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'The personality of a chair': Ex-Wallaby blasts Dave Rennie

Wallabies coach Dave Rennie looks on during the 2020 Tri-Nations match between the Australian Wallabies and the Argentina Pumas at McDonald Jones Stadium on November 21, 2020 in Newcastle, Australia. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

While dividing much of the rugby community, Dave Rennie’s firing in favour of Eddie Jones has left former Wallaby fullback Greg Martin deeply enthused. The outspoken Australian praised Jones’ gravity on and off the field while throwing shade at Rennnie’s lack of charisma amongst other accused shortcomings.

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Rennie was axed nine months out from this year’s Rugby World Cup after serving three years as Wallabies head coach, a period where Australia boasted just a 38% win rate. A historically poor record that Martin put down to a lack of care, lacklustre selections, and an inability to inspire the team or fanbase.

Martin was of the opinion that Eddie Jones’s status as a polarizing figure has already breathed desperately needed life into Australian rugby and all press is good press for the struggling Australian game.

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“Eddie, without even stepping foot in Australia has already put rugby back in the newspapers and I’m always telling you, it’s not in the paper anywhere because no one cares and we’re losers,” Martin summarised for Martin Devlin on The Platform.

“He’s offering us all hope.

“No one even knew what Dave Rennie sounded like because he avoided any media at any stage. What Eddie Jones does is, he doesn’t chase it but they’ll chase him because they know they’ll get a grab for their news or their newspaper report. He’s newsworthy!

“And he knows how the game’s played and that’s proper experience as opposed to Dave Rennie.

“Dave Rennie had the personality of a chair, and he had results that were the worst by any Wallaby coach… and he was a Kiwi, he didn’t really care, he was just taking a payslip mate, that’s the bottom line.

“You’ve gotta have a bloke from your own country coaching your country otherwise it doesn’t work.”

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Rennie’s nationality has become the subject of much discussion since his dismissal, former All Black Stephen Donald this week claimed Rennie’s axing was in a similar political light to that of New Zealand-born Wallaby coaches before him and that any Kiwi-coach that ventures to Australian shores for the top Wallaby job is “on a hiding to nothing”.

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Martin’s perspective was that the emotional investment of a foreign coach could never equal that of a local coach representing their country.

“You need to be fully invested,” Martin continued. “And unless you’ve been singing that national anthem your whole life, you don’t really give a stuff, you’re just going to fulfil all the details of your contract so you can get paid each month and everything will be fine – no, you’ve got to be red hot and that’s Eddie Jones, he’s come home and like he said, there’s people that get married to the same person twice, that’s what’s happening here, they sacked him in 2005, he hated their guts but he’s back again now because he loves Australia.

“The problem will be if the cattle (players) aren’t good enough and they probably aren’t.

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“What every footy fan needs is hope and that’s what Eddie Jones delivers. With Dave Rennie, we kept on getting the same thing, a bloke who couldn’t pick the right team, who wouldn’t pick the right combinations to stick with. All right, he offered us no hope, we just went ‘we’re stuffed, World Cup year, we’re not going to go anywhere’.

“All of a sudden it’s (Jones’ hiring) energised all those rugby fans I was telling you about, all those casual rugby fans, they’re going ‘hold on, Eddie’s coming back, the bloke’s a winner, wherever he goes he wins, he’s in charge of the Wallabies’ so all rugby fans have got hop and that’s what Rugby Australia are pinning their hopes on.”

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Comments

12 Comments
B
Brian 670 days ago

I hope England crushes the Wallabies in the World Cup.

R
Rob 670 days ago

From the master of content-free commentary. What a knob.....

G
Graeme 670 days ago

The personalty of a chair? Well take a seat here comes Eddie.

r
rod 670 days ago

I’m a bit confused about Dave Rennie being sacked, he has nurtured heaps of players since he was coach and Eddie Jones will inherit the best players he has developed. Bring him home to NZ where his talents are beyond question

p
peter 670 days ago

Greg. Martin you were an average rugby player hence the 9 caps. What do you know mate. Eddie Jones got fired from England. Good luck for the next five years. Yeah right

W
Willie 671 days ago

Ah, Greg Martin, very ordinary player, boring after dinner speaker and arguably the worst commentator for decades.
Not interested in his opinion.

v
victor 671 days ago

Would be good if Rennie came to Canada. We've had enough of Kingsley Jones. The world cup can't come fast enough (contract will be over) so he go back to Wales.

A
Andy 671 days ago

What a load of nonsense. The reason aussie rugby is back in the headlines isn't because of Eddie Jones. it is because the cart and pony show that is the aussie rugby management is dishing up a train wreck drama. Both coaches have been sacked unceremoniously in knee jerk reactions 9months out from a competition both coaches have been planning for for quite some time. Bit disrespectful i think. Does anyone think Jones is going to pull a rabbit out of a hat here?

l
lot 671 days ago

EJ has got us all talking Wallabies again. Definitely, Rennie did not demand that type of excitement, interest and hope..

l
lot 671 days ago

SPOT on Martin..

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JW 24 minutes ago
'Passionate reunion of France and New Zealand shows Fabien Galthie is wrong to rest his stars'

Where? I remember saying "unders"? The LNR was formed by the FFR, if I said that in a way that meant the 'pro' side of the game didn't have an equal representation/say as the 'amateur' side (FFR remit) that was not my intent.


But also, as it is the governing body, it also has more responsibility. As long as WR looks at FFR as the running body for rugby in France, that 'power' will remain. If the LNR refuses to govern their clubs use of players to enable a request by FFR (from WR) to ensure it's players are able to compete in International rugby takes place they will simply remove their participation. If the players complain to the France's body, either of their health and safety concerns (through playing too many 'minutes' etc) or that they are not allowed to be part in matches of national interest, my understanding is action can be taken against the LNR like it could be any other body/business. I see where you're coming from now re EPCR and the shake up they gave it, yes, that wasn't meant to be a separate statement to say that FFR can threaten them with EPCR expulsion by itself, simply that it would be a strong repercussion for those teams to be removed (no one would want them after the above).


You keep bringing up these other things I cannot understand why. Again, do you think if the LNR were not acting responsibly they would be able to get away with whatever they want (the attitude of these posters saying "they pay the players")? You may deem what theyre doing currently as being irresponsible but most do not. Countries like New Zealand have not even complained about it because they've never had it different, never got things like windfall TV contracts from France, so they can't complain because theyre not missing out on anything. Sure, if the French kept doing things like withholding million dollar game payments, or causing millions of dollars of devaluation in rights, they these things I'm outlining would be taking place. That's not the case currently however, no one here really cares what the French do. It's upto them to sort themselves out if they're not happy. Now, that said, if they did make it obvious to World Rugby that they were never going to send the French side away (like they possibly did stating their intent to exclude 20 targeted players) in July, well then they would simply be given XV fixtures against tier 2 sides during that window and the FFR would need to do things like the 50/50 revenue split to get big teams visiting in Nov.

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