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Rennie is best known Down Under for his freewheeling Chiefs teams that won back to back Super Rugby titles in 2012 and 2013.
But the 55-year-old New Zealander — who inherits the Wallabies from Michael Cheika — is well aware that razzle dazzle alone won’t win Test matches.
Cheika was widely panned for his run at all costs tactics as the Wallabies bombed out of the Rugby World Cup quarterfinals against England.
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The Springboks were victorious in Japan with a kick heavy approach.
“With the teams I coach, it’s a high skill, high speed type of game hopefully mixed with some rugby smarts and a bit of brutality,” Rennie said in a video interview with rugby.com.au.
“There’s a positive mindset to play mixed with a sharp kicking game.”
Australia’s director of rugby Scott Johnson knows Rennie well from his time in Scotland and believed the former Kiwi schoolteacher would win over long suffering Wallabies fans.
“He’s a humble man and he plays an attractive style of rugby, which I think Australians will enjoy,” Johnson said.
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“He’s a tracksuit coach who gets out there and encourages skill.
“He does a lot of work on skill development, plays a very, very attractive way and what you see is what you get.
“That fits our dynamics, how we want to play our rugby, how we identify ourselves.
“He’s a hard working coach too.
“He’s first in and last to leave and he’s got great people skills with the players.
“So when you look at that, there’s a lot of good box ticking.”