Rennie's men lost 23-19 to the Highlanders at Waikato Stadium, which was a disappointing way for him to start his reign given the Chiefs' dominance on the field and scoreboard for the first three quarters of the match.
Jamie Joseph's men had travelled north missing up to 10 players through injury but their greater intensity at the breakdown, and more surprisingly their better attacking elan out wide, earned them a deserved win.
Unfortunately for Rennie, the bad news wasn't limited to the scoreboard.
Prop Ben Afeaki left the field with a broken arm which will put him out for 12 weeks, halfback Brendon Leonard is out for at least two months with a hamstring injury, wing Lelia Masaga has a knee injury which could sideline him for three weeks, prop Toby Smith is out for up to six weeks with a calf injury and No 8 Alex Bradley's sprained ankle will sideline him for three weeks.
With a lack of depth among the Chiefs' tight five, the casualties could hardly have come at a worse time for Rennie.
On the other hand, Joseph will be thrilled with the four competition points given his side's struggles in pre-season and will be pleased in particular with second-five Tamati Ellison, who arrived virtually straight off the plan from Japan.
"Tamati didn't know our systems but we did get information to him while he was playing in Japan and he played very well,'' Joseph said of the former All Black. "He is a leader and has a real calmness about him.''
The Crusaders' one-point win over the Blues in the opening game of the first round of the new Super Rugby season set the scene for the weekend's action.
Replacement first-five Piri Weepu had his potentially match-winning drop goal attempt charged down in the final as the Crusaders clung on to their slender 19-18 lead at Eden Park, much to the disappointment of most of the 30,000-strong crowd.
The Crusaders were outscored two tries to one, but their greater expertise in the set piece - particularly the lineout - allowed them to keep the upper hand.
All of the other final scorelines were extremely close, with the exception of the Stormers' 39-26 victory over the Hurricanes at Cape Town this morning NZ time, although Mark Hammett's men did extremely well to recover from a dearth of possession and territory to draw level at 23-all early in the second half and the home side needed a late penalty try to break clear.
In Sydney last night (Sat) the defending champions Reds left it to the last second to secure their victory over traditional rivals the Waratahs.
Former North Harbour first five Mike Harris kept the Reds in the game by kicking six penalties, before wing Dom Shipperley's thrilling 50m run to the line to secure the victory after the siren.
The Brumbies had to launch a massive comeback against the Force at Canberra to win 19-17 after the visitors led 12-0 early on _ all from the boot of first five James Stannard.
Nic White, the Brumbies halfback, could have made the winning margin greater but missed five consecutive kicks at goal in the second half.
The Bulls showed they will remain a force despite the loss of leading players such as Victor Matfield and Bakkies Botha with a 18-13 win over the Sharks and the Lions beat the Cheetahs 27-25 thanks to the boot of first-five Elton Jantjies, who broke the record for the most penalties in a Super Rugby match with nine.
- Patrick McKendry of APNZ
