His sacking led to Wallabies chaos. Now Dave Rennie is the new All Blacks coach
Just three years after he was sacked as Wallabies coach to make way for Eddie Jones, Dave Rennie has been named as the new All Blacks coach.
NZ Rugby announced Rennie as national men’s team coach in a social media post on Wednesday morning, following a recruitment process following the sacking of Scott Robertson as All Blacks coach in January.
Dave Rennie has been named as the new coach of the All Blacks.Credit: Getty
While several former All Blacks coaches have taken charge of the Wallabies, this is the first time a former Wallabies coach has taken on the role. He will return to New Zealand in June after completing his club stint with the Kobe Steelers in Japan.
Rennie said in a statement that he was “extremely proud to have been entrusted with this role and to have understood the expectations that come with it.”
“I’m really clear about how I want the All Blacks to play and I’m looking forward to working with the players, the management team and the rugby community,” he said. “We have a lot of talent here and we will work extremely hard to make the country proud.”
Rennie, a Kiwi who played for Wellington in the 1980s, coached the Wallabies in 33 Tests between 2020 and 2023.
But after losing to Italy in the Spring Tour at the end of the 2022 season and finishing with a winning record of 38 per cent, then RA chairman Hamish McLennan and the RA board sacked Rennie and hired Jones, who was talked about taking over the Wallabies after the 2023 Rugby World Cup. He took over and made sweeping changes to Rennie’s squad and programme, which ended in disaster with the Wallabies failing to reach the quarter-finals.
Rennie was devastated not to be given the chance to lead the Wallabies to the 2023 Rugby World Cup but has maintained a dignified silence throughout Jones’ chaotic tenure.
