Dave Rennie has been appointed as the new Wallabies head coach on a three-and-a-half-year deal.
Rennie succeeds Michael Cheika as Wallabies boss on a long-term deal that will take him through to the 2023 Rugby World Cup.
Rennie, who is currently coaching the Glasgow Warriors, says he will see out his contract – which runs until July 2020 – with the Scottish side before joining the Wallabies.
‘I think Australians want their national team coached by an Australian and I’m OK with that,’ he said.
‘Hopefully, they’re feeling that way because they care about Aussie rugby and all I can say is everywhere I’ve gone I’ve immersed myself in the community and the culture.
‘I guess we’ll be judged by what we do as opposed to what I say now but I can assure you that I care about the future of Australian rugby, and I’m going to work really hard to get a strong connection with the Super Rugby coaches and the national age-grade coaches to ensure we’ve got good young talent coming through and good pathways for them,’ Rennie explained.
The 55-year-old also confirmed that he had been approached about the vacant New Zealand head coach post and revealed why he turned down the offer to take control of the All Blacks.
‘I’m a proud Kiwi but the big thing is I’ve been talking to Australia for a lot of months,’ Rennie said.
‘The All Blacks’ interest came in late in the piece and by that stage, we’d done a lot of homework, we were really excited about the opportunity to go to Australia and that ended up being an easy decision.’
Rennie coached the Chiefs to two Super Rugby titles before leaving to join the Glasgow Warriors in 2017.
Photo: Bruce Lim/Photosport
