Dave Rennie has been appointed the new head coach of New Zealand, becoming the first person of Pasifika heritage to lead the side.
The 62-year-old replaces Scott Robinson, who was sacked in January after two years following high-profile losses to South Africa, Argentina and England as well as reports of tension between senior players and All Blacks staff.
At a news conference in Auckland announcing his appointment, Rennie’s opening words in Maori were “Kia orana koutou”, which translate as “hello to all” or “hello everyone”.
Pasifika heritage encompasses the indigenous peoples of Polynesia, Melanesia and Micronesia, with Upper Hutt-born Rennie having Cook Islands links through his mother.
Having beaten Jamie Joseph to the job, he is tasked with taking the country to its fourth World Cup triumph when the tournament gets under way in Australia next October.
However, he will honour his role leading Japan’s Kobe Steelers before preparing New Zealand for their July tests against France, Italy and Ireland.
Describing himself as “extremely proud and honoured”, Rennie said he was “well aware of the expectations and responsibility of the role” as New Zealand bid for a fourth World Cup success.
“It’s a sprint from here,” said Rennie.
“We need to get the athletes in the best possible position to execute and play well.”
It came down to two in the end, with David Rennie trumping Jamie Joseph – the former All Black who coached Japan to a landmark last-eight finish at their home Rugby World Cup in 2019 – in the final round of interviews.
The headline figures from Rennie’s last stint in Test rugby don’t make great reading. He departed Australia in January 2023 with only a 38% win rate. One of the losses on his card was a first-ever defeat by Italy.
However, those who were looking in finer detail felt he had been hard done by. Negotiating the Covid period and all the constraints that brought, along with a clutch of injuries in key positions, Rennie still fostered a togetherness among the Wallabies that was evident in three victories over South Africa and a narrow series defeat to England in 2022.
His final few games in charge of Australia, at the end of 2022, summed it up. On the face of it, only two wins – against Scotland and Wales – and that historic defeat by Italy in a five-match northern hemisphere tour seems sub-par. However the other two results were losses by one and three points respectively to France and Ireland, teams who would go to the following year’s Rugby World Cup as leading title contenders.
Certainly Rennie’s record aged well. Eddie Jones, who replaced him for the 2023 Rugby World Cup, was divisive off the pitch and then disastrous on it, with the Wallabies losing to Fiji and Wales and failing to get out of their pool for the first time in tournament history.
Rennie was also highly respected during his three years at Glasgow Warriors, where he took the team to the Pro14 final in 2019, and went about his business in a calm, considered way.
He will need that composure in a high-pressure job that seemed to ruffle predecessor Scott Robertson. But Rennie is due another crack at the Test stage.
