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Rugby Australia reveal who will be assisting Dave Rennie at the Wallabies

England attack coach Scott Wisemantel. (Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)

Rugby Australia has today announced key appointments to the Wallabies staff, including Scott Wisemantel as an assistant to Dave Rennie on a four-year deal.

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The 49-year old will serve as Attack Coach and returns to Australia after helping to guide England to the Rugby World Cup Final in Japan last month.

Wisemantel has a proven International pedigree having previously served as Skills Coach for the Wallabies for four years from 2004, as well as experience with the Manu Samoa and Japan national teams on top of what he achieved under Eddie Jones working with England over the past 18 months.

A former Eastwood player in Sydney’s Shute Shield, Wisemantel also played Rugby League with the Parramatta Eels and has been deployed by World Rugby over the past two years to run coaching combines in the Pacific Islands, Europe and the Americas whilst consulting to England.

New Wallabies Attack Coach Scott Wisemantel said: “I’m really looking forward to returning home to Australia after ten years and for the opportunity to work alongside Dave Rennie.

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“I’ve learnt a few things from working with various programs around the world and it’s given me another perspective on how to view the game as an Attack Coach. Historically, the Wallabies have been innovative in how they play the game and how they attack so I want to bring that to the table.

“There’s a good group of players with some exciting talent coming through, which will create competition for spots amongst the current crop. I’m looking forward to get stuck into it and visiting the Super Rugby teams early in the New Year, seeing how I can learn off them and prepare for a really important 2020 season,” Wisemantel said.

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Rugby Australia also today confirmed world-renowned elite sports performance specialist Dean Benton has been appointed to the key role of National Head of Athletic Performance.

Benton re-joined Rugby Australia in late 2018 from the Rugby Football Union in England, to lead the athletic performance program for the Wallabies through their 2019 international and Rugby World Cup campaigns.

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In his new role as national Head of Athletic Performance, Benton will oversee the athletic performance and sports science elements of the national high performance plan. He will work closely with the athletic performance staff across Australia’s national teams, Super Rugby and Academy programs to align and enhance systems, structure, knowledge and coaching across all programs. A new Wallabies Athletic Performance Manager to work under Benton will be appointed in early 2020.

Benton has worked with Premiership-winning teams in Rugby and Rugby League across three competitions and two continents over the past decade after launching his career with the Australian Institute of Sport back in 2001.

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Joining Wisemantel in the new-look Wallabies staff is experienced high performance manager, Chris Webb who has been appointed to the role of General Manager, Wallabies.

Webb re-joins the Wallabies set-up in an overarching team management role having previously been involved with the team as Assistant Team Manager from 2005-2007.

Since then, Webb has gone on to serve in General Manager, High Performance roles with the NSW Rugby Union, Western Force and Equestrian Australia. He has spent the past three years in Japan as High Performance Advisor for the Japan national team and Sunwolves Super Rugby team.

Wallabies Director of Rugby Scott Johnson said: “These are all important appointments for what we want to achieve with our Wallabies program and broadly for the implementation of our national high performance plan over the next four years.

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“Scott’s return to Australia is a huge coup for the Wallabies. He’s got great experience and has had success with club sides in Europe as well as with other International sides, but I also know what he’s like as a person and as a coach and he will add tremendous value to the group.

“Dave (Rennie) has been closely involved in the appointment of Scott and I know those two guys will complement each other really well,” Johnson said.

“As far as Dean is concerned, he’s been with the team for the past year and has had a significant impact on the physical preparation and conditioning of the Wallabies squad.

“Dean has an almost unrivalled resume when it comes to athletic performance coaching and we are going to tap into his expertise in a much more significant way in a new role which will see Dean coordinate our approach to athletic performance nationally by working in with the staff at each of our national, Super Rugby and Academy teams.

“I have known Chris Webb for many years and have worked with him previously in the Wallabies set-up and I know the qualities and experience he will bring to the management team will pay significant dividends.

“All three of these appointments are at the top in their fields and will give our teams the best chance for success across the Australian Rugby landscape.”

