Ex-All Blacks star reveals Dave Rennie’s ‘super’ strength as he prepares for Springbok showdown
All Blacks head coach Dave Rennie and ex-New Zealand fly-half Lima Sopoaga (inset).
Lima Sopoaga believes Dave Rennie’s ability to “love people” has been crucial in helping him make an impressive start to his career as the All Blacks’ new head coach.
In March, New Zealand Rugby announced that Rennie would take over the All Blacks’ coaching reins from Scott Robertson, who was axed from the position at the start of this year.
Rennie made a solid start to his reign as New Zealand‘s coach as they kicked off their Nations Championship campaign with successive victories over France (34-32), Italy (47-17) and Ireland (40-21).
That means they are in joint-pole position with the Springboks atop the Nations Championship’s Southern Hemisphere standings with their arch-rivals having a superior points difference.
While former All Blacks fly-half Sopoaga acknowledged that they are not yet “where they want to be”, he said he has been impressed with the start which Rennie has made to his coaching tenure with the men in black.
During an appearance on the DSPN podcast with Martin Devlin, the show’s host asked him if the All Blacks are ready to beat the Springboks and he said yes, but revealed that there is something special brewing in the three-time world champions’ camp under Rennie.
‘They’re not the finished product’
“One hundred percent,” he replied to whether New Zealand could beat South Africa. “They’re not the finished product (or) where they want to be.
“We know that and they would have talked about that themselves, but for me, I think what I’m most impressed with it isn’t defensive systems (or) attack, how we attack.
“It’s actually things that don’t come up on the stat sheet and one thing in particular that I felt over the three weeks watching this team and being around this team and you know getting little insights is connection.
“And for me that has been the most important thing watching this team from France all the way through to Ireland is the connection and how this team has grown both individually and as a collective and that for me is the most important thing.”
Sopoaga went on to explain the special quality which Rennie brings to his coaching and how it inspires his players to do well on the playing field.
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“It’s a massive thing and when you look at these guys like everybody’s got a different reason for playing rugby,” he said. “Everybody’s got a different ‘why’.
Dave Rennie’s ‘super good’ quality
“But what Dave Rennie I believe is being super good at and guys I’ve had chats with like (ex-All Blacks and Chiefs fly-half) Aaron Cruden, who’s got a special relationship with him, is they all say the thing that Dave Rennie is so super good at is he loves people.
“And when you love people and when people feel loved they will run through brick walls for you. They will do things that they might not normally do. They will sacrifice for the greater good because there’s a person or there’s a group of people who actually care about an individual and when people felt cared for and especially in Polynesian culture, when we feel like there’s a village around us, we’ll do anything.
“And so, if you look at that team, you know it is heavily dominated by Polynesian and Maori culture.
“So, now you’ve got somebody who understands that deeply and so when you have that (and) mix that with great leadership and Ardie (Savea) and the leadership group around him, you’re starting to find that these guys are coming out of their shells individually and as a collective.
“And that’s probably the most important thing for me and what I’ve seen. Yes, our defence hasn’t been great and we’ve leaked points and whatnot, but I don’t care about that.
“That’s going to come over time. We’ve had three weeks together. Imagine if we have six months, imagine in a year, imagine by the time we come to the World Cup.”