Rennie saw signs of Australian revival coming
The improved results of Australian Super Rugby Pacific teams may have surprised many but not Wallabies coach Dave Rennie, who said the signs were there.
The Waratahs, who didn’t win a single game last season and were paying double-figure odds against the Crusaders, knocked over New Zealand heavyweights last round.
The Brumbies made it two from two, adding the Hurricanes to their Kiwi collection.
Melbourne held out Aucklandbased Moana Pasifika while
Queensland and the Western Force both came within a try of victories over New Zealand teams.
The Perth side was particularly gallant, keeping the ladder-leading Blues tryless in the second half of their 22-18 defeat.
The win record for that one round eclipsed the entire season of Super Rugby trans-Tasman last year, when Australian teams only managed a miserly two from 25 games.
Upon taking over as Wallabies coach in early 2020, Rennie identified fitness as a ‘‘non-negotiable’’ if the Australian players wanted to go toe-to-toe with the likes of the All Blacks.
He said a game-plan and skills would count for little if conditioning fell away at crucial moments. With the Australian setup working more closely with the Super Rugby sides, they are starting to reap the rewards. ‘‘We gather GPS data from all the sides and our sports scientist
Warwick Harrington goes through all of that and he shares information back to the clubs around the intensity and various numbers that are important to us,’’ Rennie said.
‘‘There’s been a distinct improvement this year and we’ve seen the benefits of that on the park.
‘‘We’re really happy with the shifts made at Super level and I think our players are better conditioned.’’
The skill levels of Australian players have also lagged behind their trans-Tasman counterparts but Rennie felt they were also on the up.
To compete technically and tactically he said they had to get the basics right.
‘‘Skill sets have improved and there’s been a lot of emphasis put on that and at test level there’s even more pressure so we’ve still got a way to go,’’ said Rennie.
‘‘But there’s been good shifts, I reckon, and we’ve seen that on the weekend. It gives us confidence, it gives our players confidence to know that playing against some of the best players in the world they can stand up.’’