Sacked Wallabies coach Dave Rennie has resisted the temptation for a parting shot at Rugby Australia following his dismissal on Monday, instead lauding the “hard work” of his playing group and staff while wishing the team all the best at this year’s Rugby World Cup.
Rennie was dumped by RA in favour of Eddie Jones, the Kiwi told via a 6am Zoom call just a few days after he had wrapped up a four-day Wallabies camp on the Gold Coast.
The risk of losing Jones to another Union or club was deemed too great by the RA board to sit on its hands until 2024 — when Rennie would have moved on — and it therefore decided to act once Jones had himself been sacked by England in December.
Rather than unload on his former paymasters, Rennie instead delivered another measured response — as has been the hallmark of his Wallabies tenure — to his sacking, but did say he was comfortable in the fact he was leaving a playing and coaching group that had been truly behind him.
“Firstly, I’d like to thank all of those who have reached out to [wife] Steph and I over the past 48 hours or so,” Rennie said via a statement on Wednesday afternoon.
“The support has been immense and much appreciated from the more than 500 messages I’ve received from current and former players, coaches, administrators and friends both here and abroad.
“I’ve loved my time with the team. They’re outstanding young men who are keen to learn and prepared to work hard.
“The staff I worked with during my time with the Wallabies are some of the best in the world and they played a massive role in creating a quality environment and developing the depth of the playing group.
“I’d like to particularly thank those in the Australian Rugby community for their support of the team over the past three years and for all the words of encouragement when we have crossed paths in schools, on the training field or in airports around the country.
“I’m disappointed I won’t be able to see out my contract in the way I agreed to back in 2019 but leave knowing I had the full support of the playing group and the staff.”
Rennie endured a horror run with player injuries in 2022, which in turn contributed to the Wallabies 5-9 record that also included an embarrassing maiden loss to Italy.
On the flipside of that, however, was that he was forced to bring through a number of new faces, with the likes of Nick Frost, Mark Nawaqanitawase and Ben Donaldson among those to step up.
Having laid the platform for the run to the 2023 World Cup last week, Rennie was adamant the Wallabies were on the right track to France this season.
“I certainly felt we have made massive shifts over the past three years both on and off the field, which is off the back of a hell of a lot of hard work put in by good people,” he continued.
“I wish Eddie, the staff and the team all the best in what’s a massive year, with the Rugby World Cup less than nine months away.”
Jones will officially commence his role on January 29, but has said he is already well underway with his planning for the year ahead.
Rennie, meanwhile, has been linked with a move to Japan and a job in the country’s League One competition.