It may be two years away but Dan McKellar is on track to be the next head coach of the Wallabies. And the man in the seat now, Dave Rennie, says the next person in charge has to be an Australian.
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McKellar will step down from his gig as head coach of the ACT Brumbies at the end of the 2022 Super Rugby season to focus on the Wallabies' World Cup campaign.
Rennie is contracted to be in charge of the Wallabies until the end of the 2023 World Cup and said continuation was key for the side.
Yet, the Kiwi remained tight-lipped when asked if the person to fill the role should be McKellar.
"He's done a fantastic job here," he said.
"I think the next head coach needs to be an Australian. I'll leave it at that."
McKellar shut down talks of him being next in line for the head Wallabies gig, after Rennie's contract is up, when it was announced he would take on an assistant coaching role for the side in June.
Upon taking on the dual role, the 45-year-old said he would continue to juggle both coaching jobs.
However, it was announced on Wednesday McKellar would step down from the Brumbies at the conclusion of the 2022 season.
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Rennie welcomed McKellar's decision to focus solely on the national side ahead of the World Cup in France.
"Having that continuity going forward was really important to us and we're also mindful of the fact that trying to do two jobs [is] ... time-consuming, even trying to get time with family. As we're finding at the moment, with guys from NSW being away from family for six or seven weeks already with no real end in sight," he said.
"That's the world we live in at the moment and then Dan, likewise, he's going to be away from home for a little while, so we're just conscious of the fact that trying to do both roles all the way to the World Cup's pretty daunting and demanding.
"So [we're] happy that after next year he'll commit fully to us."
News of McKellar shifting his sole focus to the Wallabies coincided with the Australian side's announcement three players - Marika Koroibete, Pone Fa'amausili and Isi Naisarani - would not be considered for selection in Saturday's match.
The trio breached team protocols by "continuing to drink alcohol well beyond an agreed time" last Saturday and were subsequently stood down.
On Wednesday, Rennie said 39 of the 42 players understood they needed to be at their best for the first Bledisloe Cup Test against New Zealand and so a big chunk of the group were pretty angry over the breach.
However, he said in the end they were three good men who had made a poor decision.
"So they're paying a price," the 57-year-old coach said.
"They're working hard to earn trust and respect, and as I said the other day, they'll show that through their behaviours and they've made a good start around that."
Captain Michael Hooper echoed Rennie's words and said trio had already taken steps to win back the group's trust.
"You can judge a lot by people's actions and their actions have been superb since," he said.
"They've been training hard and doing their own thing at times as well to get back into the shape they need to do play.
"People will make mistakes and we understand that, and we move on and play our game, and try and play our best rugby, that's for sure."
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