Key moments in Rennie's Wallabies coaching career
SPOTLIGHT: Rugby Australia delivered some surprising news on Monday in the form of Eddie Jones becoming the new head coach.
We take a look at key moments in Dave Rennie’s Wallabies coaching career leading to his shock axing eight months out from the 2023 Rugby World Cup.
NOVEMBER 2019 – New Zealander Rennie, the first first-year Super Rugby coach to win a Super Rugby title, is announced as Michael Cheika’s Wallabies replacement. He volunteers to take a 30 percent pay cut as COVID-19 hits RA’s coffers hard.
OCTOBER 2020 – Australia come within a whisker of a Bledisloe Cup upset win in Wellington but had to settle for a 16-16 draw in their first Test under the new coach. A month later he celebrates his first win in charge, against the All Blacks in Brisbane.
SEPTEMBER 2021 – Rennie makes huge selection gamble, recalling Quade Cooper to face the Springboks after a comprehensive 3-0 Bledisloe Cup series loss. It pays off, the side winning five straight games and jumping to third in the world rankings.
NOVEMBER 2021 – Without Cooper and Samu Kerevi in the side, a heavy loss to Eddie Jones’ England is sandwiched between tight losses to Scotland and Wales to spoil things. Rennie will eventually be axed without winning back-to-back Tests again.
FEBRUARY 2022 – Having already experimented with similar allowances, a new eligibility law allows Rennie to pick three overseas-based players who have 30 Test caps or a minimum of five years’ service to Australian Rugby.
JULY 2022 – Jones’ England arrive in Australia and stage a comeback 2-1 series win. Pivotal centre Kerevi then tears his ACL during Australia’s Commonwealth Games Sevens campaign.
AUGUST 2022 – Quade Cooper then joins a mounting injury toll in Argentina, his replacement James O’Connor then dropped after the Wallabies are thumped in San Juan.
SEPTEMBER 2022 – Pressure builds on Rennie and his depleted squad after one win and three losses in Tests at home and New Zealand and their ranking drops to eighth in the world.
NOVEMBER 2022 – Poor discipline, curious selections and more injuries feature in a 2-3 European tour swing where the first three Tests are decided by one point. Rennie copped criticism for resting key men in a three-point loss to Italy but then finished with a brave comeback defeat of Wales.
DECEMBER 2022 – Eddie Jones is sacked by England as Rugby Australia launch an independent review into the Wallabies’ 2022 fortunes.
JANUARY 2023 – Gathered for a four-day camp, Rennie tells media he is adamant Jones won’t play a role alongside him at the World Cup and dismisses reports he’s already signed to coach club rugby in Japan once his contract expires at the end of the year.
JANUARY 2023 – RA announce Eddie Jones will replace Rennie immediately, leaving Rennie with the worst winning percentage (38) of any Wallabies coach to oversee 30 or more Tests.
#NEWS: Dave Rennie gets sacked! Guess who is the new coach of the Wallabies 👇#Australia #Wallabies https://t.co/V8aex9Z3Wj
— rugby365.com (@rugby365com) January 16, 2023
