How Dave Rennie’s All Blacks coaching concoction makes for a tasty blend

Tuesday, 24 March 2026

ANALYSIS: A Scotsman, a Samoan and a 68-year-old Taranaki dairy farmer walk into a bar and park up beside a cauliflower-eared former sales rep.

It isn’t the joke it sounds like, but is instead the concoction of assistants new All Blacks boss Dave Rennie has plumped for in this coaching make-up shake-up.

After 20 days of speculation around just what that would look like, New Zealand Rugby on Tuesday announced three fresh faces, and a new head of performance, in the group signed on to next year’s World Cup in Australia.

As widely predicted, Taranaki coach, and former Chiefs assistant, Neil Barnes, has been recruited, and has been anointed ‘Senior Assistant Coach’, in an immediate clear message from Rennie about who will be running his ship while he helicopters.

That was a key issue of contention under the previous regime of Scott Robertson, where there was never such a title but Scott Hansen essentially operated under it, swiftly going from an initial defence portfolio to picking up the attack pieces after the departure of Leon MacDonald and also Jason Holland, and then, as Robertson noted, essentially ran the team.

While Jason Ryan stays as forwards coach, on the back of some clear progress in his four years, Hansen, Tamati Ellison (defence) and Bryn Evans (lineout) have been jettisoned, with Ellison now appointed coach of the Māori All Blacks.

Joining Barnes, who is going to have a big role in the team’s lineout work while Ryan focuses on scrum and maul, are Mike Blair and Faʻalogo Tana Umaga, who will lead the attack and defence, respectively, along with Phil Healey as head of performance, replacing the long-serving Nic Gill, who had opted to depart for a role with NFL side the Baltimore Ravens.

Blair, the most-capped Scottish halfback of all time (84, plus three for the British and Irish Lions), will carry the most intrigue, given the 44-year-old has had no connection with New Zealand rugby, aside from facing the All Blacks four times on the field, the first of those in 2005 in what was captain Umaga’s final test, and the last of them in 2012 against a lineup featuring Beauden Barrett.

But New Zealand Rugby should be applauded for taking the leap of faith and not just appointing a Kiwi for the sake of it, or an incumbent to save another payout, but allowing Rennie to have who he sees as best for the job, and who he has an established relationship with, not least with the World Cup just 18 months away.

Healey has been Rennie’s strength and conditioning man for the past 15 years through the Chiefs, Glasgow and Kobe. Blair has joined that mix since Rennie’s move to Scotland in 2017 and shapes as an exciting prospect to get the All Blacks’ spluttering attack firing on all cylinders.

Umaga, meanwhile, has not coached with Rennie, and his defensive portfolio will raise eyebrows, given his Moana Pasifika sides have been worst in the competition for defence in all three years he has been in charge, shipping an average of 38 points.

Similarly, his three years at the helm of the Blues, from 2016-2018, had them leak the most points of New Zealand teams. But, tellingly, that facet improved plenty when he was the designated ‘D’ coach there in 2019-2021, conceding just 21.29 per game.

His role, though, feels as much about defence as it is about having someone in the coaching group with first-hand experience of wearing the black jersey and a whole lot of mana, with an ability to connect deeply with the playing group.

Rennie rates Umaga alongside Liam Messam as the most inspiring players he has coached (Wellington, 2000-2002), having noted he is a man who can lead with both actions and know just what to say and when.

Andrew Strawbridge was another name floated as a potential assistant, having been a key skills coach with Rennie at the Chiefs, later working with Ian Foster at the All Blacks, and having finished up a stint with England as contact coach last year.

The RFU had wanted him to shift from New Zealand but with his daughter in her final year of secondary school Strawbridge was believed to be reluctant to, and instead linked with Foster and Sir Steve Hansen at Toyota Verblitz, jetting to Japan for just a couple of weeks at a time.

The Post understands Rennie held talks but that Strawbridge pulled his name from contention due to ‘personal reasons’, understood to relate to an unwillingness to work with Barnes, who he teamed with for several years at the Chiefs.

Both are strong personalities, and Barnes’ straight-shooting is a renowned trait which could do the All Blacks some good.

“What you see is what you get. There’s no bull…. around him, he just calls a spade a spade,” said former Chiefs coach Clayton McMillan, on the eve of Barnes’ departure from the franchise in 2021, their sole season together.

“Even though he can come across sometimes as a bit abrasive, it’s coming from a place of care.

“He’s a great challenger – if he doesn't believe in something then you're certainly going to be not left wondering. But, equally, he’s a great listener, and really flexible.”

Barnes, who before his Chiefs stint had Rennie help out on a tour of France and Romania for a Canada team he was forwards coach for, has been in charge of Taranaki the past five years (for a championship division win, two years later a premiership title, then Ranfurly Shield success) and was even keeping the hands dirty in February as a coach of one of the Chiefs Under-20 trial teams.

While tough, old-school and with a CV that’s forward-pack-heavy, Barnes, though, should not be underestimated for his innovation and the way he likes his teams to embrace an attacking style.

“I enjoy teams that give it a crack and don't just play percentage rugby, but play an exciting brand that they'll enjoy and people enjoy watching,” he said upon his appointment at the Chiefs.

A decade on, if that same mentality can now come to fruition at the top level, then the All Blacks may have found themselves just what they need.

All Blacks coaching team

Dave Rennie – Head Coach

Neil Barnes – Senior Assistant Coach

Jason Ryan – Forwards Coach

Faʻalogo Tana Umaga – Defence Coach

Mike Blair – Attack Coach

Phil Healey – Head of Performance