Rennie wants fitting finish as exit nears
The departing coach says the Hamilton side is fired up for a big campaign,
Every Super Rugby season throws up fresh talking points. Dave Rennie’s sixth and final campaign at the Chiefs is near top of the tree.
The man who captured three New Zealand under 20s titles, the last provincial crown with Wellington and first two championships at the Chiefs will depart with wife Steph for Glasgow at the end of this season.
Whatever happens from here, that’s a lasting legacy.
The notion of his final dig has sunk in but Rennie feels no regrets about the decision to move on, still firmly believing the Chiefs will embrace Colin Cooper’s new voice next year while looking forward to benefiting from a new challenge in Scotland – and the potential of an international post come 2019.
For now at least there’s no great sense of nostalgia as he enters what, from the outside at least, appears his most difficult Super Rugby season.
‘‘I’ve loved my time in Hamilton; the fact we’ve got right around our region. I’ve seen some fantastic places and enjoyed the people. I’d rather celebrate that than be sad about it,’’ Rennie said.
‘‘There’s a lot of motivation for a lot of people. Aaron Cruden is leaving and there will be a few other players that are heading off and a lot of changes in our management so we’re all fired up to have a big season.
‘‘I’d love to finish well more for the boys who run around on the field. We’ve been competitive over the last five years. It’s a game of inches when you get to the playoffs and even the two years we won it we just squeaked past the Crusaders in the semis. In 2013 they probably had the better of us but we managed to get it done.’’
Distractions are another word for excuses in professional sport. If the Chiefs wanted they could rattle off a long list well before last night’s opening game against the Highlanders.
From a string of damaging offfield incidents – Mad Monday stripper scandal the most infamous – to another lengthy casualty ward and light depth in the midfield, Rennie faces a testing swansong.
The irony of the uproar around the Chiefs’ culture last year was it strikes at the heart of how Rennie transformed a once mediocre franchise alongside now All Blacks assistant Wayne Smith. They worked hard to ingrain family values, embrace every inch of their community and craft an identity with Maoridom at its core.
Whether the full truth made it to the public domain remains up for debate, but the lingering perception is those values were eroded, and rebuilding starts now. Rennie doesn’t quite buy into that scenario.
‘‘I’ve become cynical when I watch the news now. I think ‘is that only one side of the story?’ All I’ll say about those instances is they are far from accurate but ultimately the people who are important to us; our fans, sponsors, investors we’ve communicated with and we’ve got plenty of support there.
‘‘They’re the ones we want to earn respect from. For the rest of it we’ll do our talking on the field. It certainly won’t change the work we do around our region. We’re proud of our guys.’’
To on-field matters and Rennie already has a few headaches. Livewire halfback Brad Weber and starting prop Mitchell Graham were struck down during preseason. But it’s the midfield where most concerns lie.
Anton Lienert-Brown, following his breakout season with the All Blacks, will be a rock. Charlie Ngatai’s concussion issues are improving but he’s been out since May.
Outside them Taranaki’s Johnny Faauli, Tim Nanai-Williams, Stephen Donald, Sam McNicol and Dwayne Sweeney will be used. Seta Tamanivalu’s defection to the Crusaders could hurt more than first thought.
‘‘There’s a lot of guys in amongst that group that can chip in and help out. Charlie is a pretty special player and was massive for us when he was available last year. Hopefully we’ll get him back at some stage but we’re not putting any pressure on him to return.
‘‘Everyone talks about injuries but in house we just talk about who we’ve got rather than who we haven’t. Guys that are wearing the jersey need to know you’ve got confidence in them and we’re not fretting about who is not there.‘‘
The other intriguing subplot is how Rennie juggles Cruden and Damian McKenzie’s aspirations. With Cruden leaving for France at season’s end the All Blacks have made no secret of their wish to see McKenzie at No 10, his preferred position. Rennie offers no promises on that front.
He points to McKenzie’s electric broken-field running and a roaming capacity that allows him to pop up anywhere and exploit the blindside as to why fullback is his best role.
‘‘At this stage our best backline involves Aaron at 10 and Damian at 15. I know everyone keeps talking about him as a 10, and clearly he can play well there, but his attributes and skill set is best suited to 15 for us.
‘‘Ultimately we don’t expect Aaron to play every minute so Damian may get some time there but we’ve also got Beaver and the great thing about him is he’s very experienced. You lose an old head in Aaron and that is massive.’’
From an expectations standpoint the Chiefs’ last three years could be labelled disappointing: two first round finals exits followed by a semifinal loss to the Hurricanes.
This year they’ve stripped back their game, among other things realising they struggled to combat the line speed of the Hurricanes and Highlanders. Travelling back from Africa for the semi also did not help.
The Chiefs are at their best when they have something bigger than rugby to play for. We saw that at the Brisbane Global Tens, when Sione Lauaki’s death provided inspiration.
‘‘It doesn’t guarantee success but if the public see players emptying the tank every week and spilling blood for each other win or lose you’re going to earn respect – and if you’ve got that attitude you’re probably going to win more than you lose. Hopefully that’s what we’ve brought here.’’