{"id":456627,"date":"2026-03-04T06:45:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-04T06:45:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/456627\/"},"modified":"2026-03-04T06:45:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-04T06:45:08","slug":"dave-rennie-named-all-blacks-head-coach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/456627\/","title":{"rendered":"Dave Rennie named All Blacks head coach"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Dave Rennie is the All Blacks<\/a>\u2018 new head coach. The team announced the appointment just shy of midday on Wednesday, after a near-50-day search following the axing of Scott Robertson<\/a> in mid-January.<\/p>\n

Rennie has landed a two-year deal to lead the iconic New Zealand<\/a> team through to the 2027 Rugby World Cup<\/a> in Australia, with an immediate focus on the upcoming inaugural Nations Championship and Rugby\u2019s Greatest Rivalry tour.<\/p>\n

The 62-year-old was previously the head coach of the Wallabies and led the Chiefs<\/a> to back-to-back Super Rugby titles immediately after his appointment as head coach of the club in 2012. Prior to those achievements, Rennie led the New Zealand U20<\/a> team to three consecutive world titles, a run beginning in 2008.<\/p>\n

Since his Wallabies dismissal in 2023, Rennie has been head coach of the Japan<\/a> Rugby League One outfit Kobe Steelers. He will continue with the team for the remainder of the season before returning to New Zealand to begin his All Blacks tenure.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn behalf of the Board, I\u2019d like to congratulate Dave on his appointment as All Blacks Head Coach,\u201d NZR Chair David Kirk<\/a> said of the appointment. \u201cHe is a world-class coach who has consistently shown he can build strong performance environments and win.<\/p>\n

\u201cDave understands what it means to coach the All Blacks and play a style of rugby that reflects who we are as New Zealanders. He has a deep understanding of rugby in New Zealand and the role the All Blacks play in shaping our national identity and bringing communities together.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rennie enters one of rugby\u2019s most demanding jobs with the backdrop of Scott Robertson\u2019s 74 per cent win rate and unprecedented sacking.<\/p>\n

Joining the ranks of coaching royalty is an \u201chonour\u201d nonetheless for the Wellington<\/a> product, who will become the first All Blacks coach with Pasifika heritage.<\/p>\n

\u201cCoaching the All Blacks is an incredible honour,\u201d Rennie said. \u201cI\u2019m extremely proud to have been entrusted with this role and understand the expectations that come with it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m really clear on the way I want the All Blacks to play, and I look forward to working with the players, management team, and the rugby community. We have a lot of talent here, and we will be working extremely hard to make the country proud.\u201d<\/p>\n

New Zealand Rugby\u2019s appointment panel included former All Blacks Dane Coles<\/a> and Keven Mealamu<\/a>, NZR executives and high-performance experts. The two leading candidates were understood to be Rennie and former Japan head coach Jamie Joseph. Kirk said the process was deeply thorough, moreso than any appointment process in All Blacks history.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe All Blacks are set for a challenging and exciting two seasons ahead, and it\u2019s\u00a0critical we\u00a0followed a thorough process to find the right head coach.\u00a0Dave has a clear direction for the team that\u00a0gives us confidence the team will be well positioned to perform\u00a0as we head into the 2027 Rugby World Cup.\u201d<\/p>\n

The future of Scott Robertson\u2019s coaching staff, who remained under contract in their respective roles despite the head coach\u2019s exit, remains uncertain. Rennie and New Zealand Rugby will address those positions in the coming weeks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dave Rennie is the All Blacks\u2018 new head coach. The team announced the appointment just shy of midday…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":456628,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[5903,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-456627","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-rugby","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/456627","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=456627"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/456627\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/456628"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=456627"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=456627"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=456627"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}