Rob Penney (born 27 April 1964) is a former New Zealand

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the Comparison of rugby league and rugby union, two codes of ru ...

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 Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Building on various Southern Hem ...

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 ITM may stand for: Education * ITM Global School, an English medium co-educational day school in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh, India * ITM Law School, one of the professional graduate schools of ITM University * ITM-IFM, Mumbai, India * Institut Tek ...

'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 Anthony Gerard Foley (30 October 1973 – 16 October 2016) was an Irish rugby union player and head coach of Munster. He was attached to the same squad during his professional playing career. He was a member of the Munster team that won the 2002 ...

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 Tony McGahan is an Australian rugby union coach who is currently an assistant coach at the Queensland Reds. Early career Born in Queensland, Australia, a teacher by profession, a BE in Physical Education from Queensland University of Technolog ...

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 ...

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 The 2012–13 Heineken Cup was the 18th season of the Heineken Cup, the annual rugby union European club competition for clubs from the top six nations in European rugby. The tournament began with two pool matches on 12 October 2012 and ended with t ...

on 13 October 2012, when they threw away an early lead against

Racing Métro 92 Racing 92 () is a French rugby union club based in suburban Paris that was formed in 2001 with the collaboration of the Racing Club de France and US Métro. They were called Racing Métro 92 between 2001 and 2015, when they changed the name ...

and lost the game 22–17, but crucially secured a losing bonus point. Munster got their campaign back on track against

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 upright 1.5, Late 15th-century German woodcut depicting Saracens Saracen ( ) was a term used in the early centuries, both in Greek and Latin writings, to refer to the people who lived in and near what was designated by the Romans as Arabia Pe ...

. Munster secured qualification for the quarter-finals in their last match against

, beating them 29–6 to arrange a quarter-final against

Harlequin F.C. Harlequins (officially Harlequin Football Club) is a professional rugby union club that plays in Premiership Rugby, the top level of English rugby union. Their home ground is the Twickenham Stoop, located in Twickenham, south-west London. Fou ...

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 Association Sportive Montferrandaise Clermont Auvergne () is a French rugby union club from Clermont-Ferrand in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes that currently competes in Top 14, the top level of the French league system. Clermont are two times French ...

. 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

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 Rugby Australia Ltd, previously named the Australian Rugby Union L ...

. 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 sid ...

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