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Fatflanker says...

The Sydney rugby press is appalling. A small group of writers who seem to think it is Australia's God-given right to beat everyone, everytime and regardless of circumstances.

Deans should be given until at least the Lions tour. He has had to cope with the worst run of injuries to key players of any Australian coach in living memory yet his win/loss rate is only 5-10% worse that the bulk of his predecessors:1-2 games in 20.

How do you reckon Graham Henry's record would be looking had players of the calibre of Carter and McCaw not been available to him over the course of his tenure as All Blacks coach? Those two frequently got Henry over the line with their individual brilliance.

He inherited a run-down player base handicapped with a neglected scrum and past-prime players. I think he's taken the necessary risks and done a more than fair job, (yes, in conjunction with Link, Jake White and others), in bringing through new talent. Certainly hasn't been faultless but I say give him a break.

Posted 07:18 12th June 2012

guthrie67 says...

Wins over tier 1 SH nations

Deans 40.7%

Connelly 40.0%

Jones 39.1%

Posted 07:06 12th June 2012

jonesy2 says...

if australia were worse than wales at rugby they would have lost that game for sure. if the scores were reversed wales would have won that game aswell. if all of australia's players got injured and couldnt walk wales probably would have won. damn, so close. i here this after every wallabies win. undisputed number 2 in the world and second only to a side that play on another planet alltogether and the coach is under pressure from idiots allover, imagine if the wallabies were in ireland or england's situation, would deans have been shot by a firing squad?

Posted 06:56 12th June 2012

Waz4before says...

@ Voice - a rather myopic view of the game I think - undoubtedly Genia was a significant contributing factor but with Cooper & O'Conner sidelined its hardly surprising he stood out. Wales "were gaining momentum" is a deceptive comment and just because you can write it down doesn't make it true; the half time score flattered wales and the game should have been over by then, in part due to poor welsh tactics in kicking the game away but it wasn't "put away" because Oz weren't really firing in the first half either (e.g. 2 Genia chip and chases with the line wide open which he messed up when for the Reds he normally puts those away). At 20-6 Oz should have slammed the door shut but didn't, instead - just as the drizzle started - they changed tactics and slung the ball wide instead of keeping it close and running tight angles .. and wales capitalized on it. But once Oz reverted to type the game was won and 30/35-19 would have been a true reflection of the game.

Wales underperformed (again) and the only consistent in their game is just that, they underperformed in virtually all their games in this years 6N's and came away with the Slam - good teams do that we're expected to believe, well the only measure of a good team is when you beat the SH with regularity.

As for Oz - they have the best backs in the world with only a kiwi expected to argue with that statement, and the forwards aint half bad either, witness the first try v wales .. but Deans lacks the confidence of the wider Rugby community so his days are numbered I believe and I agree with the earlier poster - he wont last beyond his current contract

Posted 23:57 11th June 2012

Kiwikev says...

bk47 says...

I am so happy Deans didn't get the AB's job :)

-----------------

Join the club; we had jumpers made....

Posted 16:22 11th June 2012

hayj05 says...

@ashley71 - Well thanks for pointing that out.

I'm an idiot & I was careless, from memory I thought it was at the turn of the century (2000). After doing a little research just now, the period I was trying to talk about was after Beckham was signed by Real Madrid in 2003. You can tell this by my reference to the "best 3" which many considered to be Ronaldo, Zidane, & Beckham at that time. They came 4th in Spain & made QF in Europe & then the next year they came 2nd in Spain & made the Round of 16 in Europe.

Posted 16:09 11th June 2012

ashley71 says...

@ hayj05

fyi: real madrid won the champions league in 2000, la liga in 2001, champions league in 2002 & la liga in 2003. they then sacked the coach vincente del bosque (current spanish coach)...

can't argue with the rugby side of things in your post...LOL!!

Posted 15:04 11th June 2012

hayj05 says...

Wow! Talk about Kiwi bashing from the Australians. Insult him when the team loses & insult him when the team wins. Lose, lose for Robbie Deans & I'm amazed that the weather in Newcastle & key injuries were predicted several months earlier.

While Genia obviously has good vision, it's the quick ball & go foward that creates those opportunities.

If Genia was out there by himself & beat 15 Welsh men then I would give credit to Genia for the win.

Now do I think that Deans is doing a good job at international level?

It's hard to say. He has been at the helm of some embarrassing defeats by Australian standards but did also bring them their 1st tri-nations title in 10 years & has a pretty good overall record against the powerhouse that is the Springboks (won 8 lost 4) which is really impressive by Australian standards.

And those saying Deans was lucky that he had all those AB's his side when he was with Canterbury are wrong, he helped make a lot of those AB's or at least helped them get picked for the side.

Deans took over in 2000 winning the last of the 3 titles of Canterbury's 98,99, 00 dynasty but after that a lot of Canterburys AB's had moved on. In 2001 he didn't have a great year but one year later he took a developing side to the greatest season in pro Rugby history. 13 from 13 wins, scoring 30 points or more in every single game including the semi & final. They made 5 of the next 6 finals. winning 3 more titles. Doesn't matter how good individuals in a team are, a successful team always starts with the management.

