With Deans all but gone, I have a feeling that the power brokers at the NZRU will be feeling pretty happy and relieved that they stuck with Graham Henry after the 07 WC. Pretty much all of their concerns regarding Deans were spot on. When we look back onto the Deans era, i think we'll come up with 4 key defining moments that pretty much sum up his whole tenure
1. The three amigos.
His failure to control Cooper,Beale and JOC post 2010 will be the lasting legacy of is coaching tenure IMO. He asked the world from three young kids, and got it for a while before egos, fame and their brands entered the fray; post-2010 they have all been a disaster on and off the field. Ironically, Cooper has been the most well behaved in recent times. His mis management of all three was plainly obvious. His fast tracking of Beale to return after numerous indiscretions was the wrong decision, the selection of JOC at fly half in the face of extremely poor form and little experience is the definition of blind faith, and the shunting of Cooper from the national side headline some of his howlers.
2. Ben MacCalman and RWC2011.
The decision to only take one fetcher to the RWC was a complete disaster. Destroyed at the breakdown and scrum against Ireland, we never recovered and we paid the price of a fundamental error from the coach. MacCalman, the player picked instead of a fetcher, struggled during the whole tournament and anonymous against Ireland. Decision to start Alexander at tighthead was an error repeated again against the Lions. It wasn't as if Alexander was in good form, he was far and away the most penalised prop that particular year in Super rugby playing as a tighthead. Inability to react to obvious selection mistakes became a hallmark of Deans (McCabe, Giteau, Barnes and Horne).
3. Samoa and Matt Giteau.
Matt Giteau, like Cooper, was backed in heavily by Deans. He was immediately made the starting fly half and was the cornerstone of the team up until 2010. Although out of form and played out of position, Giteau was still playing okay rugby, certainly better than some of the players picked ahead of him. His RWC omission was seen to be a direct response to the implosion against Samoa. I have a feeling that the next coach might be looking at bringing Giteau back, his form for Toulon is hard to ignore and with our lack of fly half options, Lilo at 10 and Giteau at 12 might very well be our RWC combo.
4. 2010
2010 proves that Deans can certainly coach. Australia were world beaters that year and had New Zealand and South Africa shitting their pants, playing attractive fast paced rugby. Beale was undoubtedly the worlds best fullback, Drew Mitchell and JOC had claims as the best wingers in the world and Genia/Cooper was running the whole ship. With a forward pack consisting of Ma'afu, Chisholm and Faingaa, a lot of us were expecting the Wallabies to get over the line and become a dominant as soon as reinforcements arrived; but it never happened. Richard Graham, the architect of the backline, left for the Force soon after and Deans reverted to a more conservative style. Richard Graham won coaching gigs at the Force and then the Reds largely on the back of this one year.
The one conclusion that I can gather is that Deans simply cannot manage players. While I have no doubts that Deans is a very capable technical coach, he simply doesn't have the ability to manage the egos of individuals players. The Wallabies have improved beyond sight technically, but far too often we have been dependant on the individual brilliance of a select few players. The past 4 RWC winning coaches have been managers rather than coaches and with McKenzie and White the two contenders, Australia will be in very safe and capable hands.
On McKenzie and White, i think Eddie Jones has come up with the best solution. Have Jake White take the reigns for 2 years taking us to the 2015 World Cup while McKenzie sorts out the Rebels before ascending to the Wallabies head coaching position taking us to the 2019 World Cup. Jake White knows the preparations required to win the WC and will be better prepared for the short transition period between now and the WC.
1. The three amigos.
His failure to control Cooper,Beale and JOC post 2010 will be the lasting legacy of is coaching tenure IMO. He asked the world from three young kids, and got it for a while before egos, fame and their brands entered the fray; post-2010 they have all been a disaster on and off the field. Ironically, Cooper has been the most well behaved in recent times. His mis management of all three was plainly obvious. His fast tracking of Beale to return after numerous indiscretions was the wrong decision, the selection of JOC at fly half in the face of extremely poor form and little experience is the definition of blind faith, and the shunting of Cooper from the national side headline some of his howlers.
2. Ben MacCalman and RWC2011.
The decision to only take one fetcher to the RWC was a complete disaster. Destroyed at the breakdown and scrum against Ireland, we never recovered and we paid the price of a fundamental error from the coach. MacCalman, the player picked instead of a fetcher, struggled during the whole tournament and anonymous against Ireland. Decision to start Alexander at tighthead was an error repeated again against the Lions. It wasn't as if Alexander was in good form, he was far and away the most penalised prop that particular year in Super rugby playing as a tighthead. Inability to react to obvious selection mistakes became a hallmark of Deans (McCabe, Giteau, Barnes and Horne).
3. Samoa and Matt Giteau.
Matt Giteau, like Cooper, was backed in heavily by Deans. He was immediately made the starting fly half and was the cornerstone of the team up until 2010. Although out of form and played out of position, Giteau was still playing okay rugby, certainly better than some of the players picked ahead of him. His RWC omission was seen to be a direct response to the implosion against Samoa. I have a feeling that the next coach might be looking at bringing Giteau back, his form for Toulon is hard to ignore and with our lack of fly half options, Lilo at 10 and Giteau at 12 might very well be our RWC combo.
4. 2010
2010 proves that Deans can certainly coach. Australia were world beaters that year and had New Zealand and South Africa shitting their pants, playing attractive fast paced rugby. Beale was undoubtedly the worlds best fullback, Drew Mitchell and JOC had claims as the best wingers in the world and Genia/Cooper was running the whole ship. With a forward pack consisting of Ma'afu, Chisholm and Faingaa, a lot of us were expecting the Wallabies to get over the line and become a dominant as soon as reinforcements arrived; but it never happened. Richard Graham, the architect of the backline, left for the Force soon after and Deans reverted to a more conservative style. Richard Graham won coaching gigs at the Force and then the Reds largely on the back of this one year.
The one conclusion that I can gather is that Deans simply cannot manage players. While I have no doubts that Deans is a very capable technical coach, he simply doesn't have the ability to manage the egos of individuals players. The Wallabies have improved beyond sight technically, but far too often we have been dependant on the individual brilliance of a select few players. The past 4 RWC winning coaches have been managers rather than coaches and with McKenzie and White the two contenders, Australia will be in very safe and capable hands.
On McKenzie and White, i think Eddie Jones has come up with the best solution. Have Jake White take the reigns for 2 years taking us to the 2015 World Cup while McKenzie sorts out the Rebels before ascending to the Wallabies head coaching position taking us to the 2019 World Cup. Jake White knows the preparations required to win the WC and will be better prepared for the short transition period between now and the WC.
