Schalk Burger predicts that Dave Rennie will change the core of the All Blacks team, but the new head coach won\u2019t get much tolerance from the New Zealand public.<\/p>\n
Rennie has been tasked with turning the All Blacks\u2019 fortunes around after New Zealand Rugby deemed that the team was not on track for the 2027 Rugby World Cup under Scott Robertson\u2019s tutelage.<\/p>\n
He now has just one full international<\/a> season to inspire change and Burger<\/a> believes that there are three areas of concern in terms of selection, but he does believe that Rennie is a good fit.<\/p>\n The new All Blacks<\/a> coach arrives with a glowing CV from his stints with the Chiefs and Glasgow Warriors but he endured a harsh end to his spell with the Wallabies.<\/p>\n He was sacked from the position before the 2023 World Cup with Rugby Australia getting Eddie Jones to replace him. Whilst a defeat to Italy played a role in Rennie\u2019s dismissal, one match against the All Blacks sticks out \u2013 the 2022 Bledisloe Cup opener.<\/p>\n Australia held a three-point lead and had won a penalty inside their own 22 but Bernard Foley was judged to have been time-wasting and New Zealand were awarded a scrum which led to Jordie Barrett\u2019s match-winning try.<\/p>\n \u201cDave Rennie<\/a> was about 15 seconds away from winning the Bledisloe before he got fired. If it wasn\u2019t for that, he would have won the Bledisloe for the first time in 20-odd years,\u201d Burger said on the Verdict podcast.<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cHe was a good coach at the Chiefs and Glasgow. I played against him when Glasgow were competitive. He\u2019s old school. He is a hard taskmaster. I think it\u2019s a good fit for the All Blacks. He\u2019s not got a lot of time, but I think he\u2019s got that mentality where he can change the team around quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n Attack coach appointment is crucial<\/p>\n Fellow Springboks great Jean de Villiers agreed with his former teammate that Rennie is a good fit for the All Blacks, but said he can\u2019t be judged fairly just yet as his coaching team hasn\u2019t been confirmed.<\/p>\n Reports suggest that Tana Umaga<\/a> could be recruited into Rennie\u2019s set-up with just one of Robertson\u2019s deputies remaining.<\/p>\n \u201cI think he is a disciplinarian,\u201d De Villiers said of the new All Blacks boss.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s very difficult to judge him in isolation when we don\u2019t know who the assistant coaches are. I think such a big part of that gig is actually having a team around you that can make the group successful. Having an attack coach who really speaks to the way that the players want to play and is comfortable with.\u201d<\/p>\n Dave Rennie\u2019s All Blacks coaching wishlist revealed after Jamie Joseph was forced to shelve ambitious plan<\/a><\/p>\n The attack coach is an important appointment, according to the two 2007 World Cup winners, after Robertson went through two during his tenure.<\/p>\n Former centre De Villiers believes that is why Jamie Joseph was initially the favourite for the job because many hoped that he would be able to get Tony Brown to join his backroom team.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s why everybody kind of went Jamie Joseph initially because it was Jamie Joseph\/Tony Brown as a package. Whereas now with Rennie there, that\u2019s a big question for me,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n \u201cDo you go back to some of the guys who were there now? Because you need to be aligned, and it\u2019s not something where you just sit around the table and say, \u2018Okay, no, we all agree on everything.’\u201d<\/p>\n Burger continued: \u201cYeah, they\u2019ve had two attacking coaches under Razor. Again, it\u2019s a short turnaround, and it starts this year with big Test matches, four against the Boks. That will probably give you a greater indication of what your player corpse looks like. Do you try to get players back from Japan? And then who is your captain?\u201d<\/p>\n All Blacks legend urges NZ Rugby to \u2018challenge\u2019 Dave Rennie after Ian Foster and Scott Robertson failures<\/a><\/p>\n All Blacks\u2019 shake-up<\/p>\n The former flanker says that Rennie will bring a fresh approach and that will shake up the core of the squad. The new coach hinted that may well be the case, stating that he\u2019d be selecting his first squad on form as he has \u2018no loyalties\u2019 to players in New Zealand, having not coached in the country in nine years.<\/p>\n \u201cEvery coach has their own ideas, and the core of the team will change a little bit.\u00a0It\u2019s a lot of pressure, it\u2019s a big gig to take over, and what we\u2019ve seen from the last two generations or two stints of coaches, the public and the players, there\u2019s not a lot of tolerance,\u201d Burger said.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you look at Robertson\u2019s career, it\u2019s not a bad one. He got fired while second in the world \u2013 you don\u2019t have a lot of bandwidth to play with. Good luck to Dave.\u201d<\/p>\n De Villiers replied: \u201cIt\u2019s the same thing we asked previously. What does success look like now for the new coach coming in? It\u2019s not an easy year lying ahead for them at all. The World Cup next year, how do you build a bit of momentum, so it\u2019s a step in the right direction for them, but still a lot of question marks in terms of how you make that basket full?\u201d<\/p>\n