Former All Blacks and Chiefs first-five Aaron Cruden believes New Zealand Rugby may have made a mistake in overlooking Dave Rennie, which is all the more gain for the Wallabies.
Cruden spoke candidly to rugby.com.au about Rennie joining the Wallabies, saying the Australians have plenty to gain from NZR's decision to instead go with Ian Foster.
“I think the Wallabies have got a great one,” the 50-Test All Blacks playmaker told rugby.com.au.
“I understand the industry we’re in. There’s only a certain amount of spots, a certain amount of coaching jobs.
“But I would have loved to have seen him coaching here with New Zealand. I believe he was good enough to get the top job, but for whatever reason New Zealand Rugby Union went a different way and on a different path, and then Rens had to make some decisions that were best for him as well."
The 50-Test playmaker spent much of his early career being coached by Rennie; first at Manawatu from 2008, then the All Blacks under-20s in 2009 and later six seasons with the Chiefs.
In Rennie's first two seasons in charge of the Chiefs, he led them to back-to-back Super Rugby titles - an achievement Cruden said boiled down to the culture he introduced to the club.
“I just think with Rens, he invests so much of his time into providing a culture, a healthy culture in his teams,” Cruden said.
“He commits to the culture of the team; he likes to try and understand the background and the area or the people that he will be representing while coaching certain teams."
Cruden expects that approach to have an impact on the Wallabies too who were ousted from last year's Rugby World Cup in the quarter-finals.
“Rens will invest in developing a strong culture because he believes, ultimately, that’s half the job done.
“You know he’s the head coach, he’s the boss, but, at the same time, he still does take time to get to know his players as people and what they’re about, what makes them click.
“Rens has a very positive approach and style in the way that he likes rugby to be played and I’m sure we’ll see that with the Wallabies."
Rennie's Wallabies face off against Foster's All Blacks this Sunday at 4pm NZT in Wellington.
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