Boss Rennie ‘won’t make any excuses’
MELBOURNE: Newly appointed Wallabies coach Dave Rennie knows he will be expected to deliver instant success to win over sceptical fans and says he will not reach for the “rebuilding” excuse if results do not go as planned.
The New Zealander was handed the reins on a three-and-a-half year deal on Wednesday and will take over a Wallabies team in transition after their quarter-final exit from the Rugby World Cup Japan.
“The Australian public expects the results and they’ll probably expect it immediately,” Rennie, who starts the job next July, told local media yesterday.
“I don’t want to give the players any excuses that we’re building and all that sort of stuff so the expectation is that we’re going to work really hard, we’re going out to win footy.
“I just feel if you use excuses, you’re giving players an out to maybe underperform, so I guess like the Aussie public, we’ll all be thinking the same thing, we’ll be desperate to perform well and keep building on that.”
Australia’s next internationals come in a two-match series against Ireland in July.
Rennie, who will finish up his coaching contract with Glasgow Warriors in June, will have little time to get acquainted with the Australian set-up but will have Director of Rugby Scott Johnson on the ground sizing up player prospects.
Rennie said he would look to focus more on domestic players in Super Rugby in building his Wallabies squad rather than look at others overseas. “It’s a big question isn’t it, because the advantage of having guys playing Super Rugby means that we’ve got access to them, we’ve got influence,” he said.