Dave Rennie faces intense few months before first All Blacks test - but he’ll be back before Super ends
Sunday, 15 March 2026
Assistants unlikely to be announced for at least another week.
Securing early release from Kobe could have carried hefty price tag.
NZ Rugby as an option for an All Blacks camp but may not use it.
New Zealand Rugby has put its faith in an old adage after appointing Dave Rennie as All Blacks coach: If you want a job done, give it to a busy person.
Rennie’s next four months before the All Blacks play France in Christchurch on July 4 look like this: building an All Blacks coaching and management team; fine-tuning the All Blacks’ game plan; trying to win the Japan Rugby League One (JRLO) competition with Kobe; picking an All Blacks squad and deciding on a captain; getting around the Super Rugby clubs to sell the new vision; and getting enough information in front of the senior All Blacks so they aren’t coming in cold.
It’s an exercise in time management as much as Rennie’s coaching nous, and the Sunday Star-Times understands that the New Zealand component of his work is already involving plenty of early starts due to the time difference with Japan: when it’s 9am in Auckland it’s 5am in Kobe.
The situation has arisen because Rennie is happy to honour the rest of his contract with Kobe and NZ Rugby deemed that the alternative - paying Kobe for an early release - would have cost a small fortune it wasn’t willing to pay.
Instead, NZ Rugby has been willing to effectively compromise and let Rennie do both jobs after building enough confidence in his ability to do so through the application process.
As it stands, no assistants are in place and are unlikely to be announced for at least another week, but Tana Umaga, Neil Barnes, Mike Blair and Andrew Strawbridge have all been strongly linked to roles.
As Rennie toils away in Japan Barnes and Umaga could have key roles as relationship builders among the five Super Rugby clubs.
In terms of public announcements a new head of performance is likely to come first.
Phil Healey, formerly of the Chiefs and Blues and now with Rennie at Kobe, is poised to replace the departing Nic Gill.
If Blair - Rennie’s attack coach at Kobe - gets the attack portfolio it will add another complication, as the New Zealand-based assistants will then need to travel to Japan to physically assemble as a complete All Blacks coaching unit.
Rennie has also committed to returning to New Zealand during bye weeks in Japan.
NZ Rugby is understood to be relatively sanguine about the state of affairs due to purpose, energy and organisation that Rennie has brought to the role.
NZ Rugby also has an option for an All Blacks camp in advance of the July tests, but will not push ahead with one if it disrupts Super Rugby.
The Springboks have just had an alignment camp in South Africa, but there is a natural break in their club season due to the Six Nations and Rennie is already on record as saying he will pick on Super Rugby form.
As a result, Rennie could be content to see who rises to that challenge during Super Rugby rather than engage in a box-ticking camp with a squad of players he inherited from the previous regime.
It means that Rennie won’t be able to get his hands on all the players until the end of Super Rugby, which finishes two weeks before the first test of the year.
But by that stage Rennie will be well clear of his Japanese obligations. The JRLO final will take place on the same weekend of the Super Rugby quarterfinals, so Rennie will be back in New Zealand for the Super Rugby semifinals at the latest.
His fulltime return to New Zealand will increase his public visibility and draw a line under a juggling act that is not ideal but manageable.
Besides, Rennie has already alluded to another feature of this year. The All Blacks will be expected to win all three tests in July against France, Italy and Ireland, but the real, team-changing growth could come during the six weeks together in South Africa.