Brodie Retallick believes that Dave Rennie is ‘scarred’ by his stint with the Wallabies but has come out a better coach because of it.
The new All Blacks head coach was unceremoniously sacked by Rugby Australia in 2023, with Eddie Jones hired as his replacement ahead of the World Cup.
It was a rash decision by the governing body, compounded by the Wallabies‘ failure to progress past the pool stages of the tournament for the first time.
Retallick, who is Rennie’s captain at Japan Rugby League One club the Kobe Steelers, says that while his coach carries baggage from the stint, he is better off now.
The benefit of being out of New Zealand for so long
The All Blacks job will be Rennie’s first gig in New Zealand since departing the Chiefs in 2017 join the Glasgow Warriors. The new boss believes that this is advantageous for him as he has no loyalties to any players and all aspiring All Blacks need to make their case in Super Rugby Pacific.
He claims that he will select his team solely on form, this after many believed that his predecessor was accused of having a Crusaders bias when it came to selection.
“Yeah, definitely,” Retallick replied when asked by D’Arcy Waldegrave, on Newstalk ZB, if being away from New Zealand for so long worked in Rennie’s favour.
“We obviously talk about the plan, the good times he had, but he was dealt some harsh learnings when he was with the Wallabies. I’m sure that probably scarred him a little bit, but I think he would have grown from that.
“And I see that in his coaching now, like the wealth of knowledge he has from being amongst those different environments, to be the product he is now.”
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Dave Rennie’s strength
Retallick and Rennie go a long way back with the latter handing the second rower his Super Rugby debut during their time at the Chiefs.
The lock knows the coach better than most and detailed what he believes makes Rennie such a good head coach, citing his ability to surround himself with the right people, something that the All Blacks boss noted too.
“I think it’s a real strength, and you know he’s brought people in that he worked with over in Scotland and Europe into Kobe, and he still works with Phil and a physio who has been with him from New Zealand,” he said.
“He has surrounded himself with quality people which I guess from his point of view makes his job easier, but from a player’s point of view, it gives us a level of coaching that is, in theory, world-class for a Japan team, and that’s down to him really.”
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Retallick added: “He’s got clear expectations from his players and I guess I still have the drive to perform and want to perform my best. Rennie has always said, ‘I’ll coach you good or bad and keep challenging you’ and I think as I’ve got older, a coach that keeps challenging you to be better and wanting to be better plays a massive part in the game.”