Glasgow Warriors head coach Dave Rennie is to leave Scotstoun at the end of the season to become Michael Cheika’s successor at the Wallabies.
Rennie has agreed a three-and-a-half year contract to take charge of Australia once his current term at Warriors expires next summer.
This comes after the acrimonious fallout of Australia’s World Cup exit in the quarter-final stages, which was followed by the resignation of Cheika as head coach and reports of a public row with union chief executive Raelene Castle.
It has also been reported that Rennie was approached by the All Blacks about their vacant post, but Australia will be his next destination after three years in Glasgow.
“We’ve been in a significant fight to make sure we got his signature and literally the contract was only signed 24 hours ago,” Castle said.
“We put our best foot forward and he chose us. He chose this organisation and this Wallaby team because he thinks he can be successful with it.”
“He obviously harboured the ambition to coach international rugby and so expressing a desire and showing interest, I think there was loyalty to someone (who had) come knocking on his door.
“That’s the type of guy he is – he’s humbled by the offer and he’s humbled by the interest so I’d like to think that he sees us as a platform of which can improve up that scale because at the moment, we sit as a top eight side that on any given day can beat anyone. we’ve got to get consistency in our performances.”
With the Kiwi set to depart, Glasgow have confirmed former Cardiff Blues boss Danny Wilson will become their new head coach.
Wilson is currently the forwards coach in the Scotland set-up under Gregor Townsend, and will take over at Scotstoun with the blessing of SRU chief executive Mark Dodson.
“We’re very pleased Danny has accepted this important role at Glasgow Warriors as it retains an excellent coach within the Scottish professional game,” Dodson said.
“Danny has worked hard to develop Scotland’s set-piece into a real area of strength and his technical expertise, aligned with his working knowledge of many of the Warriors’ players, will be key to maintain the club’s progression in the coming years.
“He has a depth of experience from previous roles with PRO14 teams and we feel this, alongside his recent international coaching, makes him the right person for the club at this time.
“I’d like to thank Danny for his contribution to the Scotland team and wish him well as we continue our ambitious plans to make both Glasgow Warriors and Edinburgh as competitive and successful as possible in their respective competitions.”
Rennie signed a one-year contract extension in April this year to allay concerns he was looking for a new challenge.
Leinster edged Glasgow 18-15 in the PRO14 final at Celtic Park in May, and Rennie vowed his side would be ready for another crack of the whip in the aftermath of the defeat.
He said: “We’ll work hard in the pre-season and make sure we’re ready to go.”
