Crusaders boss slams Rugby Australia’s ‘unforgivable’ coaching decision

Crusaders head coach Rob Penney criticised Rugby Australia’s (RA) decision to replace Dave Rennie with Eddie Jones ahead of last year’s Rugby World Cup in France.

RA fired Rennie in January last year after a number of disappointing results which saw the Wallabies slump to eighth position in World Rugby’s official rankings.

Poor World Cup campaign

Jones took over on a wave of optimism but things did not go according to plan as they only won two out of nine Tests in 2023 and he oversaw a disastrous Rugby World Cup campaign in which Australia failed to advance to play-offs for the first time in the global showpiece’s history.

He resigned shortly afterwards and was replaced by Joe Schmidt last month – a decision which former Waratahs coach Penney is optimistic about.

“There’s a talent pool in Australia and Dave Rennie did a great job of widening that pool,” Penney told the Sydney Morning Herald.

“He was starting to narrow his selections down heading into the World Cup, but that got taken away, which was unforgivable. Hopefully, Joe can build on the work that Rens did and start to build consistency and confidence.

“Philosophically, Joe and I probably aren’t completely aligned on how the game should be played, but in saying that, jeepers – what a record he has.

“I think he will be fantastic for Australian rugby. It depends on how long he stays but I think he’ll have an immediate impact.”

Penney was in charge of the Waratahs in 2020 and 2021 and has now replaced new All Blacks boss Scott Robertson as the head coach of the Crusaders, who will take on the Sydneysiders in Melbourne as part of Super Rugby Pacific‘s Super Round on Saturday.

The 59-year-old was also told that the Waratahs board is likely to make a decision on the future of their head coach, Darren Coleman, after just four matches of the Super Rugby Pacific campaign.

Penney was also critical of that and said Coleman will be under tremendous pressure to produce results due to that decision.

‘No one flourishes under pressure’

“I’ve heard that Darren Coleman had a bit of an ultimatum put to him,” he added. “I just don’t get that. No one flourishes under that sort of pressure.

“It’s just not good. Darren Coleman doesn’t deserve that. They’re still going through the same little scenarios. My thoughts are with him.

“From a Crusaders perspective, we’ll be hoping he doesn’t have success this weekend, but it’s not a great situation for him to fight through. I probably have a bit of a biased opinion. You don’t have to look too deeply to see that it’s not healthy.”

READ MORE: Super Rugby Pacific Team Tracker: Crusaders boosted as All Blacks star starts against Waratahs