| Full name | David Noel Rennie | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date of birth | (1963-11-22)22 November 1963 (age 61) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Upper Hutt,New Zealand | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 189 cm (6 ft 2 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| School | Heretaunga College | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Dave Rennie (born 22 November 1963) is aNew Zealand andCook Islands professionalrugby union coach and former player. He will take over theKobe Steelers as head coach for the 2023-24 season. He previously was the head coach of theAustralia national rugby union team from 2020 to 2023, having previously coached New Zealand sides theChiefs,Manawatu,Wellington, theNew Zealand U20, as well as in Scotland, withGlasgow Warriors from 2017 to 2020. Rennie's playing position wasCentre.[1] In November 2019 he was named the head coach of theAustralian national team until being sacked in January 2023.
Rennie played with Upper Hutt RFC in Wellington, New Zealand.[2] He finished playing early at 27 due to a recurring shoulder injury.[1]
Rennie played with the Wellington Lions. He won the NPC title with the Lions in 1986. Later as head coach he guided the team to their next NPC title 14 years later in 2000.
Rennie's mother was fromRarotonga in theCook Islands, and thus Rennie was eligible for theCook Islands national rugby union team.[3]He played for theCook Islands national rugby union team for one game in 1990, but it was a non-capped match.[4]
Rennie has been described as "hard-nosed, doesn't tolerate fools, is astute and has a deep rugby intelligence."[5]
Dave is a world class coach and the results on the field speak for themselves. He enjoys huge respect from players and fans, and right across the rugby community.
— Steve Tew, New Zealand Rugby chief executive[6]
After playing for the amateur side Rennie then coached Upper Hutt RFC.[7]
He became the assistant coach of the Wellington Lions in 1999 before becoming head coach in 2000. In his first year as the head coach, he led the Wellington Lions to their first NPC title since 1986.[8] He stayed with the Lions until 2002.
Rennie became first the Hurricanes Under 23 head coach and then the assistant coach of the Hurricanes.
Rennie also coached at the New Zealand international academy.
Originally a short-term contract,[6] Rennie was the coach of theManawatu Turbos in theITM Cup from 2005 to 2011. Under Rennie the Turbos were Championship Runner-up in the2011 ITM Cup.
Rennie was coach of theNew Zealand national under-20 rugby union team and the team won three consecutive World titles from 2008 to 2010.[9]
He joined theChiefs for the2012 season and led them to their first everSuper Rugby title.[10] In doing so Rennie became the first first-yearSuper Rugby coach to win a Super Rugby title
The day of the final itself proved highly eventful. As Rennie guided the Chiefs to a37–6 win over theSharks, his house was robbed and valuables were stolen. A similar opportunist theft had occurred to Chiefs playerSonny Bill Williams several weeks earlier.[11]
He coached the Chiefs to their second straight Super Rugby title in the 2013 season, beating theBrumbies. Rennie's "rookie" streak was only superseded byScott Robertson in 2019, who won six successive titles in his first three seasons as head coach of theCrusaders from 2017, winning in his rookie year, then again in 2018 - 2022.
Rennie's coaching record at the Chiefs was:
On 19 August 2016,Glasgow Warriors announced that Rennie would replaceGregor Townsend as head coach for the2017–18 season.[12] Under Townsend, Warriors were a topPro12 side; they reached the play-offs in every year of his charge – except his last; where he guided the Warriors to their first European Champions Cup Quarter-Final. Townsend won thePro12 title with Glasgow Warriors in 2015.[13]
In Rennie's first season, Glasgow Warriors made thePro14 semi-finals, but the side was beaten atScotstoun Stadium by theScarlets.[14] In the European Champions Cup they finished bottom of their pool.[15]
For the2018–19 season, Glasgow Warriors reached thePro14 final atCeltic Park in Glasgow. A large home-based Warriors support gave the Pro14 its biggest ever attendance for a final. Despite thisLeinster capitalised on aStuart Hogg error and ground out the match to win the title. In the European Champions Cup, Glasgow Warriors qualified out of the pool stages to meetSaracens in the quarter final. Having run Saracens very close at home; and matched them until the final quarter of the away pool match – Scottish hopes were raised for the quarter-final in London.[16] However Saracens saved their best performance for that match and then went on to win the European title.[17]
After a coronavirus curtailed season in the2019–20 season, Glasgow Warriors were in the 3rd place of their conference; which would have normally secured a place in the play-off finals to determine the Pro14 champion.Danny Wilson took over the head coach role on 1 June 2020. On leaving Rennie said: "It’s been good for me. I was keen to experience a different culture and a different type of footie. Rugby goes forever up here, the seasons roll into one, so you have to be very detailed around your planning. Around the international commitments you lose players for big chunks of time so you have to bring through young kids and manage a much bigger squad."[18] OfGlasgow Warriors and Scotland he concluded: ""But it's the people I'll miss. A lot of it comes back to laughter. The Scottish are funny people and I haven't laughed as much in any environment as much as I have in my time here. I've travelled all over Scotland and had a decent look at various things. My grandfather was born in Stranraer so we spent a bit of time down there. We went up to Skye and went to Oban and went to this seafood restaurant right on the water and it was as good as any seafood I've ever tasted. I've loved the food, I've loved the people and I've loved our time here. It's been special, we'll miss it."[19]
On 20 November 2019,Rugby Australia announced that Rennie would replaceMichael Cheika as head coach of theWallabies.[20]
On 12 November 2022, Under pressure coach Dave Rennie defended making mass changes to his team after the Wallabies were stunned in a historic first loss (28-27) to Italy in Florence.[21]
On 16 January 2023, Rugby Australia announced that Rennie would be replaced byEddie Jones.[22][23][24]
It was announced that Rennie would take over theKobe Steelers in Japan for the season 2023-24.[25] With him as assistant will beMike Blair, previously a head coach ofEdinburgh Rugby and who was an assistant coach under Rennie atGlasgow Warriors.[26]
Rennie was a school teacher in Upper Hutt.[27] He taught to 12 and 13 year olds: 'intermediate', between primary and secondary education.[1]In comparing his former job of teaching with coaching rugby union, Rennie said: "Teaching, coaching, it's the same thing. The kids are just a bit bigger."[27]
While coaching Upper Hutt RFC at amateur level, Rennie owned and ran a pub called the Lonely Goat Herd in Upper Hutt, Wellington.[2]
Rennie plays guitar and also enjoys landscape gardening.[6][1]
| Preceded by | Australian national rugby union coach 2019–2023 | Succeeded by |