Those famous galactico Real Madrid sides at the turn of the century never won a damn thing & they probably had half of the top 20 players in the world in their team, including the best 3.

Posted 14:07 11th June 2012

rugby_rockstar says...

Still open season on robbie then? you know how england can't string an attacking move together to save their lives because the just don't bother trying at domestic level? Well the same applies to Australia's set peice and forward play, they don't bother with it at domestic level so they simply can't do it at test match level. Maybe the ARU should lay a foundation and build on top of that rather than blaming the poor bleedin' coach. Engage some brian cells people. look at NZ analise WHY they are winning. The kiwis play the same style of rugby bottom up and it works. thats how the can throw in a new cap and he gets a hattrick. the guy was playing exactly the same way in the U20's two years ago. Oz need an attitude adjustment. they need to change to a winning style of rugby. so do England. You've got two extremes there and the reason NZ are so good is because they sit slap bang in the middle of the two idealogies from grass roots to All Black level.

Posted 13:43 11th June 2012

melkdave says...

Ive already posted numerous times ,that im a big fan of Deans .If ever Australia sack him im sure he will be snapped up ithe same day .In fact i think he would be a fantastic Ireland coach,a nation with alot of promising talant breaking though atm.After his years having to mange the slim resources of Australia ,i feel he would really enjoy ,being Irelands coach

Posted 13:34 11th June 2012

abfixit says...

I am a fan of Robbie and am really disappointed at the journos' who continually plot his sacking albeit with a team who runs hot and cold. Robbie's biggest problem with his detractors is that his charges' performance is continually being compared with the All Blacks. End of story. The Aussie journos should look at what he has been able to do with a rugby heirachy that does not support the sport right through from school. Club rugby in Oz is almost non-existent and it shows. The Super teams are staffed with a couple of big names and many who cannot compete at that level (yet) The domestic rugby competition has pretty slim pickings.

Posted 12:36 11th June 2012

Trinats2 says...

Deans did well on Saturday with the bench, brought them on at the right time, something he has trouble with in the past. Was it forced by a) the assistant coaches or b) the fatigue of the players backing up from Tuesday needed a break ?

One dimensional game plan and Inconsistency is another problem with deans and finally, he's a Kiwi !!! (ten losses in a row to NZ when he should have had some insight into the player group (mostly crusaders) come on.

He needs to go now, or turn it around very quickly. I'll pay out his contract until 2013, if we can get the LINK to take over.

Posted 12:35 11th June 2012

daibok says...

I am sure that Genia could keep even the most mediocre coach in a job. The difference between a good 9 (though not as good as he thinks he is) and a world class 9 was the difference between the teams.

Posted 12:09 11th June 2012

startledwombat says...

I love the Sydney pundits, they keep aspiring to beat the Fleet Street hacks in being predatory.

These were the same writers who were absolutely delighted when the Wallabies won the Tri-Nations last year.

It'd be a bit dumb to drop Deans at the same time the world rankings have Australia at #2, his record includes the Wallabies knocking the South Africans (the previous champions) out of the World Cup and getting through to the semi-final, losing only to the eventual champions.

The main shortcoming of the Wallabies is that they haven't got the temperament to convincingly repeatedly win, instead they seem to match in quality whoever it is they are playing. That's been happening since 2003.

Deans got rid of most of the old players who brought that trait into the team, but the new team can't yet shake it off.

Journalists have strange, short memories.

Posted 11:28 11th June 2012

Stellenbosched2 says...

I am still not sure how important the coach is. On the one hand you can say that the quality of players is all important and that without all those All Blacks at Canterbury Deans would not have been so successful. But on the other hand I strongly believe that with a better coach the Boks would have had a more impressive record over the last few years, as they had a potentially great side.

Posted 11:21 11th June 2012

tha_mai says...

he's contacted to end of 2013, a lot of rugby between now and then, needs to improve his average - in his fifth season and remains at a constant of losing two for every three wins, a lack of consistency; the Wallabies have won more than three in a row just once since he took over 2008 and that was his first five matches (inherited team perhaps?). Will he last that long?

Posted 11:15 11th June 2012

Voice says...

Were it not for Genia the Wallabies would have lost, Wales were gaining some good momentum and his try put them on the back foot and took the fight out of the Welsh. I am not too worried about the Aussies this year.

Deans is a great coach but the Crusaders and New Zealand club/county players in general are better than most international aussies so what did anyone expect? Deans simply does not have the calibre palyer to pick from.

Posted 11:14 11th June 2012

bk47 says...

I am so happy Deans didn't get the AB's job :)

Posted 10:45 11th June 2012

KiwiLad says...

Will Deans career not be over when his contract runs out anyway?

I can not see the Wobblies winning eirher the Bledisloe or the Rugby Championship this year, And what of Robbie then, After the Pumas have beaten his pack to a pulp??

Posted 10:33 11th June 2012

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