AB’s Coach confirmed

Forum » Rugby » AB’s Coach confirmed

Mar 04, 2026, 01:28

Dave Rennie has been announced as the new ABs coach. He’s promising to return NZ rugby to its natural DNA so look out you Bok supporters. We’s a comin for you!!

Mar 04, 2026, 01:39

OK cool…are you happy and confident that it’s the right choice, Moolaa?


I thought they were going to pick Jamie Joseph. In any case, that means Tony Brown will definitely be staying with the Boks :)


Exciting AB vs Bok Test coming our way!

Mar 04, 2026, 04:45

Yeah MPower, I’m happy but also a tad biased being a Chiefs fan. He managed to turn our side around and won 2 consecutive Super Rugby titles and has heaps of experience.

A solid if not absolutely standout contender but apparently well respected by his players. He discovered Aaron Cruden back in the day who turned into a good AB. Cruden will be rapt.

Now if Rennie can somehow talk his old partner Wayne Smith back…..

Mar 04, 2026, 05:02

Good luck...but not too much hey!

Mar 04, 2026, 06:41

Moola, where do you think from here?


Upward or more of the same?

Mar 04, 2026, 09:04

Who really knows Plum. According to all reports he has a great affinity with his players which is a prerequisite I would’ve thought. Sounds very much like Razor had lost the changing room completely given the way the team capitulated vs the Boks in Wellington. Sure the Boks played well but I’ve never seen an AB team just give up in the last 15 minutes and let so many soft tries in.

Foster had the room as the players backed him in SA in 2023 when Mark Robinson was basically sent over to sack him. The players fought for him and came away with a great win. Did’nt see anything like that under Razor’s reign.

Rennie is a great physicality and clean out man so look for a big improvement in those areas this year. He also had Wayne Smith on board at the Chiefs and they made a deadly combination. It would be magic for us if he could lure Smithy back to the team.

My biggest worry is the scrum where we used to be able to at least hold parity with the best but that’s gone backwards at an alarming rate since 2023. Not sure if we have the cattle there to arrest the slide.

Anyway, good luck Dave!!!

Mar 04, 2026, 09:23

"Rennie is a great physicality and clean out man so look for a big improvement in those areas this year. He also had Wayne Smith on board at the Chiefs and they made a deadly combination. It would be magic for us if he could lure Smithy back to the team."


The recent ABs have looked their best for me when they have cleaned out quickly and challenged well at the breakdown. Sure, that's an advantage for any team, but the ABs seem to have the tools to extract more advantage than most from having strong ruck stats. I could buy into the narrative. Sucks for Razor though. Seems he's a guy that needs to grow with a team and not just be given a side.


Anyway, since your nation, along with the Ozzy "cunce", are seeking to destroy the scrum, the only option for the Boks is to destroy you. There will be no mercy, for you have been attempting to screw with the most sacred of sacred!!!



Mar 04, 2026, 11:06

Let’s bring it on then later this year!!

Mar 04, 2026, 11:16

moolaa, I can't remember a rugby tour I was more excited for than this year's one.


Hope both teams are at their absolute peak.

Mar 04, 2026, 13:06

Regardless of the results the ABs will come out of the tour as a much more experienced and better side.

Mar 04, 2026, 14:31

‘Sounds very much like Razor had lost the changing room completely given the way the team capitulated vs the Boks in Wellington. Sure the Boks played well but I’ve never seen an AB team just give up in the last 15 minutes and let so many soft tries in.’


I completely agree moolaa, there was no way a united AB team was going to disintegrate like that. I couldn’t imagine the coach surviving that.


I also agree on the scrum.Match after match we see the Boks getting crucial scrumming penalties that make the difference in close games, including the 2003 WC final. We have never had that kind of scrumming dominance.Nor do our individual props look that dominant in club matches.


Solving the scrumming disparity would be more than 50% of the battle for Rennie. You need a bullet proof tighthead, but this seems to be more about scrumming technique.



Mar 04, 2026, 14:40

It's going to be interesting to see who Dave Rennie picks as his assistant coaches.

Mar 04, 2026, 19:43

Meanwhile at the cricket……..Sorry, had to get that in here!


Funny how the Boks smash us with a NZ coach on their team and now we do the same to the Proteas with a Japie coach!!

Mar 04, 2026, 20:23

Congratulations...what a victory at the right time ...good luck with probably India.

 
You need to Log in to reply.
Back to top