Old hands vs new philosophers: The Super Rugby semifinals coaching battles
It’s only fair that most of the focus ahead of this weekend’s Super Rugby finals will be on the players but, as Scotty Stevenson writes, both crucial clashes will also be defined by a battle between the old and new schools of professional coaches.
Dave Rennie has never been one to mince his words. To be perfectly honest, he doesn’t usually dispense enough of them to make mince in the first place. When he does talk, he most often takes the opportunity to ask a question, and when I say ask a question I mean demand an answer. He’s what you might call the strong silent type, though give him a win and a beer and a guitar and he can carry a fine tune. His go-to conversational play is to make a statement and finish with an elongated “sooooo….” Leaving you to draw your own conclusions, which of course are the same conclusions Dave Rennie has already drawn, he’d just rather you said it, not him.
Scott Robertson is always talking because in his world there is always something that needs articulating. Either that or he uses conversation as a way to discharge enough of his reservoir of energy to ensure he doesn’t explode. Restless and relentlessly upbeat, the man known as Razor is just as happy fist-bumping his frontrowers as he is forensically dissecting a defensive screen. When he sends text messages they are punctuated with emoji. If there was an emoji for Razor it would be a guy on a surfboard holding a lightning bolt. He needs constant mental stimulation, and once told a player who was presenting to the team that he was boring everyone. Nothing like a bit of honesty, then.
There are similarities between the two coaches: they both command loyalty, they both have sensational playing rosters, they both have tasted provincial championship success – Rennie with Wellington and the Robertson with Canterbury – and they both have coached the New Zealand under-20 team to world titles. Yet, for all that, they are very different men who bring very different styles to their craft. If the pair were muppets, Rennie would be Rowlf the Dog and Robertson would be the entire Electric Mayhem ensemble.
Chris Boyd is a lot like Dave Rennie, though I cannot tell you how well he sings. Like Rennie he is from the old school, first coaching club rugby in Wellington in the 1980s and then taking the reins at the senior provincial level after Rennie’s tenure there came to an end in 2002. Boyd is a man who dresses a complicated mind in a cloak of simplicity and there is an artful direction in the way he coaches; he seems to be simultaneously adjusting the details while standing back and surveying the bigger picture. He coaches the way Dali must have painted Gala Contemplating the Mediterranean Sea, adding each brush stroke and then retreating to witness the hidden portrait of Lincoln come to fruition.
He is a traditional man who, with his assistants John Plumtree, Richard Watt and Dan Cron, has instilled in the Hurricanes a respect for graft and the hard yards. It’s worked. Under Boyd the Canes have twice been to the Super Rugby final and last year claimed a maiden championship. He has been able to alloy to the Hurricanes willingness to attack an awareness of how those opportunities are created.
In Johannesburg, Johan Ackermann has done the reverse. He has been able to unlock a creative instinct that was once buried in the belief that rugby was only about the hard yards and set piece dominance. Ackermann, like Robertson, has an affinity with his charges that comes predominantly from the fact he was once one of them – a Super Rugby player with the very team he now coaches. Like Robertson he has brought with him a different kind of energy, and a new level of success.
His players call him ‘Akkies’ and obviously love him. He told them after the loss to the Jaguares this year that he would grow a beard and only shave it off when they lost again. Presumably he will also shave it off if the Lions win the Super Rugby title because he leaves after this season to coach at English Premiership club Gloucester. He currently resembles a Nordic lumberjack yet his players say his formidable physique belies his caring and thoughtful approach.
For the Hurricanes, there is an inherent trust in Chris Boyd and his methods. He is a wise Yoda who has stood the test of time. For the Lions there is a desire to send off their big brother figure with a first-ever franchise title. Those motivations come with different emotional impacts.
And that is precisely why these semifinals have that added sense of intrigue. Each will pit a title-winning veteran coach against a new wave philosopher. The results could tell us whether the new age has dawned, or whether old school experience still counts in the coaching box.
Comments on RugbyPass
Wasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
3 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
3 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
3 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 commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick 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.
30 Go to comments