Dave Rennie is ‘no dummy’ as ex-All Blacks coach pinpoints the ‘advantageous’ position New Zealand is in
New All Blacks head coach Dave Rennie and an inset of Sir Steve Hansen.
Dave Rennie’s tough time with the Wallabies will be advantageous for New Zealand. That is according to former All Blacks boss Sir Steve Hansen, who believes the team will benefit greatly from the new head coach’s previous experience and struggles.
Rennie enjoyed immense success during his time with the Chiefs, winning back-to-back Super Rugby titles before making the move to the Glasgow Warriors in 2016.
He succeeded now-Scotland boss Gregor Townsend at the Warriors and helped the club reach the PRO12 semi-final in his first season and the final in 2019. While he wasn’t able to clinch a title at the club, his work laid the platform for future success under Franco Smith, who replaced Rennie when the New Zealander was named Wallabies head coach.
It was a turbulent time in Australia for Rennie, who was sacked after a historic defeat to Italy and was replaced by Eddie Jones in the year of the 2023 Rugby World Cup.
Dave Rennie’s experience is advantageous for the All Blacks
The hurt from his time at the Wallabies will make him hungry to succeed with the All Blacks, according to Hansen. “It’s advantageous for everybody, like the bigger your pool of experience, the bigger the opportunity to learn,” he told Martin Devlin on the DSPN podcast.
“So, he’s no dummy; he would have learned from things that have happened to him along the way in his coaching career, and some of those things have happened overseas.
“He went through a tough time with the Wallabies; he’ll learn from that. That’ll make him that’ll make him hungry for wanting to be successful. He’s a passionate New Zealander, so he’ll want the All Blacks to be good.”
Anyone can understand Rennie
Overall, the 2015 World Cup-winning coach has a positive feeling about the new man in charge of the All Blacks. “When he talks, it makes sense.
“I can understand what he’s trying to say and where he’s driving it. So if I can, then that probably means every other New Zealander can and that’s important. You need to be able to use the experiences, the good and the bad and the ugly, to shape you to become better,” Hansen continued.
“When you’re in the All Black environment, you want to be better all the time. The All Black environment is different from anything you’ve ever done before, but the wider your experience is beforehand, the easier it is for you to deal with the environment. It can be really, really overwhelming because the expectations are massive, it’s constant, and they are there every day.
“It’s just unbelievable pressure, but experience, but it is important going into that, and obviously, the bigger pool of things you have to face makes it easier, and he’s a well-experienced coach.”
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