Rob Penney's homecoming to the Crusaders franchise that said 'no thanks'
NSW Waratahs coach Rob Penney concedes his side will need things to go their way and play “bloody well,” if he’s to enjoy a first-up Super Rugby win against a side coached by his former assistant.
A quirk of the draw means kiwi Penney returns to the South Island of New Zealand, where his coaching career really took off.
He won four successive national provincial titles with Canterbury, where one of his assistant coaches was Scott Robertson, who has coached the Crusaders to three straight Super titles.
“He’s been a great contributor to the teams he’s been involved with,” new boss Penney said of Robertson.
“He’s a great coach. He’s a really good thinker, a really good people person.”
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Penney also applied for the Crusaders head coaching role – almost 10 years earlier – but missed out to Todd Blackadder.
Penney has selected a youthful NSW side in which Junior Wallabies backs Mark Nawaqanitawase and Will Harrison will each make their debuts against a team that has won 31 consecutive home games.
“We need a few things to go our way and obviously we need to play bloody well,” Penney said.
“We probably need to play one of the best games that we’ve played in a while.
“They’ve got a hungry group, a group that has lost a wee bit of experience out of the core group, but they’ve still got the guts of a really strong unit.
“There’s a number of reasons why they’ll want to go well.
“Being at home, that record of 31 (straight home wins) they won’t be looking at that as a burden.
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“They will be looking at that like it is the wind at their back to drive them on to greater things, so we’ll need things to go our way.”
Penney isn’t expecting any special reception for his return.
“I don’t think there will be one really,” he said.
“There will be a few family and friends dressed in blue which will be lovely, but I think I’m irrelevant, really it’s about the game and the boys.”
– with AAP
Fiji fans feel new coach Vern Cotter is the right appointment to take them forward:
Comments on RugbyPass
Ouch for my team the Bulls but Leinster just in another league in that second half.
1 Go to commentsReally proud to be at last nights game, beating one of our arch rivals Chiefs. Tom Christie did well as captain. He should be the captain when ever Scott Barrett is unavailable. Fine player, Johnny McNicoll was inspirational , he and Sevu Reece compliment each other.
11 Go to commentsConfirmed conclusively that 1. the Chiefs are a one man band 2. DMac is THE vital cog for Robertsons success with the ABs.
1 Go to commentsWrong again Nick! Shoch horror….. This article aged very quickly didnt it.
84 Go to commentsFunny how between 2008-2018 the crusaders did not win the majority of titles… it was spread evenly amongst NZ.
84 Go to commentsThe same might be happening in NZ soon. What is the point of changing the setup to englands Championship?
3 Go to commentsSack the coach.
4 Go to commentsDon’t worry about the Crusaders they have some great talent coming through.
1 Go to commentsThe Crusaders terminally ill team missing 8-9 projected starters at the beginning of the season manhandle a Chiefs team missing just DMac.
84 Go to commentsBig difference from the Crusaders last night. Hotham and McNicoll were sparks but everyone seemed dialed in. Young lock Hannah has no stop and Kellow deserves more game time based on his performance. Being captain seemed to lift Christie’s game and with Strange running the lineout there was a big improvement from Bell (including his brilliant individual try). Good to see Reihana running freely and making a solid contribution from the bench. In the absence of Burke, he makes that backline more potent. Also, good to see Aumua with more of a role. If they can back this up, they could move up the table as some of their “names” return (Barrett, Blackadder, Burke, Taylor, Williams, etc).
11 Go to commentsI think this is unduly harsh. I agree that we must hold them to high standards and that is what they produced in the second half against Italy with 14 men in their first run out for nearly 6 months trying to play an expanded game. Admittedly, the first half was at best disjointed but they worked it out sufficiently to blow Italy out of the water. No other team appears to be able to live with them over 80 minutes at the moment and they still have a huge amount of improvement to make. Their match in France will be the next acid test. That is the next real yardstick.
1 Go to commentsNot sure 700k is worth it. He’ll be coming on for the Hail Mary plays. Cannon fodder.
10 Go to commentsBest situation in the world for the potential of his success in the NFL. Cutthroat, we’ll yeah little buddy, that’s one of the reasons why, at least in the States, it is by far and away the best sports draw. The point is: It’s not only that he’d have Mahomes as his QB, and all the T. Kelce blocking bullshit needs to stop (he’s not a prototypical blocking TE ya numb nuts), it’s that he will have arguably one of the greatest football minds in Andy Reid scheming for him. In the NFL, the most important thing is situation. If the ignoramus Jets signed him, then he’d be screwed from go.
10 Go to commentsWe’re building a bridge but can't agree where the river is.
3 Go to commentsfirst no arms shoulder or helmet tackle into his rib cage is going to be so very painful even to watch. go back to RU mate.
10 Go to commentsBulls by 5. Plus another 50.
4 Go to commentsJohan Goosen avatar. Cute. Surely someone at RP knows how to do a google image search?
4 Go to commentsCan’t these games play a little earlier? Asking for a friend.
4 Go to commentsIt’s impressive that we can see huge stadiums with attendance in the 40 000 to 50 000 region. It shows how popular this competition is becoming. What is even more impressive is the massive growth in broadcast viewership. The URC is one of the two best leagues in the World, the other being the Top14.
7 Go to commentsChristie is not Sottish, like the majority of the Scotland team.
2 Go to comments