Jason Ryan: What Dave Rennie has ‘acknowledged’ about the All Blacks pack amid ‘really clear expectations’
All Blacks head coach Dave Rennie and forwards guru Jason Ryan.
Jason Ryan has been impressed by Dave Rennie’s start to life as All Blacks head coach as they lay out their vision for the next 18 months.
The forwards guru is the sole survivor from Scott Robertson’s backroom team, with the new boss bringing in Neil Barnes, Tana Umaga and Mike Blair as his assistants.
Rennie is now Ryan’s third All Blacks head coach, having initially joined the set-up in 2022 while Ian Foster was still in charge.
He is a highly rated forwards coach, and the set-piece was one of the few areas which functioned consistently well under Robertson.
What they want from the All Blacks forwards
The new head honcho will obviously determine the game plan and the direction of the team, but the former Crusaders assistant will also have ideas about what he likes to see from his pack.
“Rens has been really clear around what his expectations are on the sort of player he wants. We’ve acknowledged that we’ve got some good athletes and when you look at the forward pack, we’ve got a good, dynamic pack that can use footwork at the line. He wants to use them and that’s exciting,” Ryan told Sport Nation.
The new backroom staff is not littered with high profile names, although everyone will know who Umaga is given he is a former All Blacks captain.
“Everyone’s got a unique skill set,” Ryan said. “I know Tana will bring a lot of mana. It’s quite ironic, I did a bit of work with him for the U20s 10 years ago, we were together there, so I’m looking forward to reconnecting.
“I saw what he brings to a team in that short time. It was the time when Jerry Collins passed and it was when the boys did that special haka which Sean Wainui led.
“All that sort of thing will be tied into the All Blacks in his unique way as well as a pretty unique skill set we’ll all bring to the table.”
Ryan also gave an insight into some of the things the coaches will be doing under the organised Rennie ahead of the July Tests.
‘Really clear’ Rennie
“The priority for Rens was getting all the coaching group appointed and signed, and that officially happened on Tuesday,” he added.
“We’ve got a day lined up next week where we will get on a call together. Obviously, the communication will be different, Barnesy and I will be here and Rens has got a trip planned where we’ll shoot into three visits to Super franchises in a couple of weeks.
“Barnesy and I will also shoot up to Japan, so there’s a couple of little micro-convos going on, but in the next week we’ve got a called planned together to have a talk about what our game looks like.
“Rens is really clear, he’s incredibly well planned and got everything laid out really nicely.”