Warren Gatland knows a thing or two about the game of rugby.
From a British & Irish Lions series win in Australia, a drawn series with the All Blacks, and three Six Nations Grand Slams with Wales, the Kiwi has been at the top of the game for more than a decade.
And he is now back in New Zealand making his mark in Super Rugby at the Chiefs, who moved to 4-1 for the season with a second-half demolition job on the Waratahs in Wollongong on Friday night. Down 14-13 at halftime, the Chiefs piled on 38 unanswered points to bring NSW crashing back to earth after the Australians had registered a bonus-point win over the Lions of South Africa a week earlier.
But having seen his side engage in a real battle for 40 minutes on Friday night, Gatland has added his considerable coaching kudos to the belief that Dave Rennie will have plenty to work with when he takes charge of the Wallabies later this year.
"Two or three weeks ago, there was doom and gloom when everything in the New Zealand media was saying about the [poor] position of Australian rugby, and over the last couple of weeks they've actually been reasonable," Gatland said.
The Kiwi had even managed to keep an eye on the Reds' four-point loss to the Crusaders, which was a fair effort in itself given the match was being played while the Chiefs would have been completing their warm-up in Wollongong.
"The [Reds] were very unlucky tonight against the Crusaders when they scored four tries and [did] not kick any conversions, and missed two penalties; outscoring the Crusaders [in tries] they're probably saying that if they had a decent kicker they might have won that game, and probably should have won the game. And they've missed out on a chance just before halftime when they lost the ball going across the line as well.
"Obviously the Rebels had a good win against the Highlanders; so I don't think it's in a bad a state as people are saying and it'll be interesting I think when Dave Rennie comes on and what he brings; perhaps a focus and a realism to the Wallabies."
Much of what the Waratahs had done well in the first 40 in Wollongong was washed away by their complete capitulation in the second stanza -- an effort NSW coach Rob Penney described as embarrassing and unacceptable -- but Gatland was certainly impressed by what he had seen in rookie fly-half Will Harrison.
The Waratahs No. 10 continued his Super Rugby education with a classy display that included 70 run metres, a clean break and eight beaten defenders. Arguably his finest moment came on the Waratahs' line as he scooped up a loose ball, stepped two defenders and then tore back out towards the 22 to clear downfield and get the Waratahs out of jail just before halftime.
While it all fell away thereafter, Gatland had a word of advice on Harrison's development, too.
"I thought he played well, I thought he ran well; he's definitely a player for the future, a player that they hopefully stick with and give him some time as well," Gatland said of the Waratahs fly-half.
"The thing about young players is that you've got to go through a bit of pain with them, because you know they're going hurt you and sometime they're going to make mistakes. I thought he did a good job.
"There was a comment we made in the [coaches] box about his running game, going to the line, and he kicked really well; it was a good performance."