Australia

ruckingkiwi says...

Good coaches dont become poor coaches overnight and neither do poor players become good players overnight. The fact of the matter is that the players available to Australia just aren't that good.

Posted 11:47 12th June 2012

rugbylover says...

Admittedly, Genia's try was astonishing. But there were 14 other players - including a certain David Pocock. Silly people.

Posted 07:58 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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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