New All Blacks assistant coach Neil Barnes is bullish about New Zealand\u2019s chances of winning the 2027 Rugby World Cup in Australia.<\/p>\n
The Tararanki legend never imagined that he would be coaching the national team but is now excited to get stuck into the job.<\/p>\n
Barnes is renowned for being a tough operator and an emotionally driven coach from his stints with the Chiefs and Taranaki, while he has also made the step-up to international rugby with Italy, Canada and Fiji, including three Rugby World Cup<\/a> campaigns.<\/p>\n I thought he was joking!<\/p>\n The experienced coach now gets the opportunity to assist the All Blacks<\/a>, a chance that he didn\u2019t even think Dave Rennie<\/a> was seriously offering him.<\/p>\n \u201cI responded straight away that I was available, but I thought he was joking,\u201d he told Sky Sport\u00a0when asked if he hesitated when he got the call from the head coach.<\/p>\n \u201cThen, when he came back and asked the question, I\u2019d already given it a little bit of thought.<\/p>\n \u201cEverybody should have a little bit of anxiety about the challenge of being at this level because it carries a lot of responsibility, but mate, I\u2019m now wholly and solely driven to actually make this work.\u201d<\/p>\n He added: \u201cLook, it\u2019s a massive honour. I\u2019ve never thought I would be sitting in these circles. To be considered for that and to be asked by Dave, it\u2019s humbling to be perfectly honest. I\u2019m not afraid of the challenge, but it\u2019s still something that I probably at the end of the day never thought would happen.\u201d<\/p>\n All Blacks: Dave Rennie names assistant coaches as Tana Umaga headlines four-man group<\/a><\/p>\n The 67-year-old coach takes on a senior assistant role under Rennie, who he previously worked with at the Chiefs. Barnes says that he has had a love-hate relationship with the new All Blacks boss during their careers but has a real admiration for the way he operates.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s love-hate when we\u2019re actually playing sport against each other,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re both competitive people, and he normally wins, but we actually got a healthy respect for each other in the fact that in the fight, we complement each other.<\/p>\n \u201cThe depth of feeling and care for his teams, the players and the people, it\u2019s something that I\u2019m aligned with. He taught me lots.\u201d<\/p>\n