Dave Rennie is probably a little lucky that his predecessor at the Chiefs is hogging the rugby headlines at present.
Ian Foster’s torching from angst-ridden All Blacks fans has taken a bit of heat off Rennie’s mediocre record since taking the rudder of the Wallabies.
Saturday’s series loss to England leaves Rennie with just one win from his past six Tests and an overall hit rate of 39 per cent that admittedly is skewed by three draws.
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Rennie – who inherited Foster’s average Chiefs and immediately turned them into world-beaters – is undoubtedly a good coach and has the Wallabies playing hard, committed footy.
But there has been little evidence that they are building into serious Rugby World Cup contenders next year as new top dogs Ireland, France and South Africa now occupy the first three spots on the rankings list.
England, remember, didn’t come Down Under as anything resembling a crack outfit.
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Eddie Jones himself was under serious pressure after another poor Six Nations campaign in which England finished fifth.
The Wallabies had England on the ropes after an incredibly gutsy win in Perth but couldn’t finish the job as the injury toll mounted in alarming fashion.
“We don’t want to use it as an excuse. We had a good enough side on the field to win tonight,” Rennie said on Saturday of the loss of so many quality players.
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“We had a good enough side on the field to win tonight.
“What it highlights is we’re creating really good depth and I think a lot of guys who’ve got an opportunity have really stood up. You look at a guy like Nick Frost for us tonight.
“You’ve just got to find a way, don’t you? Injury is part of the game and we did enough tonight, but you’ve got to be clinical and take opportunities.”
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Attention now turns to the Rugby Championship and Australia’s first assignment against Michael Cheika’s Argentina in Salta on August 7.
Los Pumas won a hard-fought home July series against Scotland 2-1 and Cheika will be hungry to remind Australia of his coaching chops against the man that took his job.
Rennie said the Wallabies should have Quade Cooper, Scott Sio, Jordan Petaia and Darcy Swain available to play in Salta.
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Cooper in particular would be a big in after his shock pre-game setback in Perth.
Noah Lolesio did an admirable job on short notice but Cooper’s experience and game management was missed at times in Tests two and three.
Rennie expects to be without Andrew Kellaway, Izaia Perese, Tom Banks, Cadeyrn Neville and Izack Rodda in Salta while Angus Bell is in doubt after picking up a toe injury against England.
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Rennie will also be without star centre Samu Kerevi who has somewhat strangely opted to join the Australian sevens team for the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
That opens up a spot for another overseas-based player with Rennie saying giant lock Rory Arnold “could be an option going forward.”
With Kerevi out, Hunter Paisami and Len Ikitau loom as the likely midfield pairing against Argentina.
“We’ve got to be better. We’ve got a lot of footy,” Rennie said.
“We’re three weeks into our season and so we’ve got a few things that we need to sort out and tidy up heading into Argentina.”
Rennie was also asked if his side, ranked sixth in the world, lacked killer instinct.
“I think the killer instinct is really about being clinical and accurate,” Rennie said.
“There was quite a lot of space around the edge of the rucks back inside. That’s probably where we missed opportunities late in the game because we’re constantly going the same way and trying to get outside.
“We did talk about that. So that’s a place where we think we could have hurt them. We’ve talked a lot about growth in our game awareness and our belief to put the foot on the throat so yeah, we’ve got to be better.”
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Wallabies captain Michael Hooper, meanwhile, was in the familiar position of having to explain a big series loss despite no shortage of effort.
“We were hurting last week, now we’re going to be hurting even more,” Hooper said.
“So it’s going to be a long three weeks until we play again.”
England coach Eddie Jones, who coached the Wallabies between 2001-05, also weighed in on Rennie’s men.
“You can see how they’re trying to play,” Jones said.
“They’ve got plenty of talent, but like anything, it takes time. They’ve had a lot of injuries, they’ll find their way.”
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