By Darren Walton
October 30th 2008 @ 1:27am
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Deans winning coaching mind games
Supercoach Robbie Deans has won the opening round of his latest Bledisloe Cup bout with arch rival Graham Henry, hoodwinking the All Blacks into playing master flyhalf Dan Carter out of position on Saturday night.
New Zealand assistant coach Wayne Smith yesterday conceded one of the chief reasons Carter had been picked at inside centre - which accommodates Stephen Donald at five-eighth - was to give the All Blacks two playmakers, as they expect the Wallabies to have.
But in a potential selection masterstroke Deans is tomorrow tipped to name powerhouse skipper Stirling Mortlock to oppose Carter, rather than recall the ball-playing Berrick Barnes.
Barnes is expected to be eased back from a shoulder injury via the bench, with Deans opting to retain the more robust Mortlock-Ryan Cross midfield combination.
At best, Carter can expect plenty of heavy traffic heading his way at Hong Kong Stadium.
Even if the tactics ultimately fail, Henry - who beat Deans to the All Blacks coaching job last year despite his team’s dismal World Cup failure - will not be happy to have been outwitted by his Wallabies counterpart.
Judging by his subtle dig at yesterday’s announcement of his All Blacks side, Henry is already agitated by Deans delaying the release of his Wallabies team until tomorrow.
“We always announce the team early to give the other guys a chance. They announce theirs on Thursday. We announce ours on Tuesday,” Henry said.
“Maybe that needs to change, but that seems to be the case these days.”
Before this season’s first Bledisloe Cup Test, Deans admitted to having barely spoken a word to Henry in recent years.
This latest episode in their coaching rivalry is unlikely to improve their relationship, but it has certainly spiced up what has been an otherwise low-key build-up to the historic trans-Tasman encounter.
Deans suspects Carter’s positional switch may force the All Blacks into altering a playing structure which helped them successfully defend the Bledisloe Cup and Tri Nations trophies this year.
Carter - widely considered the game’s premier flyhalf - today seemed hardly enthused at being bumped out to the centres.
“It’s quite surreal actually,” Carter said.
“It’s where I played a lot of my football in the first couple of seasons professionally, but it’s a new challenge because it has been so long.
“I’m really looking forward to it. The coaches have made it clear that it’s not going to be a permanent move, so that’s good because I’m probably more settled in the No.10 jersey.
“But I think that 30 minutes in Brisbane where Steve came on, he made a real difference and I think he really deserves his chance at having a start.”
Donald’s effort to help the All Blacks rally from 17-7 down with 25 minutes remaining to a 28-24 victory over the Wallabies last month, plus the right foot-left foot kicking options he and Carter give the side, were the other two reasons behind the backline reshuffle.
Deans’ other noteworthy selection tomorrow will be the naming of 20-year-old debutant David Pocock on the bench, which will, along with George Smith and Phil Waugh, give the Wallabies three openside flankers in the match-day 22.
Likely Wallabies team: Adam Ashley-Cooper, Drew Mitchell, Ryan Cross, Stirling Mortlock (capt), Peter Hynes, Matt Giteau, Luke Burgess, Richard Brown, George Smith, Dean Mumm, Nathan Sharpe, Mark Chisholm, Benn Robinson, Stephen Moore, Al Baxter. Reserves: Adam Freier, Matt Dunning, David Pocock, Phil Waugh, Sam Cordingley, Berrick Barnes, Lachie Turner.
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ohtani's jacket said | October 30th 2008 @ 7:47am | Report comment
In the middle of all this hoodwinking and mindgames is the fact that Deans is going to play Mortlock at second five again. Don’t these people ever learn???
Nicko said | October 30th 2008 @ 8:06am | Report comment
yeah what exactly is a masterstroke about playing the captain there again?
mudskipper said | October 30th 2008 @ 8:57am | Report comment
Deans now has to trick Henry into playing Richie McCaw as the blindside flanker and the Wallabies could win the match…
Nick (KIA) said | October 30th 2008 @ 10:29am | Report comment
Beatup. ABs will be pleased that they’ve got the Wallers worrying about who they are playing where. ABs have clearly done this with an eye on the future, rather than on the Wallabies backline.
sheek said | October 30th 2008 @ 10:46am | Report comment
Darren,
With all due respect, this is a rubbish suggestion. I believe Carter’s move to #12 is an acknowledgement there is a lack of class #12s in NZ rugby. Nothing more, nothing less.
