Kieran Read’s ‘tough’ verdict on Dave Rennie’s All Blacks after the Wallabies made ‘stupid’ decision
All Blacks head coach Dave Rennie and ex-captain Kieran Read.
All Blacks legend Kieran Read has urged Dave Rennie not to shake things up too much in what will be a “tough” balancing act for the new boss.
The 62-year-old has replaced Scott Robertson as New Zealand’s head coach but will only take full charge once the Japan Rugby League One season has finished.
Rennie is currently the head honcho at the Kobelco Kobe Steelers and will therefore only have a few weeks with the All Blacks players before the Nations Championship begins in July.
He has, however, got his coaching group on board having brought in Tana Umaga, Mike Blair and Neil Barnes alongside Jason Ryan, who is the sole survivor from Robertson’s regime.
The new backroom team will undoubtedly change matters and mould the game plan but Read hopes that they will allow the players to air their views about what is required.
‘That’s all to do with 130 years of history’
“It’s tough for him I think, especially now when he’s going to be up in Japan. I don’t think he will have any communication with the players aside from Ardie Savea and Anton Lienert-Brown who are in his [Kobe] team,” he told the Between Two Beers podcast.
“That will give him a perspective which is handy.
“I can only see Dave from the outside and he looked like an awesome coach here at the Chiefs and what he’s done at the Wallabies. He had them kind of turned around just before they got rid of him for some stupid reason.
“If I look back over the past few years, the All Black group just needs to know exactly who they are and I think the key thing is coaching, players and the management group being aligned and connected in what they’re trying to achieve and then, man, this team will do bloody well.
“That to me is the key. I can’t speak for too much about what Dave’s going to bring but I don’t think he can come in and say: ‘This is the way it is’.
“He’s got to make sure he utilises the players’ voice and the senior players in there who care so much about that jersey and have the understanding of who we are, what we stand for and what this place means for us.
“That’s all to do with 130 years of history.”
Read was only ever part of an All Blacks environment that promoted their coaches from within. The former captain therefore compared the current situation to his time with the Crusaders where he worked under Robbie Deans, Todd Blackadder and Robertson.
Influence of Scott Robertson
“From the Crusaders perspective when Todd Blackadder and Razor came in… what those two did really well was that they were Crusader men so they knew the ethos of what it is,” he said.
“Dave being in New Zealand rugby for a long time knows the type of place it is.
“As players you don’t want something completely fresh, you want to still feel connected to what it is, but as players you’re also trying to impress as a new coach is going to bring fresh ideas and a little bit of a change.”
He added: “That was awesome for us when Razor came in at the Crusaders.
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“It’s tough for Toddy Blackadder that we didn’t win a title, we had two finals in his era, but it got to a point where it probably didn’t matter in some ways who came in, we just needed a change.
“It created something fresh, the players all bought into it. We didn’t change too much around that, we just had something fresh and Razor was different, and it brought awesome connection to us.
“It’s just finding that balance of freshness and new without losing [anything] – your culture doesn’t change just because a new coach is in. Your culture’s still there and it’s underpinning all those things around decisions and how your players feel comfortable because of the environment they’re in.”
