Rennie’s regime marked by calm and consensus

AT the start of the season most pundits would have picked the Chiefs to be the third-best New Zealand Super Rugby team behind the Blues and Crusaders, with a slight chance of sneaking into the top six.

But they go into the three-week break on top of the New Zealand conference and with a good chance of having that all-important No 1 seed position for the playoffs.

‘‘It has gone as well as we would have hoped,’’ said Chiefs coach Dave Rennie before last night’s game against the Blues. ‘‘We knew we had a team with a lot of potential and we had young players who had a great work ethic.’’

Part of the Chiefs’ success has been put down to the coaching team Rennie has picked.

Unlike the Blues, who have just one assistant coach, Bryce Woodward, the Chiefs have three – Andrew Strawbridge, Tom Coventry and Wayne Smith. Having Smith, who England wanted as their head coach, involved can’t be understated.

He is regarded as one of the best rugby brains in the world.

But his involvement with the Chiefs could have gone very differently. Rennie could have felt threatened by a coach with so much experience and egos could have clashed. Or Rennie could have thought Smith had the answer to everything. Neither scenario has emerged. ‘‘I really pushed to get Smithy on board,’’ Rennie said. ‘‘Smithy is a terrific man and a fantastic coach. He has got lots of ideas and experience but he doesn’t push anything on anyone.

‘‘Likewise with the other guys, everyone’s really contributing.

‘‘I want to make sure the assistant coaches feel they’re valued and have a say. Ultimately I’ll pick the backline and Tom will pick the pack, but we discuss it together.

‘‘It’s not a case of me as head coach stamping my feet and saying this guy has to play.

‘‘It is a group decision but at the end of the day I guess it comes down to Tom and I to finalise the team.’’

As with Jake White at the Brumbies, Rennie says he benefited from a long spell with the Chiefs before starting day-to-day duties.

He was able to observe the team last year and decide which players he wanted and which he didn’t.

‘‘Back in December the year before, when I had decided to apply for the job, I met with Andrew and Tom to gauge their interest in being involved,’’ Rennie said.

‘‘So we already had an idea of the sort of game we wanted to play and the type of players we needed to play that way. We had a pretty good knowledge of players around the country and some of them we grabbed early and others we grabbed based on NPC form.’’

However, as reported by Sunday News last year, there was some antagonism towards the new regime as senior players who’d been with the team for a number of years were told they were no longer wanted, most notably All Blacks hooker Aled de Malmanche.

‘‘It was a difficult situation,’’ Rennie reflected. ‘‘But ultimately it wasn’t different to any other year. We’ve got players in our squad now who we’re re-signing and some we’re going to let go.

‘‘It was important from our point of view to be up front with guys. Someone like Aled de Malmanche was a stalwart for the Chiefs, but by letting him know early he had an opportunity to go to France [to Stade Francais].’’

Whatever happens over the rest of this season for the Chiefs, Rennie has begun a new, brighter chapter for the franchise.