On his first day as the new All Blacks head coach, Dave Rennie already pitched the idea of selecting overseas players with Brodie Retallick at the top of his shortlist.<\/p>\n
The legendary lock is currently plying his trade under Rennie at the Kobelco Kobe Steelers in the Japanese Rugby League One competition, and according to the head coach is \u2018stronger\u2019 and \u2018fitter than he\u2019s ever been\u2019.<\/p>\n
Retallick<\/a> has been a try-scoring machine in Japan this season having dotted down 11 times in 10 matches, leading the competition in tries scored with Kobe sitting in second place overall on the log.<\/p>\n New All Blacks boss calls out Brodie Retallick<\/p>\n Japan head coach Eddie Jones has also hailed his performances, stating that he is the best player in the league right now<\/a> by a mile. He added that if was taking over the All Blacks<\/a> role, he would be attempting to lure Retallick back to New Zealand<\/a> and select him.<\/p>\n Rennie made no bones of the fact that he is eager to get the 100+ cap lock back into the black jersey.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ll comment on Brodie Retallick. I get to see him train and play every week. He\u2019s stronger than he\u2019s ever been,\u201d he told reporters at his first press conference.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s fitter than he\u2019s ever been. I\u2019m not sure if I\u2019m allowed to, but there\u2019s no doubt you want to win a World Cup; ideally, you\u2019ve got your best players available.\u201d<\/p>\n In an interview with Sky Sports NZ<\/a>, he added: \u201cI think there\u2019ll be players who earned the right to go overseas and cash in, who have committed to the country with Super Rugby and to the All Blacks, so obviously, a lot of people keep talking about Brodie, I don\u2019t know if I could talk him into coming back for a World Cup, but I\u2019ve already mentioned it to him.\u201d<\/p>\n Dave Rennie\u2019s All Blacks coaching wishlist revealed after Jamie Joseph was forced to shelve ambitious plan<\/a><\/p>\n Retallick\u2019s response<\/p>\n Rennie\u2019s comments prompted a text from Retallick\u2019s mom, who wanted to find out if he was really considering a return to the All Blacks jersey, a question the majority of New Zealand wanted an answer to as well.<\/p>\n \u201cI even had my mum text me about that, so he\u2019s kinda of throwing me out there,\u201d Retallick told D\u2019Arcy Waldegrave on Newstalk ZB<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cBut honestly, I\u2019ll put no consideration into it, to be fair.\u201d<\/p>\n The 34-year-old says that he was well aware of New Zealand Rugby\u2019s selection policy when he signed a contract with Kobe after the 2023 Rugby World Cup.<\/p>\n Unless things change in that regard, he is set to stick to his plan of finishing his career in Japan.<\/p>\n \u201cLike, under the current rules, and when I left New Zealand Rugby, I knew that you couldn\u2019t be picked from abroad, and I was happy with that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cSo I haven\u2019t given it much consideration. If it changes, I mean, maybe it\u2019s a conversation, but as of now, I think it\u2019s probably [done].<\/p>\n \u201cHe [Rennie] said it, but it\u2019s probably all hearsay until there\u2019s actually a platform in place, if that was the case.\u201d<\/p>\n All Blacks head coach announcement: Five takeaways as Dave Rennie raises NZ Rugby issue amid \u2018unavoidable\u2019 Rassie Erasmus parallel<\/a><\/p>\n Retallick knows the new All Blacks head coach better than most, having started his playing career under Rennie at the Chiefs, and now does so in Japan too. Rennie hasn\u2019t worked in New Zealand since 2017, leaving many questioning how much he has changed and what kind of coach he is.<\/p>\n \u201cHe was my first coach when I went to the Chiefs in 2012, and it\u2019s funny how rugby works out sometimes because he is now my coach at Kobe,\u201d the lock said.<\/p>\n \u201cI have a long-standing relationship with Renz that\u2019s for sure. I guess at the time, being my first year and my first professional coach, I underestimated or didn\u2019t understand how much work he actually does.<\/p>\n \u201cThe bottom line to sum up Rens is, he has all the things in place in terms of culture and running a team, but he will leave no stone unturned.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s what sticks out the most to me with him, that he will literally go as far as he needs to do and do what he needs to make a team perform.\u201d<\/p>\n Asked if he is tough on players and a little bit old-school with Rennie being a former teacher, Retallick replied: \u201cHe sometimes gets a bit tough on it over here in Japan at times, when he gets a bit frustrated when we don\u2019t quite get things right. But in a good way, he gets around you when he needs to and harsh when he needs to perform.\u201d<\/p>\n