NSW Waratahs coach Dan McKellar and former Wallabies playmaker Quade Cooper have congratulated Dave Rennie on his ascension to the All Blacks, just three years after the Kiwi was dumped by Rugby Australia.
Rennie was on Wednesday handed the reins at the three-time world champions, the 62-year-old replacing Scott Robertson on an 18-month deal that, for now, expires at the end of next year’s Rugby World Cup.
His promotion to the top job has added another layer to an already intriguing Pool A clash in Sydney next year, when the Wallabies will meet the All Blacks at Stadium Australia and Rennie will stand across from many of the players he used to coach.
Cooper will not be among them having retired at the end of last year’s Japanese League Two season, but the fly-half, who was brought in from the Test wilderness by Rennie in stunning circumstances in 2021, was quick to applaud Rennie’s appointment — and fire off a shot at Rugby Australia at the same time.
“Shout out to coach Dave Rennie. After the way he was treated by our administration in Australia, to now find himself with arguably the biggest job in rugby feels like a little bit of karma,” Cooper posted to X on Wednesday afternoon.
“We let one of the best coaches in the game go. Not only did we let him go, we pushed him out the door. So seeing him land on his feet like this, I’m genuinely happy for him.
“The ‘what could have been’ might still come back to bite us, especially with a home World Cup coming in hot. Funny how the universe works sometimes.
“Congrats to the All Blacks for appointing not just a top coach, but a good man who understands that the game is about people first. That will play a huge role in their culture.”
Cooper’s Test return in 2021 came after he had been largely cast aside by Rennie’s Wallabies predecessor Michael Cheika, the New Zealand-born playmaker reaching out to Rennie with an offer to assist at Australia training.
But such was his impact on both Rennie and the Wallabies themselves, he was later handed the No. 10 jersey and played a leading role in Australia going 4-2 in the 2021 Rugby Championship, including back-to-back wins over the world champion Springboks.
Injury and an untimely player release saga limited his involvements thereafter, but Cooper’s match-winning penalty against South Africa at the Gold Coast was among the finest moments of the five-eighth’s career.
But the pair’s bond will not have Cooper cheering Rennie on next year, at least against Australia, with the 37-year-old adding the Kiwi was now “the enemy”.
McKellar meanwhile was another individual to flourish under Rennie, with the former Brumbies coach brought in as a Wallabies assistant in 2021. At that stage it looked as though McKellar was being groomed to succeed Rennie in the top job, only for Rugby Australia to eviscerate the setup completely when they punted the New Zealander and appointed Eddie Jones.
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McKellar rejected an offer from Jones to stay on at the Wallabies and while his move to English heavyweights Leicester did not bear fruit, he has since returned home and taken charge at the Waratahs.
Also speaking Wednesday following Rennie’s appointment, McKellar said he was thrilled for his former mentor.
“I think I’m probably one of Dave’s biggest supporters to be honest,” McKellar told reporters. “He gave me an opportunity at the international level. I think he’s a tremendous coach, but he’s an even better bloke, a great family, and I don’t think I’d be alone in saying that I’m incredibly happy for him and [wife] Steph and the kids.
“It’s probably a dream come true as a New Zealander, he gets the opportunity to coach his country. Just really pleased for him.”
“My joy for Dave has nothing to do with what’s happened with Rens and the Wallabies. We all move on. It’s high performance and decisions are made, Dave moved on quickly. I don’t think Dave’s ever addressed it publicly, and that just says a lot about the man.
“He’s had a successful period up there with Kobe, and there’s no doubt that he’s made them better, I think they’re sitting second or certainly in the top three of the Japanese League One. I’m just really pleased for him… I just think personally for him and his family, it’s a great story.”
Reflecting on his Wallabies experience on Wednesday, largely for the first time since his axing at the start of 2023, Rennie opted for the high road. Rather than hit out at RA or its now-departed chairman Hamish McLennan, the Kiwi instead referenced the group of players, including Michael Hooper and Len Ikitau, who were later overlooked by Jones for the World Cup in France.
“I’ve got no regrets. I’ve got a lot of strong relationships there, I learnt a lot from coaching at that level,” Rennie said of his time with the Wallabies.
“It wasn’t an ideal end, obviously I didn’t get the chance to go to a World Cup, but I felt more for probably about 13 or 14 players who would have gone to a World Cup with me who didn’t get to go either.”
