Rob Penney (born 27 April 1964) is a former New Zealand
rugby union
Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...
player, playing at No.8 for
Canterbury
Canterbury (, ) is a cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour.
The Archbishop of Canterbury is the primate of ...
throughout his career.
He has served in various coaching roles since 2005. He was the head coach of Australian
Super Rugby side
Waratahs in 2020 and 2021.
Coaching career
Canterbury and New Zealand
Penney coached
Canterbury rugby in New Zealand from 2006 to 2011, and led them to win four
ITM Cup's in a row.
He also coached the
New Zealand under-20 rugby union team, until he left after the
2012 IRB Junior World Championship
The 2012 IRB Junior World Championship was the fifth annual international rugby union competition for Under 20 national teams. This competition replaced the now defunct Under 19 and Under 21 world championships. The event was organised in South A ...
.
Munster
On 3 May 2012, it was announced that Penney would be the new Munster new head coach, signing a two-year contract. He started in the role in July 2012 with
Anthony Foley remaining on as forwards coach.
On appointing Penney, Munster rugby CEO Garrett Fitzgerald said; "We conducted a thorough search to find a replacement for
Tony McGahan and were delighted with the calibre of the candidates".
Penney took charge of his first competitive game as Munster coach on 1 September 2012, in a
Rabo Direct Pro 12 match against
Edinburgh Rugby
Edinburgh Rugby (formerly Edinburgh Reivers, Edinburgh Gunners) is one of the two professional rugby union teams from Scotland. The club competes in the United Rugby Championship, along with the Glasgow Warriors, its oldest rival. Edinburgh pl ...
at
Murrayfield
Murrayfield is an affluent area to the west of Edinburgh city centre in Scotland. It is to the east of Corstorphine and north of Balgreen and Roseburn. The A8 road runs east–west through the south of the area. Murrayfield is often con ...
. Despite a slow start, Munster won the game 23–18, to get his coaching career with Munster off to a winning start. Penney's Munster side had a surprise loss in the
2012–13 Heineken Cup on 13 October 2012, when they threw away an early lead against
Racing Métro 92 and lost the game 22–17, but crucially secured a losing bonus point. Munster got their campaign back on track against
Edinburgh Rugby
Edinburgh Rugby (formerly Edinburgh Reivers, Edinburgh Gunners) is one of the two professional rugby union teams from Scotland. The club competes in the United Rugby Championship, along with the Glasgow Warriors, its oldest rival. Edinburgh pl ...
the next week with a bonus point victory, winning 33–0 on the day and leaving themselves in a strong position to get out of the group stages. A victory and a loss followed in Munster's next two Heineken Cup matches, both against
Saracens. Munster secured qualification for the quarter-finals in their last match against
Racing Métro 92, beating them 29–6 to arrange a quarter-final against
Harlequin F.C. Munster, despite being massive underdogs, beat Harlequins 18–12 to reach the semi-final. Munster lost the semi-final 16–10 to
ASM Clermont Auvergne.
In February 2014, Penney announced that he would be leaving Munster at the end of the
2013–14 season, having turned down the option of a third year in charge. Penney won the
2013–14 Pro 12 Coach of the Season Award in May 2014.
Shining Arcs
The Japanese
Top League
Japan Rugby League One (formerly the Top League) is a rugby union competition in Japan. It is the highest level of professional rugby competition in the country. The Japan Rugby Football Union created the competition in 2003, by absorbing the ...
team
NTT Communications Shining Arcs
Urayasu D-Rocks, commonly known as the D-Rocks, or the Shining Arcs, is a rugby union team owned by NTT Communications and is part of Japan's Rugby League One competition, currently in Division 2. Given the name, the team is based in Urayasu Ci ...
announced Penney as their new head coach for the next season on 11 April 2014.
New South Wales Waratahs
Penney joined Australian
Super Rugby side
Waratahs on a three-year contract in October 2019.
On 28 March 2021, the Waratahs sacked Penney as head coach after a struggling 0-5 start to the
2021 Super Rugby AU season
The 2021 Super Rugby AU season (branded as Harvey Norman Super Rugby AU for sponsorship reasons) was a professional club rugby union tournament organised by Rugby Australia. Announced on 11 November 2020, the tournament was the second season of ...
. He was replaced by
Jason Gilmore and
Chris Whitaker
Chris Whitaker (born 19 October 1974) is an Australian professional rugby union coach and former international player. he is head coach of the Sydney Rays in Australia's National Rugby Championship, and the interim head coach of Super Rugby si ...
as interim coaches for the rest of the season.
References
External links
Munster Rugby Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Penney, Rob
Living people
1964 births
New Zealand rugby union players
New Zealand rugby union coaches
Munster Rugby non-playing staff