I also think, in the modern game, it makes sense to have playmakers at both 10 & 12. Kiwis figured this out 100 years before anybody else, which is why they call their 12 the 2nd five-eighth. The 10 being the 1st five-eighth.
It is also why i believe the best players today must be able to play both 10 (flyhalf/1st 5/8) & 12 (inside centre/2nd 5/8).
The great Mark Ella was a technically flawed #10. His genius was being exceptional at the things he was good at. He was lucky to have Mike Hawker beside him at #12. Hawker was an accomplished flyhalf in his own right.
Had Ella kept playing say until the 1987 RWC, Mike Lynagh would have replaced Hawker at inside centre, while playing the same foil role to Ella. The after ella’s retirement, Lynagh would have shifted to flyhalf.
It’s just good commonsense rugby practice to have Donald & Carter at 10 & 12 for NZ, & Giteau & Barnes at 10 & 12 for Oz.
Rangi said | October 30th 2008 @ 12:27pm | Report comment
Ha ha ha,
Please tell me again Darren, who is worried about who ?
Brett McKay said | October 30th 2008 @ 12:30pm | Report comment
Aussie Rob has named his side, let the mind games continue, I think…
Adam Ashley-Cooper, Peter Hynes, Ryan Cross, Stirling Mortlock (captain), Drew Mitchell, Matt Giteau, Luke Burgess; Benn Robinson, Stephen Moore, Al Baxter, Mark Chisholm, Nathan Sharpe, Dean Mumm, George Smith, Richard Brown.
Reserves: Adam Freier, Matt Dunning, Phil Waugh, David Pocock, Sam Cordingley, Berrick Barnes, Lachie Turner.
Mark H said | October 30th 2008 @ 2:56pm | Report comment
Not a bad side. I think that the ABs should watch out for these young guys in Turner, Hynes, Brown, Pocock etc. They will be looking to impress. Brown qa * is good. The last time he came on against the ABs he went in pretty hard for mine.
Cant wait.
Mark H said | October 30th 2008 @ 2:57pm | Report comment
Sorry, thats Brown at 8 not that other gibberish haha
Nick (KIA) said | October 30th 2008 @ 3:28pm | Report comment
More concerning from ABs point of view is Mils has withdrawn to deal with nappies. Toeava to start at 15.
A fairly experimental and unsettled look now with new 10, old 12 that hasn’t played there for ages, new wing and FB that is usually a fairly shakey centre. Will be interesting…
Mark H said | October 30th 2008 @ 3:44pm | Report comment
It will be a good contest. The bloody ref will kill it if anything. Anyone know who this joker is..some pom eh?
ohtani's jacket said | October 30th 2008 @ 7:23pm | Report comment
Mils did the right thing staying with his wife and baby.
I guess the Aussies will try to test Toeava under the high ball, but that’s what fullback is all about. It’ll be interesting to see how well he defends, how much distance he can get with the boot and whether he’ll hit the line and HOLD ONTO the ball (always his biggest weakness.)
Apparently we’ve looked good in training, but I reckon our backplay might be a bit scrappy. Might not matter. We’ve scored some ridiculously easy tries against Australia this year. My prediction: New Zealand to win unconvincingly, Aussie to do better than expected.
Benjamin said | October 31st 2008 @ 4:46am | Report comment
Having just finished perusing the ARU website it appears that 54.5% of Wallaby fans think their team will win by 1-12 points. Having said that the poll has only been taken by 310 people (myself included - AB’s by 1-12), and I wonder how far it reflects the thoughts of the general Australian public?
OJ, I’m perplexed as to why Toeava is being picked at 15. That implies that he is ahead of Jane in the tour pecking order. My understanding was that he was lucky to be touring in the first place?! I simply don’t understand why Henry isn’t picking a specialist 15.
Bring Back Melon said | October 31st 2008 @ 7:21am | Report comment
Yes. This is a bizarre suggestion.
I can just see a mirror image of this article on a NZ blog site… i.e. “Graham Henry has hoodwinked Robbie Deans into playing Mortlock out of position”… only NZ media/commentators probably have a little more sense.
stillmissit said | October 31st 2008 @ 9:50am | Report comment
Are we sure that Henry isnt taking the dead rubber to give Donald time in the hot seat in case of a Carter injury on tour. We all know how bad it affected the AB’s when he was injured in the RWC. Still think it is a stupid, let’s do experiments, school teacher of an idea.
