Rennie targets South African coach for Wallabies

IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Wallabies head coach Dave Rennie is looking to bolster his coaching team with a South African.

Rennie confirmed he is doing all he can to bring scrum guru Petrus du Plessis on his staff, but nothing has been finalised.

The Wallabies boss coached Du Plessis during his time at the Glasgow Warriors and also worked with him when the South African became a coach at the Scottish club.

Before his time with the Warriors, Du Plessis helped Saracens win three Premiership titles as a player before moving on to play for London Irish.

“I’ve worked with Petrus, he’s of South African extract, played a lot of rugby for Saracens, a little bit with London Irish, did a bit of coaching there and, for the last couple of years, has coached up at Glasgow for a couple of years,” Rennie told Australian media on Friday.

“He’s excellent, outstanding. He’s a qualified physio, he’s really innovative and he’s such a good man, just really passionate about scrums. So often he’d be training with us and rattle off to do a coaching thing in Aberdeen a couple of hours away driving in the snow.

“His role, if we could get it across the line, is more than just the Wallabies. It’s getting around the country and working with all the sides. He’d be a great get if we could get it over the line.

“We’ve been fighting for a long time. It’s a difficult time, but hopefully we can get that over the line soon. I can’t say much more than that.”

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Rennie also has his eye on Brumbies head coach Dan McKellar.

“It’s a bit like Petrus’s story really,” Rennie said. “We’re working through that process, but I think everyone’s aware of my feelings around Dan; an excellent coach, top man, would be a great addition to our group.

“You look how dominant they’ve [Brumbies] been in their line-out drive and it’s been over the last few years. Ruaidhri [Murphy] probably takes responsibility for that now but Dan’s had a big part in it, so he’d be a great addition to our group.”

Additional source: Sydney Morning Herald