All Blacks: Jason Ryan on culture, clarity and freedom under Dave Rennie

If there was a barometer to measure the atmospheric change in the All Blacks camp since Scott Robertson left and Dave Rennie moved in, it’d have to be Jason Ryan.

The Cantabrian fronted media in Christchurch today, ahead of the All Blacks’ first test of the year against France at One New Zealand Stadium on Saturday.

The highly regarded assistant coach came into the role under Ian Foster in 2022, having previously been on the unsuccessful Robertson ticket for the All Blacks job in 2019. He was then reunited with his former Crusaders boss in 2024.

It was a tumultuous two-year period that eventually saw a broom go through the management team, leaving only Ryan behind in an almost clean sweep.

Ryan was asked to sum up the last four years with the All Blacks.

“Have you seen Lone Survivor?” Ryan quipped with an extended chuckle. The 15-strong media scrum joined him in the unexpected giggle.

Ryan and the media haven’t always shared a chorus like that. The cauliflower-eared former front-rower is known to have a fuse to match his stature.

The humour and honesty in his answer spoke volumes of where Ryan is in the transition from “Razor” to “Rens”. Critics of the previous regime had suggested communications weren’t clear – neither were the roles of the coaching team.

Asked how the first “test week” with Rennie was going and if there was anything different “working under Dave”, Ryan did not flinch.

“Unbelievable. Tremendously clear on what he wants. Pretty strong in his messaging around how that’s needed and what’s required, which is great, especially for a forwards coach,” Ryan said.

Ryan admits that there was some uncertainty around his future when the management team that he was part of was prematurely terminated by New Zealand Rugby, two years before their contract was due to end.

“I’d like to say personally I’ve just stayed pure to who I am, and I’ve been lucky enough to get an opportunity with Rens in this crew and really looking forward to it,” he said.

“There’s no other team that I’d rather coach in the world than the All Blacks.”

Ryan has been joined in the stewardship of the forwards by the straight-talking, no-nonsense Neil Barnes. The pair have clearly defined roles.

“Barnesy’s doing the lineout attack and D [defence] and has a lot of the strategy side of it, with Mike [Blair]. So it leaves me with the scrummaging side of it, the maul attack and D.

“And we’re all doing a little bit of ball-carrying, breakdown and helping Tana [Umaga] with little D drills. We’re sort of across everything, and that’s how Rens likes it.”

As the media pack made their way upstairs to the press conference at the team hotel, they were asked not to film team material that adorned the walls – though Ryan spoke to it with some freedom.

“We’ve dug in really deep to the All Black[s] legacy the last couple of days in our ‘non-finals camp’ [for players not involved in the Super Rugby Pacific final], which has been really authentic and unique to the All Blacks, understanding a little bit of who we want to be as a team.

“The boys have really owned that and Rens has led that really well.”

For fans, Ryan’s closing words on how the team prepare this week should allay any fears that the side will be coached within an inch of their lives.

“I think the important thing now is that we get our rugby detail in the beginning of the week and then we just sort of step back as coaches and go and let them play so they can play free and enjoy it.”

Even as Ryan left the media stand-up, fielding a question after “last question”, he did so in good humour. It had been noted that former Māori All Blacks captain Ash Dixon had been spotted in camp. The 37-year-old hooker played for Rennie at Kobe in Japan this season, winning the League One title three weeks ago.

“He’s just doing a little bit of throwing work [helping the hookers out]. He’s not selectable!” Ryan added – with another hearty guffaw.

Mike Thorpe is a senior multimedia journalist for the Herald, based in Christchurch. He has been a broadcast journalist across television and radio for 20 years and joined the Herald in August 2024.