Deans not making it personal
Saturday brings Australia coach Robbie Deans head to head with New Zealand, most of whose rugby population believes is the team Deans ought to be coaching.
Saturday brings Australia coach Robbie Deans head to head with New Zealand, most of whose rugby population believes is the team Deans ought to be coaching.
Deans was thought to be in pole position for the job after New Zealand crashed out of the World Cup to France, but a long and expensive performance review decided that Graham Henry had not been at fault at the crucial moments, and so Deans was passed up in favour of continuity with Henry and assistants Steve Hansen and Wayne Smith.
Deans immediately defected to Australia to take the national job there, and he notched his first competitive win on Saturday with a 16-9 success over South Africa.
Now it's New Zealand in ANZ Stadium, but bygones are bygones as far as Deans is concerned. He is to be a part of a trans-Tasman clash, and that is honour enough.
“It's New Zealand against Australia and honestly it's great to be part of that,” he said on Sunday to the AAP.
“There will be a piece of me in there in terms of the contest and wanting the group to thrive but it's team on team.”
When pressed about his intimate knowledge of most of the opposition players, Deans pointed out that the All Blacks could also lean on their knowledge of his game.
“That's the question isn't it, and how much of that is relevant is the other thing because life moves on,” he said.
“They're in a different context, a different group, different methods and they'll also be very aware of what I know of them and they'll be aware that I'm aware of what they know of me.”
Rumour in the Islands is that Richie McCaw, so long Deans' captain at the Crusaders, could make a miraculous return from injury in time for the clash in Sydney.
Deans might be more in the know than most, given his relationship with the All Black talisman, but neither he nor the All Blacks were giving anything away.
“There's word of that,” Deans said on the possibility.
“It wouldn't surprise me. He's a good recoverer.”
That development would turn the breakdown into a war zone after Australia did some crunching work against South Africa.
“They did create enough success around the collisions to get on to the front foot and to create those opportunities,” Deans said of his forwards' work.
“And there is no short-cut, you can't get by without that.
“The scrum stood up so we had a platform that we could play with and that's what you seek in every encounter.
“(The backs) brought an enthusiasm to play from the start to the end which was going to be a necessity … and that's the only reason they got home.”
The Wallabies came through last Saturday's physical encounter relatively unscathed with just captain Stirling Mortlock (head knock) expected to miss out. Lock Dan Vickerman played 80 minutes of a club match and could also be in the reckoning.