Dave Rennie is copying ‘madman’ Springboks coach’s philosophies as Jeff Wilson predicts better All Blacks after coach fixed ‘first’ issue
All Blacks head coach Dave Rennie and an inset of ex-winger Jeff Wilson.
Dave Rennie has been praised for changing the All Blacks’ mentality, with Jeff Wilson stating that they can only improve from here.
New Zealand lost three successive Test matches to the Springboks in Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series, which has left Rennie with a 57% win rate after seven games in charge. Scott Robertson was sacked despite bolstering a 76.9% win rate in his final season in charge of the team last year, but Wilson still sees improvement in how the side is playing.
Can’t judge current percentages
The legendary winger says that fans shouldn’t be too worried about the current win rate as he has seen a clear shift in the team’s mentality and that the percentages look worse after facing the best team in the world.
“It’s too small a sample size. It’s very easy to get hung up on the percentages right now, but I know people who are Scott Robertson fans will go, ‘Well, look at the numbers. Here it is.’ But it all comes down to what’s going to happen for the rest of the season for the All Blacks because they can quite quickly turn these percentages around given who they are playing through the rest of the year,” Wilson explained on Sky Sport NZ’s Breakdown.
“But you are in the job of coaching the All Blacks to win, right? That’s what Dave Rennie understands, but we’ve just played the Springboks four times in a row. So we’re in a much better position but not on the results side of things, but that’s not the question right now.
“If you ask people about the All Blacks, they’re optimistic. They’re feeling positive on where they’re heading. So to me, you say, ‘Are we in a better spot?’ Not results-wise, but our belief in what we’re doing. Absolutely.”
Rennie is copying ex-Springboks coach’s style
Kevin Putt, a New Zealand-born scrum-half who toured with the Springboks in the 1990s, agrees that Rennie has the All Blacks heading in the right direction and likened the coach’s style and approach to the late Ian McIntosh – who was South Africa’s head coach from 1993 to 1994.
“I like what we’re doing. If Rennie were to get a tick for me, it’s that we’re not highly predictable. So, we’re playing ball wider in our own zone, pulling wingers up, and then kicking in behind,” he said.
“We are playing behind scrums and finding easy go forward. We haven’t done that the last lot of coaches. I’ve come from a South African system with an old madman, Ian McIntosh, who had this whole policy on how to play, and he follows a lot of it. So I love the philosophy behind what he’s trying to do. Find easy go forward, then you’ll find the space.”
Ex-full-back Mils Muliaina adds that there is connection in the squad that he hasn’t seen with the All Blacks over the last few seasons.
“What we’ve produced and how we’ve gone, we’re seeing a much more connected team. We’re making mistakes, but we’re able to come together and come up with certain plans and be on the same page. I didn’t see that in the last couple of years,” he said.
“I’ve seen uncertainty. We’ve just played the best damn team in the world since 2019.”
No longer us against the world
Wilson echoed Muliaina’s sentiments, adding that there is a team-first mentality since Rennie took charge of the side, something he got first-hand experience of during the RGR tour in South Africa.
“You’re seeing it from here in New Zealand. I have the privilege of seeing it first-hand with this group,” the winger said.
“What he’s managed to rediscover is that team-first mentality with this group, in a society where it’s me first a lot of the time for individuals focused on the fact that what am I doing? How am I going about these things? I look at how this team has come together.
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“Caleb Clarke talked about that. We’re no longer relying on superstars. We’re trying to play like a team. We’re trying to play like people who want to use the ball. And look, in 22, the Ian Foster saga galvanised that group, but it was us against the world. That’s what the All Blacks are doing, and it almost took them to a Rugby World Cup. This is different. They’re taking everyone along for the ride.
“I believe the public is going along for the ride here because they believe in the people, but also, you listen to them talk, the team comes first. They pass the ball; everyone’s involved. I just think that’s the first thing he had to deal with. We’re here now; they’re working for each other, and we’re going to improve.”
