keven Mealamu and myself are both on the board.

“First was to visit the candidates in their own environment, and so two people, two members of the five member panel, traveled up to Japan and spent time and a full day with Dave.

“We took references from five referees, and they weren’t necessarily the referees that were recommended by the coaches. We really wanted to understand, and hear from people who had been coached by the candidates, and also understood the environment they created and the way they set teams up for long-term success.

“Then finally, we had a three to four hour interview with candidates, and that was over the last couple of days, and at the end of that exhaustive process, there was a board meeting this morning of New Zealand Rugby board, and there’s unanimous endorsement of Dave Rennie head coach of the All Blacks which we’re absolutely delighted about.”

Before handing over to Rennie, Kirk revealed some details about the conversation he had with Joseph on Tuesday morning, after letting him know the news.

“People will be aware that Jamie Joseph was in the process, and was the other candidate, which went right down to the wire. I talked to Jamie this morning, and let him know that he was not going to be appointed as the head coach.

“He took that news very graciously and had very positive comments to say about Dave as a great appointment for us.”

“He is an excellent coach and someone who’s doing great work in New Zealand Rugby, and we’re looking forward to what we hope having him in and around the New Zealand Rugby environment at all sorts of levels for a long time to come. Wonderful man and a great coach.”