Dave Rennie won’t be assessed following Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry, NZ Rugby CEO Steve Lancaster confirms.
The All Blacks suffered three straight defeats to the Springboks after going 1-0 up in the series with a victory at Ellis Park. This came after the team won all of their Nations Championship matches in New Zealand, with the side enjoying an unbeaten streak before falling to defeat in Cape Town to South Africa.
The CEO says that the break before the Bledisloe Cup Tests against the Wallabies feels ‘like a reset’ for the team ahead of the final set of fixtures this year, which includes the Nations Championship matches in the northern hemisphere.
All Blacks reset before final Tests
Lancaster says the objective for the remainder of the year is simple for Rennie and his team: Win the rest of the Test matches.
“I guess coming back from Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry in South Africa and then the final Test in the States – that felt like such a big event on its own, right. Coming back felt like the end of something. The reality is that our season does go on for another six games for the All Blacks,” he told the DSPN podcast with Martin Devlin.
“In terms of KPI, it is pretty simple: we want them to win all of those games. The All Blacks’ historical winning record is something that we are acutely aware of, very proud of, and having dropped three Tests, it’s pretty important that we right the ledger over the remainder of the year.”
That prompted the question as to whether this was the time to evaluate Rennie’s performance since taking over as head coach from Scott Robertson.
“No, not really,” the chief executive replied.
“We don’t have a set point where we will assess Dave Rennie, so to speak. We have appointed Dave through to the end of the World Cup next year, and everything that we’re doing now is pointing towards the World Cup at the end of next year.
“So all of the work that Dave and the team are doing, all of the things that we’re doing to support them, are all very much contextualised around the fact that we’ve got a really big prize at the end of next year, and that’s what we’re going after.”
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End-of-season review
The end-of-year review in 2026 led to Robertson’s dismissal and Rennie’s maiden season in charge will be scrutinised in a similar manner after the November internationals.
However, Lancaster adds that it will be done with the context of the short preparation time for the international season. He also revealed that an internal review has been done by the staff following Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry tour.
“Yeah, absolutely,” he replied when asked whether the same end-of-season review will be conducted.
“Well, when I say the same, we will absolutely conduct a review and, in fact, the management team has done an internal review after the RGR series. They’ve taken a lot out of that. It was a pretty positive review, actually. They’re really happy with where they’re at as a group.
“You’ve got to remember that Dave and his team came in and they had about 10 days’ prep before the first Nations Championship Test at the start of the year, and they’ve literally been sprinting since then. So the opportunity to get through the Nations Championship and RGR, pause, take stock – actually, things have gone pretty well.
“They had a group of 90 people in South Africa that they had to move around, had to keep engaged and connected, and they did that pretty well, notwithstanding those three Test results.
“So, we’re at a mid-season checkpoint now; get to the end of the year, we’ll do a full post-season review as we always do. Again, we’ll be looking at what’s gone well, what could be improved, but very much with a lens on how we ensure this team are in the best possible shape going into next year’s World Cup.”
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No excuses for the three defeats
Rennie has been tasked with getting the All Blacks back on track for the 2027 Rugby World Cup and while the three losses to South Africa is a setback for the team, Lancaster says that the close margins of those defeats is a positive for the team.
The CEO says the side is tracking well ahead of next year’s showpiece event but, at the same time, they are not looking for excuses.
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“It’s a real balance, but I think what’s most important is that we don’t kid ourselves. Yes, we’re satisfied with the progress that the team has made under the new coaching group; we feel like they’re tracking well, but we got bested,” he said.
“We got bested in three consecutive Tests by the best team in the world. So it’s actually really important that we don’t brush that under the carpet, that we don’t blame match officials, we don’t blame travel fatigue or anything else.
“We actually recognise that we were bettered in those three games, albeit by a close margin, which gives us heart; we know that we are capable of beating South Africa, but the reality is that we lost that series, and so we’re not hiding from that.”