Why it is time for another Kiwi to coach the Wallabies
Back to the future, again. When I read the reports that Eddie Jones and Warren Gatland were at the top of Rugby Australia’s wishlist to replace Michael Cheika, I immediately felt exactly how Marty McFly would have felt when told he had to go back to the future.
“Oh get… Weren’t we just there?”
Jones having another crack at the Wallabies would have a lot of fans worried, and there are plenty of punters who think the rot with the Wallabies all started when Robbie Deans came onboard in 2008. I disagree when it comes to Deans, things were looking pear-shaped well before then. But all that aside, there was another name mentioned in those reports that really sparked my interest: Dave Rennie.
I should explain first why Jones and Gatland don’t interest me in the same way Rennie does. Jones is familiar to all, and while his successes with Japan and England are to be admired, I just don’t want any of the b/s he seems to bring with him. The mind games in the media are getting old, and his efforts at diplomacy have not improved based on his current standing with the English clubs. The move towards greater synergy between the Wallabies and the Super Rugby teams does not suit him, nor would taking direction from Scott Johnson.
We were lucky enough to have former Wallaby Lachie Turner on our Pillar to Post podcast this week, and naturally, we discussed these coaches. He made the observation that while 2004 Eddie used to have playbooks the size of an atlas, the 2019 model is much less rigid in his philosophy. I suspect Scott Wisemantel is a positive influence in that regard.
Lachie made another interesting observation regarding Gatland in that he is the type of coach who could have an immediate, positive impact on the team. The scenario he proposed involves signing Gatland on a 2-year contract with an option to extend that allows Rugby Australia to reassess at the midway point in the World Cup cycle, which would allow someone like Dave Wessells to get a look in provided he has enough runs on the board.
Gatland is a better choice than Jones, but still doesn’t really excite me, and I think that’s because none of his Welsh teams have ever excited me. I know I’m in the wrong on this one, as he ticks all the boxes for better rugby minds than mine, but another part of my reasoning is his poor record against the Wallabies. It just strikes me as odd to appoint someone that has had so much trouble against us.
After Robbie Deans, there was a very vocal part of the Australian rugby community that preached we should never again recruit a foreign coach because Australian coaches get better results. Well, time has proved a mockery of that, as Ewen McKenzie and Cheika did not and have not delivered results, and we have no local coaches with the experience or form to call upon to take over when Cheika departs.
Which brings me to Rennie. As an Australian rugby fan, I remember the Chiefs with some fondness before he took over. They were one of those almost mythical beasts in rugby, a New Zealand team we had a good chance against. The way he and Wayne Smith were able to take that side from near cellar dwellers to consecutive Super Rugby champions was nothing short of masterful, and they did it without sweeping changes to the squad. More than anything, what I admired about that team was their support play once they made a break and the way that the overall game plan provided the space and freedom for the extraordinary individual talent in the team to come to the fore.
That Chiefs team was electrifying, and it’s just the sort of rugby we need to get fans back on the Wallaby bandwagon. We have plenty of excitement machines for Rennie to work with in Isreal Folau, Samu Kerevi and Quade Cooper, as well as young talent in Jordan Petaia, Liam Wright and Rob Valentini that would benefit immensely from his influence. He is noted as building great culture in his teams, the absence of which has been a recurring theme in media reports about the Wallabies over the past decade or so.
I appreciate that for Rennie to be involved we would need a caretaker of sorts until he becomes available in mid-2020. This wouldn’t be a hard task at all with the number of coaches Rugby Australia has on the books at the moment, so between Scott Johnson and Stephen Larkham, I am sure they’ll manage.
Turner was a great person to ask about Rennie, as he played against his team for both the Reds and Waratahs, and again during his time at Exeter against Rennie’s Glasgow Warriors.
“Rennie’s teams are all advocates of unstructured play, which is something Australian teams moved away from with Rod Macqueen. There would be a decent teething period with Rennie as a Wallaby coach but you would eventually see the benefits. I am just not sure the Australian rugby public would be patient enough”.
I can understand where he is coming from. The Wallabies haven’t been considered a successful side since the 2015 World Cup and yes, fans are desperate for wins and consistency. I think we need to give our fans more credit though. Rather than an overnight success, what we really want is a Wallaby team that embodies everything we used to love about them. Creativity, toughness and a never-say-die attitude. Dave Rennie’s teams have all had those qualities in spades, and that makes him the man to instill them in the current Wallabies. If he is up for it, then I say bring on Dingo Dave, this fan is in for the long haul.
