'We're seventh in the world. We need to be better than that' - Rennie has sights on Wallabies revival
Incoming Australia rugby coach Dave Rennie has given an insight into how the Wallabies might benefit from the lessons he learnt at the helm of the Glasgow Warriors.
The 56-year-old joined Glasgow from Super Rugby side the Chiefs in 2017, eventually guiding the Warriors to the final of last year’s Guinness PRO14 competition.
Speaking from a hotel room in Auckland, New Zealand, where he has spent the past two weeks in quarantine, the New Zealander said he drew plenty of lessons from his time at Scotland, which put him “in a better position to coach nationally”.
“Our playing group worked hard, were a really fit side (and had) a real strong community focus. (They were) a really tight group,” Rennie said.
“Managing big numbers. We had 50-odd players and 30-odd staff so its a reasonably big crew.
“(Also) the years are long. You roll your way through a year and then all of a sudden you’re back into it. So from a planning (point of view), we’ve got to rotate our players because we had a lot of international boys and they can only play four games in a row.
“You have Six Nations, you’re missing those guys for nine weeks. November you’re missing them for five. So you play a lot of games without your best players. We really drove expectations that whoever wore the jersey’s got to front. And so we had a lot of young men who we brought through and developed quickly and they got opportunities to grow.”
Rennie said coaching in the northern hemisphere ultimately gave him a more well-rounded view of the game.
“I’ve got a much better understanding of the players up there and the type of game that’s played, which will help I reckon when we play in the northern hemisphere,” he said.
Rennie officially steps into the position in July amid a turbulent time for Rugby Australia.
Raelene Castle, who appointed Rennie, resigned as chief executive in April after 11 past Wallabies captains joined forces to call for change in the union.
However Rennie was adamant there would be no excuses if the national side failed to pick up some immediate results in his tenure.
“Everyone wants to be successful and success is often based on results,” he said.
“What we know is that we should get to play the All Blacks a number of times this year if nothing else. That’s a great introduction for us.
“It’s a really good gauge for us of where we need to be and I reckon the more times we play the All Blacks the better because we haven’t had a lot of success against them the last 15 or so years. We’ve got to put ourselves under pressure against the best.
“We’re seventh in the world. We need to be better than that. We’ve had a lot of older guys who have left post-World Cup, so there’s genuine opportunities for some young guys to come through and build towards the next World Cup, but ultimately we want results quickly.
“That’s our mindset, we’re not looking for excuses. We need to front from the start.”
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If the weather is bad, it will become a forward game, and that is very bad news for England. The English defence is like sieve. The Boks have the best defence. Letting in 42 points, against the Wallabies who the Boks thrashed... You get the point. We all wish our teams are tough and will front up, but ignoring the obvious only brings pain. The fans like to believe the best, the players know the truth. They will try their best, I'm sure of that, but winning? A close game? Not a chance, and it's against almost a full strength Bok team. That should scare you. I'd suggest go and watch some of the games of the Boks this year. I doubt you followed the Boks tests and watched them, because if you had, you would not be so sure.
Go to commentsAndy G is so poor at judging players and his only skill, even as a player, is to try to cause a reaction. Never rated him as a player although he did have longevity, and surely don't rate him as a pundit. His only pundit skill is try to cause a reaction, no matter his lack of understanding of the game and how coaches operate! That is my view. formed over years!! If I say it I surely it cannot be wrong....LOL. In saying that, I wonder why all these past England players ALWAYS knock their current players. This is not new but it is a massive problem in England. For some reason the "old boys" think they were better than they actually were.
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