Dave Rennie’s announcement as All Blacks head coach closes a tumultuous period for the team and New Zealand Rugby but not necessarily for the current assistant coaches, all of whom still face an uncertain future.
It was always Rennie’s goal to bring in his own trusted assistants, but it remains to be seen how far he will go and who of the current crop of Jason Ryan, Scott Hansen and Tamati Ellison remain.
Of those three, Ryan, who has served under the previous two regimes, including during the 2023 World Cup, is the most likely to be retained.
The forwards coach, who left the Crusaders to help Ian Foster and stayed to work under Scott Robertson - dismissed from the All Blacks in January - could help provide valuable intellectual property and continuity to Rennie and his new team.
This has become even more critical due to the impending departure of vastly experienced head trainer Nic Gill who has been with the team for almost 20 years.
Hansen, effectively Robertson’s No.2, had a wide brief concentrating on attack and defence, with Ellison also focusing on defence. Robertson also lost two assistants during his reign – Leon MacDonald in 2024 and Jason Holland, who announced last October that he would not apply to extend his contract.
Asked about his assistants yesterday as he faced the media in his new role for the first time, Rennie said: “We’ll work through that. I’ve got a strength of surrounding myself with quality people – people that can make a difference.
“I’m keen on bringing some people in. Whenever a head coach leaves it affects a lot of people and I want to sit down with some of the affected people and make some decisions over the next week or two.”
Three of Rennie’s most trusted confidants include Mike Blair, the former Scotland halfback (and Scotland attack coach), who works alongside him at Kobe Steelers and has previously helped him at Glasgow.
It would be a ground-breaking move to bring in Blair given he was born in Edinburgh but Rennie would likely be able to make a strong case to the NZ Rugby board on the grounds that only the best will do.
The addition of Kiwis Neil Barnes and Andrew Strawbridge, two men Rennie worked alongside at the Chiefs, would be easier to get across the line.
Barnes, a previous head coach of the Chiefs and now with Taranaki in the NPC, has expertise in coaching forwards and defensive systems and could add value in both areas with the All Blacks.
Skills coach Strawbridge, who worked under Foster at the 2023 World Cup before working with England coach Steve Borthwick, is currently at Toyota Verblitz alongside Foster and another former All Blacks head coach Sir Steve Hansen.
Strawbridge has impressed everywhere he has worked and, given the All Blacks’ struggles under the high ball over the past two years, could be another valuable addition.
One of the peculiarities of the Japan club rugby competition is the bye system which has every team taking six breaks a season and no team playing more than four weeks in a row.
This will allow Rennie, who has signed a two-year contract with NZ Rugby and will leave Kobe in June, to travel back to New Zealand to liaise with players, staff and assistants before the three Nations Championship Tests in July against France, Italy and Ireland.
Rennie, who underwent a three-and-a-half hour interview on Tuesday before he was offered the job yesterday morning, brought a calm and measured approach to his 24-minute address to the media.
Several things stood out, not least his interest in changing NZ Rugby’s self-imposed player eligibility rules to get access to former All Blacks such as Brodie Retallick, now playing under him at Kobe.
There is little doubt that Rennie will be lobbying hard to get Richie Mo’unga, who has starred at Toshiba over the past three seasons, on the tour of South Africa in August. Under NZ Rugby’s rules the returning No.10 is not eligible until the Rugby Championship.
Another was how much rugby Rennie watches. He revealed he already examines every Super Rugby Pacific match, along with European club rugby, the Six Nations and of course games within his own Japan One competition.
“I watch a fair bit of footy so I’m not concerned about not having an understanding of where the players are at,” he said.
“I watch it closely. I use a bit of analysis [software] as well. I’ll spend a bit of time here on bye weeks and support staff will meet up to get some planning done around our game model.”
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