Man of ‘steel’ Wallabies’ Kiwi coach revealed by the men who know him best
Ahead of his big showdown with the All Blacks today, Dave Rennie’s former Chiefs’ assistant coaches reveal how he’ll go about his work with Australia. Aaron Goile reports.
‘‘Smart. Savvy. Optimistic. Patient. Curious. Inclusive. Empowering. Detailed. Confident. Personable. Fighter.’’
Speak to any of Dave Rennie’s former workmates and these are the sorts of words you’ll get when you ask for a character reference.
Almost a year on from being named Australia’s new head rugby coach, the time has now finally arrived for the 56- year- old Kiwi to show his wares on the international stage.
It stands to be a fascinating watch how the man so successful in his homeland now goes about his business with the world No 7ranked Australians in his fouryear contract to the 2023 World Cup.
And as Covid-19 fate would have it, Rennie’s first test match is against the All Blacks in Wellington today – the very side he could have been coaching, but for his decision to turn down a late approach from New Zealand Rugby to apply for that role, as he was in advanced talks across the ditch.
The Bledisloe Cup opener will also come in the fitting surrounds of Wellington – who Rennie played for and then cut his coaching teeth with, around the very time John Eales was booting the Wallabies to glory in that first-ever test match at the city’s new stadium in 2000.
Two decades later, Rennie returns in enemy territory, in charge of a side in the midst of a 17-year Bledisloe drought and in need of a reinvention, following a somewhat engrossing, but ultimately underwhelming, run under Michael Cheika.
But with Rennie at the helm, there’s a feeling this trans-Tasman rivalry could be about to get rather interesting once more.
And those who know firsthand about his coaching philosophies only confirm that notion.
Wayne Smith, Tom Coventry and Andrew Strawbridge were the assistant coaches at the Chiefs when the franchise won its maiden Super Rugby title in 2012, and then triumphed again in 2013 – Rennie’s first two years in charge.
They know just what he’ll be drumming into these Wallabies, who have generally flattered to deceive in recent years.
‘‘He’ll steel them up, there’s no doubt about that,’’ Smith matterof- factly tells the Sunday Star-Times.
It was actually on the playing field where a near-retired Smith (Canterbury) and a young buck Rennie (Wellington) first crossed paths, before coaching lured them both.
Smith, who coached the All Blacks in 2000- 01 before two separate stints as assistant (2004-11 and 2015-17), had a little bit to do with Rennie in his time as New Zealand Under-20s coach from 2008-10 – where he won three successive world titles – then spent 2012- 14 as his right-hand man at the Chiefs after talking the franchise out of looking at overseas options to replace the outgoing Ian Foster.
‘‘He found out that I’d been pushing him with the Chiefs board, so he rang me and said, ‘Why don’t you put your money where your mouth is and come and join me?’ So that’s how I ended up coaching with him.’’
And from there, Smith spent an enjoyable three years, and got a great insight into what made Rennie tick.
‘‘What I love about him, he’s got a real great mindset,’’ Smith says. ‘‘He’s curious, he’s always keen to learn, he’s always trying to get better. That’s the first thing that struck me.’’
At the Chiefs, Smith had the portfolio of defence and counterattack, but, he says, in a Rennieled team, there is plenty of crossover of ideas and everyone is involved.
‘‘ Instead of it being a pyramid, with him at the top, it’s more a horizontal plate, where everyone’s got their chunk and you all join in and you all add to each other’s chunk of the plate,’’ Smith says.
So much autonomy that Coventry – the now Blues assistant – even remembers in his job as forwards coach that he got a big say on whom he could recruit to the Chiefs when he joined, for what turned into a five-year stint.
It means Wallabies’ assistants Scott Wisemantel (attack), Matt Taylor ( defence) and Geoff Parling (forwards) – all also new to the setup – can expect to feel a big part of the action.
‘‘He’ll let them [the assistants] get on with it and he’ll back them to do their job well, which is a big part of it,’’ Coventry says.
Watching how these first couple of tests unfold, and seeing what the Wallabies will offer under their new mentor, has these fellow coaches just as fascinated as the general rugby fan.
Smith, who will next month leave his Waihi Beach home to rejoin Japanese club Kobe, where he is director of rugby, is still in contact with Rennie, but more as a mate rather than talking much footy.
He says when summing up his good friend’s coaching style there are three key terms: ‘Communityminded’, ‘ youth- driven’, and ‘attack-minded’.
Smith remembers how Rennie changed the language at the Chiefs and worked hard on identity.
‘‘He understands that the performance of the team isn’t just based on coaching, it’s based on a lot of things, on feeling part of the community, on being proud of what you’re doing, having huge personal meaning.’’
And Coventry feels, Covid permitting, you would likely see the Wallabies exposed to the public more, rather than be tucked away in their own training centre. It forces players, he says, to be thankful, selfless, and give a bit more of themselves, and offer them some perspective.
And that’s going to be particularly important for younger players, which Rennie is set to have no problem throwing in the deep end. After all, he has 16 uncapped men in his squad of 44.
‘‘He’s always had the attitude, ‘If you’re good enough you’re old enough,’’’ Smith says. ‘‘ So I’m pretty sure he’ll bring in a lot of young guys from that successful under-20s team last year [which lost to France by one point in the final of the world championship in Argentina].’’
