Rennie wary but he’ll still go on the attack!

DAVE RENNIE knows what’s coming. It’s how he stops it that’s important. The Australia head coach has returned to Scotland for tomorrow’s mouth-watering Test at BT Murrayfield accompanied by no little talent of his own.

However, it’s finding the right balance, the ability to release his attacking players while stifling the threat posed by the Scots, which is key.

Rennie worked with the likes of Finn Russell, Stuart Hogg, Ali Price and Matt Fagerson among others during his time coaching Glasgow Warriors. And although he never got the best out of Russell in the one season he worked with him before the fly-half joined Racing 92, he has huge respect for the Scotland playmaker.

‘We will play eyes-up attacking rugby and if it’s on the go from deep, we’ll have a crack from deep,’ said the Kiwi. ‘We’ve seen a lot of those players — Finn Russell, Ali Price, Stuart Hogg — who have been around for a long time, so they give them a lot of strike power and experience.

‘All of my team know that Finn has a strong run, kick and passing game. He can do it all if you give him time and space, so we need to limit his time and space and that’s going to be crucial for us. We want to play when it’s on to play but we have to make sure we’ve got balance to our game.’

Rennie has named a strong and experienced pack as he knows that although Scotland can cut loose, they also have some impressive forwards such as Matt Fagerson, who he has huge respect for.

‘There will be a big territory battle, too, on Sunday,’ he said. ‘Scotland have been very good at that, playing at the right end of the field, getting their big men into the game, going round the edges, being very patient.

‘They got a lot of reward from that throughout the Six Nations. They’ve obviously got a forward pack that can be hugely competitive, very good post-tackle, they have a strong defensive game and they probably kick a bit more than they used to do.’

Rennie (below) said he was looking forward to the match, although he had been frustrated that he couldn’t meet any of his old friends from his Glasgow days due to Covid restrictions.

‘While we are here, we are not necessarily locked in the hotel, but we still have some pretty strict restrictions on us, so I am looking forward to after the game catching up with a few of those guys,’ he said.

‘Matt Taylor (Australia defence coach) had eight years coaching at Glasgow and Scotland, so he spent a lot of time up here so everyone’s highly motivated for this game. I loved my time at Glasgow and had the pleasure of working with some great men and some very talented players.

‘For instance, it’s been great to see Matt Fagerson’s progress. A lot of people thought he was too small to play number eight but he’s got a genuine point of difference as he’s very explosive with great feet. ‘He’s got a really good skill-set and we’ve seen him dominate the eight jersey for Scotland which is great. ‘I’ve watched my other former players at Glasgow with interest over the last couple of years but that doesn’t change my desire around getting a result against them on the weekend.’ Australia are on a superb run of form under Rennie, winning their last five games, but that doesn’t mean he feels his side are favourites going into the match.

‘We looked at our schedule at the start of the year and we were going to play 14 Tests and all of them were a genuine challenge,’ he said. ‘There is no lay-down game in there with three against the All Blacks, three against the French and so on. It’s been a good year for us, we’re learning a lot, learning a lot about ourselves and to come up here and play Scotland at Murrayfield is a big challenge.

‘There’ll be a massive crowd and it’ll be a great experience for our boys. We’re looking forward to it.

‘We’ve got a huge amount of respect for Scotland and they will be very well prepared. I know the coaching staff well, so we are very well aware they will throw a few things at us.’

Rennie has turned round the fortunes of an Australia side that was in turmoil after they went out of the 2019 World Cup at the quarter-final stage to England.

He has been praised for his rebuilding work he has done with full-back Kurtley Beale, who has 92 caps to his credit, believing it is the best ‘family’ type atmosphere he has enjoyed since he was first capped way back in 2009.

‘You have a World Cup cycle and a lot of senior, experienced players left prior to my arrival anyway,’ said Rennie. ‘We picked a lot of kids and they worked really hard. We made sure we’re better conditioned and we’re a very fit side now.

‘We’re still a long way from our ceiling — there’s still a lot more in us — and that’s why we always felt this year was very big for us. We’ve played the All Blacks seven times in the last 12 months which is great for any team’s development.

‘I have worked hard on family and culture as you need to have an identity and an understanding of who you are and who you represent so we put a lot of time into that. The boys have responded really well.’