Aussie Pro Rugby
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WELLINGTON (Reuters) - Rugby Australia have made a “sensational appointment” in choosing Dave Rennie to take over as coach of the Wallabies and he will improve the team in short order, former All Blacks loose forward Murray Mexted has said.
Rennie, who turns 56 on Friday, was named on Wednesday to replace Michael Cheika, who quit after the Wallabies crashed out of the quarter-finals of the Rugby World Cup in Japan. Glasgow Warriors coach Rennie had long been tipped as the front runner for the job, despite New Zealand Rugby also reaching out to see if he was interested in succeeding Steve Hansen as All Blacks coach.
“He is a sensational appointment for Australian rugby in my view (and) I hate to tell you from a New Zealand point of view ... he will be great,” Mexted told Reuters. “He will get in and roll his sleeves up and build a new culture in a short period of time ... and they will get better and better.”
Mexted played with Rennie in the Wellington provincial side in the 1980s and also had a role in keeping him in professional coaching when the former centre missed out on the Wellington Hurricanes job in 2003. Rennie, who had been an assistant at the Hurricanes, went back to coaching at his local club in Upper Hutt, north of Wellington, and running a bar before Mexted approached him about helping out at the International Rugby Academy New Zealand (IRANZ).
“I invited him up to IRANZ as a team coach. We have to have a couple of anchor (coaches) and then we bring in all these specialists. He was a fantastic anchor,” added Mexted, who set up IRANZ in 2002. “He was basically an anchor coach for us for about five years. He was doing everything because he didn’t really have another role apart from with Upper Hutt. “He was outstanding.”
Rennie moved on from Upper Hutt to take over as head coach of provincial side Manawatu in 2005 before leading the under-20 ‘Baby Blacks’ to three successive world titles from 2008. He then got his first Super Rugby head coaching job with the Chiefs, where he quickly transformed the team’s culture as they reconnected with the local community and introduced a work ethic that led them to successive titles in 2012 and 2013.
That ability to rebuild a team quickly should help him as he steps into the Wallabies job, said Mexted. “One of the things you need to do (as a coach) is bring a diverse group of people together. That’s your role,” he said. “If you’re not working together as a team you’re not going to be successful. That’s a characteristic or quality that all successful coaches have — creating an environment where everyone is working together. “He’s very good at that.”
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@Stargazer zero surprise there. Given the calibre of player leaving, and who they have to come in, it's a bit of a no-brainer.
Possibly a bit short-term in terms of thinking, but understandable
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@mariner4life said in Aussie Rugby:
@Stargazer zero surprise there. Given the calibre of player leaving, and who they have to come in, it's a bit of a no-brainer.
Possibly a bit short-term in terms of thinking, but understandable
Reads awfully like a panic striken short term fix.
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I genuinely don't know where they will end up on the Giteau law.
While the 60-cap rule gets the most attention, the most influential aspect has been the clause that allows you to play for the Wallabies if you have signed a contract with a Super team for an upcoming season.
We have the slightly farcical situation where Nic White played this season but his contract with the Brumbies doesn't start until mid-2020. But he's signed on the dotted line, so he plays.
I wouldn't be shocked if they made it open slather, but I also think there's a chance they wind it back.
We don't have the depth in Super Rugby to lose more of our top players. The Saffers have enough local support and talent to absorb the losses, but for us it would mean a further hit to local crowds and local results.
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@antipodean said in Aussie Rugby:
@mariner4life said in Aussie Rugby:
@Stargazer zero surprise there. Given the calibre of player leaving, and who they have to come in, it's a bit of a no-brainer.
Possibly a bit short-term in terms of thinking, but understandable
Reads awfully like a panic striken short term fix.
The review of the Giteau law was mentioned months/years ago. Castle has said it's not set in stone and will come under regular reviews, so it's not even news IMO
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The problem with regular reviews is players never know what the rules will be and it makes it more difficult to plan their careers accordingly.
I understand and sympathise with the requirement to make the national squads as competitive as possible, but that doesn't help make the next tier competitive and compelling to spectators if it looks like open slather to chase more money without consequence.
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Same as here, there is no ideal answer. Do we lose almost all of our players and have crap SR/local teams, but get to use our best as ABs no matter where? Long term will that kill our rugby development here - no senior players for new pro kids to learn from?
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@barbarian said in Aussie Rugby:
I also think there's a chance they wind it back.
I think - in light of the work they've been doing on the U20 pathways - winding it back is more sensible than allowing ourselves to go unrestricted. We should back the players coming through the system.
We don't have a Currie Cup or Varsity comp of the quality the Saffers have. Sydney Club Rugby is comical in its attempts to be both a semipro development stream and "grassroots" link to the general public.
Maybe in future years we could look at no-holds-barred selection policy, but until they've achieved significant reform in the schools and club systems, with a view to getting rugby aligned across domestic Unions / orgs, it won't happen.
EDIT: and bringing back players like Cooper and Genia was hardly a raging success.
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It's hard to say what would happen with an open market. You would obviously lose most top all blacks but would probably gain alot of season ed vets as the overseas market would be alot tougher. And your younger players would also find it harder to leave. Most competitions now have a local player requirement or a foreigner cap so that there would be a natural balance some where
Edit
For aussie I agree I dont think they have the depth -
Foxtel threatens to cut ties with rugby union
Senior Foxtel sources confirmed the pay TV giant had withdrawn its offer for the five-year rights to the code as Optus expresses its interest.
Senior Foxtel sources confirmed it had withdrawn its offer for the five-year rights to the Super Rugby competition, the National Rugby Championships and Wallabies Tests. However, they said there was still a chance the pay TV company and Rugby Australia could reach a deal -
@Duluth said in Aussie Rugby:
Senior Foxtel sources confirmed the pay TV giant had withdrawn its offer for the five-year rights to the code as Optus expresses its interest.
Senior Foxtel sources confirmed it had withdrawn its offer for the five-year rights to the Super Rugby competition, the National Rugby Championships and Wallabies Tests. However, they said there was still a chance the pay TV company and Rugby Australia could reach a dealOUCH
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I'll dump Kayo if that's the case. Only got it for the rugby.
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@antipodean said in Aussie Rugby:
I'll dump Kayo if that's the case. Only got it for the rugby.
Same. I hope if it does go to Optus they get NPC as well, otherwise I guess I'm investing a VPN and Rugby Pass.
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deadset, if Foxtel lose the rugby i'll shitcan it, and watch free-to-air AFL and NRL only. Fuck adding another subscription service.
The Sky/Foxtel business model only works if you are getting the content. Now, there are 46 different streaming services, and they all have shit you want to watch. It's a fucking rort. Suck my balls.
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Oh that really blows, I loved watching all the Rugby I needed on Kayo. Foxtel has been bleeding cash for awhile now, maybe they are trying to reign in the costs.
I am surprised there hasn't been one giant streaming service that offers everything and they have a pay per play model like spotify. As it stands it is getting ridiculous with all the services on offer.