Any of us are backing the Wallabies by 12 points has rose coloured glasses on. NZ by 10 is my guess.
Anything can happen and I hope it does but reality today says NZ about 22 -12.
ohtani's jacket said | October 31st 2008 @ 11:12am | Report comment
Benjamiin, I guess he went with Toeava because he has 17 Tests under his belt. Henry & Co. want him to play fullback for Auckland, but I believe he was first five this season. Anyway he’s been training at 15 since the squad was brought together and he didn’t do too badly during the Tri-Nations I thought.
If the Wallabies want to target him they’ll have to employ the type of kicking game they used in Sydney, but they’ve left Barnes on the bench, so I imagine the real weakness is our goal line defence. Mils is fantastic at organising the backs in such situations, while Toeava obviously lacks experience.
I’m guessing Jane will start against Scotland and whoever impresses more will back Mils up in the remaining Tests. Mils will likely start against Ireland, Wales and England.
Benjamin said | October 31st 2008 @ 11:14am | Report comment
OJ, I can see the short-term logic but I think it sets the wrong tone for the uncapped players of the tour, although having said that I didn’t know that they wanted Toeava to play at 15 for Auckland.
ohtani's jacket said | October 31st 2008 @ 11:30am | Report comment
Most of the new caps will play against Scotland and Munster. A few guys might play their way into the 22. At some point on Saturday Jane will make his Test match debut. If Mils had made it to Hong Kong he wouldn’t have been in the team. Hell, if MacDonald was healthy he might not be in the squad.
The way I see it, there’s the Hong Kong one-off and then the tour proper. Henry pretty much wanted to go at full strength against the Wallabies, hence why the team isn’t that different from the Tri-Nations. They’ll never admit it publicly, but they want that big fat 3-1 against Deans.
This is the fourth time they’ll have played each other this year, I can’t see there being much in it. I expect the new-ish Wallabies to play hard. I’m also expecting plenty of scrum resets, a wad of penalties at the breakdown and a ton of “the short arm ELVs are better” arguments. Unless the counter attacking improves. The SH ELVs really messed up counter attacking rugby.
Sam Taulelei said | October 31st 2008 @ 12:44pm | Report comment
OJ
Agree with your comments. I asked the question in another post whether the selectors would be bold enough to select both Cory Jane and Hosea Gear in the HK test if Muiliaina was unavailable. My thoughts were that Gear was a definite starter to capitalise on his current form but was unsure if they were willing to expose Cory Jane so early.
I’m not expecting much of a spectacle as both sides haven’t played together since their last test. A lot of the focus is on Carter and Mortlock but I’m more interested to see how Tialata performs in the scrum and how effective our lineout work is. The difference in class between the current sides was there for all to see when NZ scored those three tries in 20 minutes, outside of that period and when we scored our first try, Australia were in control but couldn’t take advantage and score points.
The All Blacks acknowledged afterwards that they didn’t transfer their effort in training to that first half and weren’t physical enough. If NZ take control of the match for longer periods and dominate physically then I can’t see Australia getting close and if Australia doesn’t score points when they enjoy a territorial and possession advantage then they leave the door open for NZ to storm back like they did in Brisbane.
Blinky Bill - Bellingen said | October 31st 2008 @ 12:47pm | Report comment
Not too sure if Wayne Smith is joking half the time. Is he? Seems to me that he could just as easily take the Mortlock / Cross combo as the ultimate compliment rather than run with more conspiracy theories.
Not too sure about playing SM at IC. Seems a risk to me, especially as out wide was where most of the tries were scored against us.
Hope RD learnt his lesson about when and how to use the replacements. Do we even have a quality bench?
Heart says Wallabies head says AB’s by 15.
LeftArmSpinner said | October 31st 2008 @ 2:22pm | Report comment
As much as I wish Deans had won the mind games over his NZ compatriots, I don’t believe it for one minute. AB have both Tri Nations and Bledisloe. That’s the war, selecting Carter at 12 is at best a skirmish. He’s a freak who has played very successfully in that position previously. And the Aussies have selected Mortlock to oppose him, hardly a challenge for Carter, a brilliant defender and astute ballplayer.
Benjamin said | October 31st 2008 @ 11:22pm | Report comment
Can we not just have a test without mind games?