Sir John Kirwan believes that Dave Rennie will bring back a “New Zealand style” after being appointed as the All Blacks head coach.
The 62-year-old will take over from Scott Robertson, who was sacked as the national team boss in mid-January.
In a two-horse race between Rennie and Jamie Joseph, it was the former who got the nod from NZ Rugby after a thorough process.
Joseph was seen as the favourite but he will now remain at the Highlanders after being overlooked for a third time by the governing body.
Tony Brown committed to South Africa
Kirwan felt that Tony Brown’s commitment to the Springboks was the key factor in swaying it towards the former Wallabies boss.
“I’m a big Jamie Joseph fan and friend, and I think probably what pipped it at the end was Dave’s experience,” Kirwan said on the Rivals podcast.
“I think coaching a first tier squad and he has been through a lot of adversity – understanding the pressure that comes with it probably pipped it in the end.
“The nice thing that came out of it was that they spoke to each other this morning. It was just a nice way they went about it. I think the process has been very thorough.
“I will probably blame South Africa because I think without Browny involved; a lot of people saw Jamie and Browny as a coaching pair, and a very strong one.
“Once Rassie [Erasmus] decided not to release him, it probably changed that in Dave’s favour, but I would have been really happy with both of them.
“I was also thinking about whether it would be good for Jamie to go in as an assistant coach and maybe do what the All Blacks have been doing for a little while; get him in a job and then he can take over.
“It just depends, they’re both head coaches.”
Having been handed the reins until the end of the Rugby World Cup, Rennie’s task is to turn them into genuine challengers for the Webb Ellis Cup.
Although Robertson ended his tenure with the All Blacks in second position in the World Rugby rankings, they were some way off the Springboks.
Robertson was criticised for some of their turgid performances and Kirwan is confident that the former Chiefs head coach’s style will go down well with the New Zealand fans.
Rennie’s ‘different philosophy’
“The interesting thing about Dave Rennie is he does come from a little bit of a different philosophy about how he wants to play. I do think he’s a heads up, play what’s in front of you,” he added.
“I do think he sees that as a New Zealand style, I do think he wants to have tough forward packs that are dominating, especially defensive rucks.
“He will want hard players that are really on the edge, he will bring a bit of edge, so I think he’s got that nice balance.
“What the average New Zealander wants is a game that we can identify with. For a New Zealander, it’s really, really important that when we’re watching, we feel we’re playing a style of game, we’re not following trends like kicking it 60 times or South Africa’s good at putting up the high ball, so we should do it.”