No better example of that, Coventry says, was when nowestablished All Blacks midfielder Anton Lienert-Brown was handed a Super Rugby debut for the Chiefs, on the wing, in Pretoria, in 2014, as an 18- yearold, before having even played a game at NPC level.
‘‘ He’s not going to wait three or four years for some of those young Wallaby boys to be blooded, he’ll be prepared to chuck them into that environment and let them develop through test match rugby,’’ Coventry says.
‘‘If he sees the talent in them, then he’ll back them.’’
And it’s also his ability to develop that talent, which sets Rennie apart, believes Strawbridge.
Now coach of the Waikato NPC team, Strawbridge worked as an assistant to Rennie during his three under-20s campaigns and right through his six Chiefs’ years, in a skills-focused role.
Going into 2012, the Chiefs roster was hardly full of familiar names, but Strawbridge says Rennie’s teaching background holds him in tremendous stead for these situations, as he knows how to create ‘‘ a learning environment’’, and he greatly understands human development, and surrounds himself with people who also get that idea.
That is ‘‘empowering for athletes’’, Strawbridge says.
‘‘I’d imagine that some of those men will be exposed to a way of thinking and a way of behaving around the game that’s a little bit different to the experiences they’ve had before. And I think they’ll relish it.’’
And then comes that desire to play the game in very positive fashion – what Smith describes as a ‘‘relentless attacking strategy’’ and ‘‘seeing the opportunity in every situation’’.
It’s why Strawbridge’s No 1 word to describe Rennie is ‘‘optimistic’’.
‘‘ I’d say he’s an eternal optimist, and I think that’s a wonderful quality in a coach, because it goes to so many things – getting the best out of a player and continuing to see the best in men, the best in a style of play,’’ he says, recalling several close finishes to games with the Chiefs, who could be down by a couple of tries with fewer than five minutes left, but
‘‘He’s not going to wait three or four years for some of those young Wallaby boys to be blooded, he’ll be prepared to chuck them into that environment and let them develop through test match rugby.’’ Tom Coventry
with Rennie always preaching ‘‘there’s plenty of time’’.
The key with any attacking game plan, Coventry notes, is the licence the coach gives for players to implement it.
And with Rennie, he says, if it’s on to swing the ball wide inside their own 22m, the Wallabies will indeed be given that freedom.
‘‘The All Blacks will have to be on their mettle, and if there’s any sleepiness around the way teams set up defensively, or the way they assemble for set- piece, they’ll be exploiting that to keep the game fast and moving.
‘‘Once they decide they’re going to have a go, they’ll have a go. You have to have your wits about you, because he’s pretty innovative.’’
A classic case of that innovation was in 2014 and 2015, when the Chiefs pulled out the shock tactic of standing in what looked to be offside positions on defence in order to exploit the game’s laws, which at the time only saw offside lines created at a ruck, and not a tackle.
That was Coventry’s idea. But there was complete buy-in from Rennie for the team to embrace it.
Coupled with novel methods and tactics is a huge drive and attention to detail, which means, Smith says, the All Blacks will have to dig extremely deep to be able to find any weaknesses in Rennie’s repertoire.
‘‘You can find chinks in every armour. But he was one coach I worked with who didn’t like chinks, so worked relentlessly to try and fix things up each week.
‘‘He’s detailed, he doesn’t go to bed till about 12 o’clock at night, he’s always on the computer, and he’s up early. He’s got a huge work ethic.’’
Rennie’s track record of moulding teams into immediately successful ones seems more than just a coincidence.
‘‘It’s just a simple formula, and he uses it everywhere,’’ Smith explains.
‘‘We never imagined, I don’t think, we were going to win in 2012 [ at the Chiefs], but the players did. And that comes through creating something really special that everyone believes in. So he’s got that ability, there’s no doubt about that.’’
Coventry says it’s because Rennie sets high expectations, but also that ‘‘ he’s a personable bloke, his teams like him’’.
And Strawbridge notes you can tell Rennie’s sides have real clarity on their tasks, and that we’ll be able to tell from the Wallabies’ body language and behaviours how settled they are with their roles.
‘‘ The more people have to think about things the more sluggish they become,’’ he says.
‘‘ I expect them to be full of belief. I expect them to be confident. I expect them to understand what it is they’re trying to do.’’
So can Rennie achieve quick success with Australia?
‘‘Whether he’s got the quality [of players] or not, who knows?’’ Smith says.
‘‘But I’d say if anyone can, he probably can.’’
Strawbridge says Rennie shouldn’t just be judged on this year, and that his own patience will ensure he sees the subtle changes and the ‘‘establishing of different behaviours’’ to stand the Wallabies in good stead.
And Coventry believes he will have wider motivations than just results.
‘‘Being accepted by the Australian public will be in his forefront. He knows that Kiwis involved in their game haven’t always worked out well. I think trying to raise the profile of Australian test rugby will be his main motivation. He’ll take a lot of pride in making that work.’’
But there must surely be an added incentive there to show the All Blacks a thing or two?
‘‘He’s a proud Kiwi and I’m sure he’ll take it as a huge challenge,’’ Smith says. ‘‘I think, mentally, to coach against your own country you have to be bloody strong. But he’ll give everything, there’s no doubt about that.’’
Strawbridge reckons: ‘‘He’s a resilient character — a fighter and a scrapper. He’ll revel in it.’’