New All Blacks head coach Dave Rennie has revealed that he invited the selection panel over to Japan to see \u2018warts and all\u2019 how he conducts a week.<\/p>\n
Former hooker Dane Coles and acting NZR chief executive Steve Lancaster spent a week with both Rennie and Jamie Joseph during the interview process to decide who would succeed Scott Robertson.<\/p>\n
Job application process<\/p>\n
It was a controversial ploy from the NZ Rugby<\/a> appointment panel as it reportedly left Joseph \u2018miffed\u2019 according to a report in the New Zealand Herald.<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cIt is understood that Joseph<\/a>, in particular, is miffed that having coached Wellington, the Highlanders, M\u0101ori All Blacks and the All Blacks XV as recently as last year, that he is now having observers sit in on his coaching to take notes,\u201d a New Zealand Herald report states.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s thought to be perturbed, too, that his fate will be determined by how well he presents in an interview situation, when he feels his coaching achievements are all known and documented, and by far the better means by which to assess his worthiness.\u201d<\/p>\n Speaking to All Blacks great Jeff Wilson on Sky Sports NZ, Rennie<\/a> offered a completely polarising view on that particular aspect of the job application process and said that he actually invited the delegation over to spend a week with him at Kobe.<\/p>\n \u201cYeah, I thought the process was excellent,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cI asked them to come to Japan because I\u2019ve been away from New Zealand for nine years, and I guess anyone who knew me or had seen me coach wouldn\u2019t have seen me for a long time.<\/p>\n \u201cSo, I opened the doors, so they could see warts and all; how we plan, prepare and conduct trainings and so on. So, Steve and Dane came up for a couple of days and then we had a pretty full-on interview yesterday, which I didn\u2019t realise how long it had gone on for.\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 Rennie added that he hoped to catch a beer with Joseph after the pair\u2019s interviews but ran out of time as he hadn\u2019t realised how long his interview had gone on for.<\/p>\n \u201cDuncan, my agent, had said to me that we\u2019re going to catch up for dinner at six and I thought I\u2019d duck back to the hotel and get changed and looked at my watch and it was 17:30,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cBut yeah, it was really good. It was a good conversation and good challenge and very thorough.\u201d<\/p>\n He did, however, reveal a classy touch from Joseph, who messaged him and wished him well in the role straightaway after discovering that he hadn\u2019t been offered the job.<\/p>\n Springboks legend claims \u2018only three teams\u2019 can win the 2027 Rugby World Cup after All Blacks coaching call<\/a><\/p>\n Rennie\u2019s style<\/p>\n It has been theorised that Joseph\u2019s old-school, hard-nose approach slightly tipped the scales in Rennie\u2019s favour in what was a tight two-horse race for the position.<\/p>\n So, what type of coach is Rennie?<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m a type of guy who puts an arm around someone while digging into their ribs,\u201d the All Blacks boss explained.<\/p>\n \u201cI care, and I want to help people, but I also want to be demanding to get the best out of them and help them. So yeah, I think that probably describes my style best.\u201d<\/p>\n New Zealand ended 2024 ranked second overall on the World Rugby rankings after losing just three matches. However, that was not enough for the NZ Rugby board who deemed that a change of leadership was needed.<\/p>\n The standards have been set incredibly high for Rennie, leading Wilson to the question \u2018What does better look like for you when it comes to the All Blacks?\u2019<\/p>\n