Reds flyhalf Isaac Lucas ahead of Sunwolves:
Comments on RugbyPass
We’re building a bridge but can't agree where the river is.
2 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.
2 Go to commentsBulls by 5. Plus another 50.
3 Go to commentsJohan Goosen avatar. Cute. Surely someone at RP knows how to do a google image search?
3 Go to commentsCan’t these games play a little earlier? Asking for a friend.
3 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 commentsHold the phone, decline over-rated. Is it a one game, dead cat bounce or the real thing? Has the Penney dropped? Stay tuned.
45 Go to commentsTotally deserved win for the Crusaders Far smarter than the Chiefs who seem to be avoiding the basics when it matters Hotham showed them what was missing and Hannah seems a real find - a tad light but that can be fixed over time
8 Go to commentsGreat insight into the performance culture with Sarries and I predict Christie will be a fixture in the Scotland team now for some time to come. However, he is slightly missing his own point around Scotland “being soft” when he cites physicality examples in defence of that slight. The issue is much closer to the example he referenced around feeling off before a game but being told “it doesn’t matter, you can still play well” by Farrell. Until Scotland can get their psyche in that square, they will carry on folding under extreme pressure…
2 Go to comments> We are having to adapt, evolve and innovate more than when we were in Super Rugby where there was only really one style that everybody had to play to gain the most success. Have = able to? Interesting what that one style might be? I thought SA sides still had bad tours now, or at least bad schedule, months away? Those extra few hours flights have to be a killer though, no surprise to see their sides doing so badly at the start of the season each year. I wouldn’t enjoy that unfairness as a supporter.
7 Go to commentsThe problem for NZ, and Aus, is they ripped up the SR model and lost a massive chunk of revenue that hasn’t been replaced. Don’t forget SA clubs went North because they were left with no choice, Argy unceremoniously binned and Japan cast adrift. Now SR wasn’t perfect, far from it, but they’ve jumped into something without an effective plan, so far, to replace what they’ve lost. The biggest revenue potential now lies in Japan but it won’t be easy or quick to unlock, they are incredibly insular in culture as a nation. In the meantime, there is a serious time bomb sitting under SH rugby and if it happens then the current financial challenges will look like a picnic. IF the Boks follow their provincial teams and head north then it’s revenue meltdown. Not guaranteed to happen but the status quo is a very odd hybrid, with the Boks pointing one way and the clubs pointing the other way. And for as long as that remains then the threat is real.
45 Go to commentsI think Etene has had some good tuition, likely while at the Warriors to be a professional that helped his rugby jump, but he was certainly thrown in the deep end way too early. Should have arguably 20 less SR caps, and therefor a way better record that he does at his age, but his development would have been fast tracked by the need to satiate his signing away from league. Again, credit to him and others that he has done it so well. Easy to fall over under that pressure in the big leagues like that but he kept at it when I myself wasn’t sure he was good enough.
1 Go to commentsAwesome story. I wonder what a bigger American (SA) scene might have mean for Brex.
1 Go to comments“Johnny McNicholl and the Crusaders” save a Penney. Who has been in camp this week and showed them how to play?
8 Go to commentsSo, reports of the Crusaders’ demise / terminal decline are perhaps just - slightly - premature/exaggerated…? 🤔 Will we see a deep-dive into that by the estimable Rugbypass scribes, and maybe one or two mea culpas? Thought not.
8 Go to comments1. The Chiefs are rudderless without DMac, which enhances his AB chances 2. Chiefs pack are powderpuffs. The hard men arent there anymore 3. They had their golden title chance last yr and wont threaten this yr. Gone in second round of playoffs.
8 Go to commentsHonestly, why did you have to publish such a foolish article the day they play us? 😂
45 Go to comments> They are not standalone entities. They are linked to an amateur association which holds the FFR licence that allows the professional side to compete in the league. That’s a great rule. This looks like the chicken or egg professional scenario. How long is it going to be before the club can break even (if that is even a thing in French rugby)? If the locals aren’t into well it would be good to se them drop to amateur level (is it that far?). Hope they can reset from this level and be more practical, there will be a time when they can rebuild (if France has there setup right).
1 Go to commentsWhat about changing the ball? To something heavier and more pointed that bounces unpredictably. Not this almost round football used these days.
35 Go to comments