– Rugby Australia

The Springboks are the last remaining ‘big three’ Southern Hemisphere team to announce their head coach for 2020 and beyond, but there are plenty of rumours about:

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O
Oh no, not him again? 2 hours ago
England internationals disagree on final play execution vs All Blacks

Okay, so we blew it big time on Saturday. So rather than repeating what most people have all ready said, what do I want to see from Borthwick going forward?


Let's keep Marcus Smith on the pitch if he's fit and playing well. I was really pleased with his goal kicking. It used to be his weakness. I feel sympathy for George Ford who hadn't kicked all match and then had a kick to win the game. You hear pundits and commentators commend kickers who have come off the bench and pulled that off. Its not easy. If Steve B continues to substitute players with no clear reason then he is going to get criticised.


On paper I thought England would beat NZ if they played to their potential and didn't show NZ too much respect. Okay, the off the ball tackles certainly stopped England scoring tries, but I would have liked to see more smashing over gainlines and less kicking for position. Yes, I also know it's the Springbok endorsed world cup double winning formula but the Kiwi defence isn't the Bok defence, is it. If you have the power to put Smith on the front foot then why muzzle him? I guess what I'm saying is back, yourself. Why give the momentum to a team like NZ? Why feed the beast? Don't give the ball to NZ. Well d'uh.


Our scrum is a long term weakness. If you are going to play Itoje then he needs an ogre next door and a decent front row. Where is our third world class lock? Where are are realible front row bench replacements? The England scrum has been flakey for a while now. It blows hot and cold. Our front five bench is not world class.


On the positive side I love our starting backrow right now. I'd like to see them stick together through to the next world cup.


Anyway, there is always another Saturday.

7 Go to comments
C
CO 2 hours ago
Scott Robertson responds to criticism over All Blacks' handling errors

Robertson is more a manager of coaches than a coach so it comes down to intent of outcomes at a high level. I like his intent, I like the fact his Allblacks are really driving the outcomes however as he's pointed out the high error rates are not test level and their control of the game is driving both wins and losses. England didn't have to play a lot of rugby, they made far fewer mistakes and were extremely unlucky not to win.


In fact the English team were very early in their season and should've been comfortably beaten by an Allblacks team that had played multiple tests together.


Razor has himself recognised that to be the best they'll have to sort out the crisis levels of mistakes that have really increased since the first two tests against England.


Early tackles were a classic example of hyper enthusiasm to not give an inch, that passion that Razor has achieved is going to be formidable once the unforced errors are eliminated.


That's his secret, he's already rebuilt the passion and that's the most important aspect, its inevitable that he'll now eradicate the unforced errors. When that happens a fellow tier one nation is going to get thrashed. I don't think it will be until 2025 though.


The Allblacks will lose both tests against Ireland and France if they play high error rates rugby like they did against England.


To get the unforced errors under control he's going to be needing to handover the number eight role to Sititi and reset expectations of what loose forwards do. Establish a clear distinction with a large, swarthy lineout jumper at six that is a feared runner and dominant tackler and a turnover specialist at seven that is abrasive in contact. He'll then need to build depth behind the three starters and ruthlessly select for that group to be peaking in 2027 in hit Australian conditions on firm, dry grounds.


It's going to help him that Savea is shifting to the worst super rugby franchise where he's going to struggle behind a beaten pack every week.


The under performing loose forward trio is the key driver of the high error rates and unacceptable turn overs due to awol link work. Sititi is looking like he's superman compared to his openside and eight.


At this late stage in the season they shouldn't be operating with just the one outstanding loose forward out of four selected for the English test. That's an abject failure but I think Robertson's sacrificing link quality on purpose to build passion amongst the junior Allblacks as they see the reverential treatment the old warhorses are receiving for their long term hard graft.


It's unfortunately losing test matches and making what should be comfortable wins into nail biters but it's early in the world cup cycle so perhaps it's a sacrifice worth making.


However if this was F1 then Sam Cane would be Riccardo and Ardie would be heading into Perez territory so the loose forwards desperately need revitalisation through a rebuild over the next season to complement the formidable tight five.

28 Go to comments
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