New All Blacks head coach Dave Rennie to stay with Kobe until June

Newly-appointed All Blacks head coach Dave Rennie will remain with League One title contenders Kobe Steelers until the end of the season in June.

Ex-Wallabies head coach Rennie, who led Kobe to a 78-19 win over Urayasu D-Rocks on Saturday, was unveiled by New Zealand Rugby (NZR) on Wednesday.

The Upper Hutt native has signed on until the end of the 2027 World Cup in Australia where the All Blacks will face Australia, Chile and Hong Kong China in the group stage.

An NZR press release said: “Rennie will honour his commitments with the Kobelco Kobe Steelers in Japan until the conclusion of the Japan Rugby League One competition.”

Once-beaten Kobe are second in Japan’s top-flight after 10 rounds with eight rounds remaining of the regular season.

New All Blacks head coach Dave Rennie © NZR

The inaugural Top League winners last won the League One’s precursor in 2018 under Dave Dillon and have undergone a transformation under Rennie.

Kobe finished seventh in the first fully professional League One season in 2022 and dropped to ninth in the following season.

Rennie was appointed in May 2023 and led the club to a fifth-place finish in 2024. Last season they finished fifth again before going on to win the third-place play-off after the post-season tournament was expanded to six teams.  

This season the high-flying side are the top scorers (44 points in 10 games) and their inspirational captain Brodie Retallick, who turns 35 in May, is the league's leading marksman with 11 tries to his name.

“I’ve got commitments at Kobe until June but every spare hour, I’ll be making sure that we’re prepared and hit the ground running from France in July,” said Rennie in a video posted by the All Blacks.

“Coaching the All Blacks is an incredible honour. I’m extremely proud to have been entrusted with this role and understand the expectations that come with it.

“I’m really clear on the way I want the All Blacks to play and I look forward to working with the players, management team, and the rugby community. We have a lot of talent here and we will be working extremely hard to make the country proud.”

One of Rennie’s first tasks will be to lure Retallick back to Test rugby and, during his first press conference after being announced, confirmed his intentions to ask the 2015 World Cup winner to come out of international retirement.

The All Blacks' current eligibility rules would require the legendary lock to leave Japan and return to Super Rugby.

“I get to see Brodie train and play every week, he’s stronger than he’s ever been, he’s fitter than he’s ever been, he’s the top try scorer in Japan at the moment," said Rennie.

“I’m not sure if I’m allowed to (lure him back) yet but there’s no doubt, if you want to win a World Cup you want your best players available. Richie (Mo’unga) is coming back, he’s been in great form in Japan.

“If you have someone like Brodie Retallick coming into the environment, he’d be great around the whole group, he’s done a phenomenal job around leadership at Kobe and the level of that competition has gone through the roof. If I had the chance to get him back I’d certainly jump at it.” 

Retallick in action v Urayasu - © Kobe Steelers

Former World Player of The Year Ardie Savea and ex-Chiefs centre Anton Lienert-Brown are among his star-laden squad in Japan. Savea will return to Super Rugby next season in order to be eligible for the All Blacks and is contracted to NZR until 2027. Lienert-Brown's future remains unclear but Rennie could try to bring him back to Super Rugby.

Rennie’s unveiling coincided with a bye week for Kobe who return to action next week against Glenn Delaney’s Mitsubishi Dynaboars - who are currently eleventh with two wins from nine games - at home in Hyogo.

The top two sides (currently Kubota Spears and Kobe) at the end of the 18-game regular season will skip the quarter-finals and advance to the last four in the post-season play-offs.

Fourth will play fifth in the first quarter-final on 23 May. Third will take on sixth in the second quarter-final on 24 May.

In the semi-finals the table-topping side will play the winners of the first quarter-final on 30 May. Division one’s second-placed side will face the winners of the second quarter-final on 31 May. Both games will be played at  Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium in Tokyo.

The two beaten semi-finalists will face off in the third-place play-off on 6 June. League One’s final will be held on 7 June at Tokyo’s MUFG Stadium (National Stadium).

Three-time World Cup winners New Zealand open their 2026 season at home against France in their first Nations Championship game at One New Zealand Stadium in Christchurch. 

Stay tuned to RugbyJP for the latest on Kobe's title bid