Sonny Bill Williams expects the All Blacks to thrive under new head coach Dave Rennie, as the Rugby World Cup winner hinted that he was involved in NZ Rugby\u2019s process.<\/p>\n
The new boss will lead New Zealand into the 2027 global tournament in Australia after taking over from the sacked Scott Robertson.<\/p>\n
Williams<\/a> worked with Rennie<\/a> at the Chiefs, playing a key role in the Super Rugby successes in 2012 and 2013, and stated NZR \u201cwould have done their due diligence\u201d by asking \u201cformer players like myself\u201d about the 62-year-old.<\/p>\n According to the Daily Telegraph in Australia, these interviews were \u201cstrictly confidential\u201d and the former players were \u201cnot allowed to confirm their participation in the process\u201d.<\/p>\n Sacked by Rugby Australia<\/p>\n Despite his struggles with the Wallabies, which ended with a 38 per cent win rate, that did not count against him.<\/p>\n Rugby Australia pulled the trigger early on his tenure, getting Eddie Jones in prior to the 2023 World Cup, but many believe that the governing body made a grave error in letting Rennie go.<\/p>\n That includes Williams, who is confident that his former boss will do great things with the All Blacks<\/a> going forward.<\/p>\n \u201cI honestly think that the Wallabies let him go too early, but I\u2019m quite happy because it\u2019s good for us and it\u2019s going to come back to bite them, hopefully next year in the World Cup in Australia,\u201d he said in a video on his Instagram page.<\/p>\n \u201cI know that the All Blacks management, NZR, would have done their due diligence, asking many players, former players like myself, what Dave was about.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ll be really interested to see who is in Dave\u2019s coaching team, because I think that\u2019s almost just as important as him being the head coach. But the one thing I do love about this guy is that he would tell you straight up what the game plan is, how they\u2019re playing.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019ll also know what type of athlete, player, that he needs and he wants, and he\u2019s demanding in that aspect. But he\u2019ll also push the culture. As I always say, you\u2019ve got to connect to correct, and I think that\u2019s one of Dave\u2019s big strengths.\u201d<\/p>\n