Rennie's Wallabies swoop for scrum guru Du Plessis

Departing Glasgow Warriors coach Petrus du Plessis capture by Dave Rennie’s Wallabies is all but a done deal it appears, with the prop and his family set to travel to Australia.

Wallabies boss Rennie has made no secret of his desire to sign the 39-year-old Du Plessis, who has been Glasgow Warriors’ scrum coach since 2018. “If we can get it across the line, there’s more than just the Wallabies, it’s getting around the country working with all national sides and so on but he’d be a great get if we can get it over the line.”

Two weeks ago Glasgow confirmed that the South African had ‘accepted another coaching role’ and it now appears that barring something as yet unseen, he will be Wallabies scrum coach. He will be Rennie’s latest acquisition from Scottish Rugby, with former Scotland and Glasgow coach Matt Taylor returning to the land of his birth as defence coach.

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“This club has such a phenomenal culture,” du Plessis told glasgowwarriors.org this week. “The players and fans were so welcoming to me, right from day one. Scotstoun is such a great place to play, because the fans are so passionate about their club.

Du Plessis became the 300th player to represent Glasgow Warriors when he made his debut against Saracens in the Heineken Champions Cup. The tight-head provided ront-row cover during this year’s Rugby World Cup, before taking up a coaching role.

“I joined as injury cover, then after five or six games Dave [Rennie] asked me if I’d stick around as a scrum coach. I’d been working with Jonathan Humphreys to try and correct some technical things at the scrum, so it was then a case of just taking that and developing it further. It’s been something I’ve thoroughly enjoyed.

“Dave and the team were phenomenal with me. There’s a lot of autonomy, which allows you to put your own spin on things and bring your own expertise. That comes with a lot of trust, and so you work that bit harder to make sure your area doesn’t let anyone down.”

He won two Heineken Champions Cup and three English Premiership titles during his time at Saracens. Before enjoying a stellar professional career playing for Nottingham, Saracens and London Irish in England and then heading across the border to Scotland, du Plessis graduated in physiotherapy from the University of Salford in 2008 when he was playing for Sedgley Park.

Notionally a weakness of the Wallabies, Du Plessis will have his hands full turning their scrum into a weapon, but you wouldn’t bet against him.