By Darren Walton
November 22nd 2009 @ 1:06am
Related coverage
More mid-week tour games the better, says Deans
They’re rarer than length-of-the-field tries these days, but Wallabies coach Robbie Deans is adamant mid-week tour games still have a place in professional rugby.
“Absolutely. We need more of them. Without a doubt,” Deans said ahead of the Wallabies’s clash with the Cardiff Blues on Tuesday night.
“They are the essence of the game; the opportunity for players to have a crack at an international side, the opportunity for players to emerge through that, the opportunity for us to expose another tier of players.
“When you go from Test match to Test match, from week to week, which is what our normal routine is, you just don’t get that opportunity.”
If not for the Wallabies’s mid-week clash with Gloucester three weeks ago, Quade Cooper would not have emerged as the revelation of the spring tour.
Cooper’s dazzling man-of-the-match display, in which the 21-year-old had a hand or foot in four tries in Australia’s 36-5 victory, forced Deans’s hand.
Rather than sticking with the reliable Ryan Cross and Adam Ashley-Cooper – who performed capably in Australia’s tour-opening loss to New Zealand in Tokyo – Deans, in his most daring selection decision as Wallabies coach, promoted Cooper to partner Digby Ioane in the centres against England.
The selection proved a coaching masterstroke, with Cooper filling Berrick Barnes’s midfield playmaking role with aplomb in Australia’s 18-9 victory at Twickenham.
Growing in maturity, Cooper’s tactical kicking also eased pressure on five-eighth Matt Giteau in last Sunday’s 20-20 draw with Ireland in Dublin.
Deans, though, would never have banked on Cooper had the two-Test rookie not been given the chance to press his claims with Australia’s second-string mid-week side.
“If you do chance your arm to that end, it can bite, not only to a team but also the individuals,” Deans said.
“So to have the opportunity for these blokes to play mid-week, represent their country, wear the strip and experience the realities of an opponent who just wants to cut you down, that’s what the game was built on.
“The passion that comes out of these provincial teams is fantastic.
“There’s also the social element; the interaction, the cultural opportunities that you get when you get outside of the main centres and experience the country and the people. It’s great.”
Deans even believes mid-week games make a difference to how players play.
“The performance of our side against Gloucester was pretty special,” he said.
“As you witnessed with Leicester’s win over South Africa, the (other provincial teams) grow an arm and a leg when they’re playing against an international team, and our blokes rose to that and they played at a level they probably hadn’t played through Super rugby.”
Deans says the five-week spring tour in general is “hugely important” to the Wallabies.
“It’s rare for us to get an opportunity to spend a block of time together,” he said.
“Even domestically, we don’t get the opportunity a lot, and certainly this year we haven’t.
“So to get away and to be able to live and breathe rugby and experience some great destinations – Twickenham, Croke Park, we’ve had a mid-weeker against Gloucester and another one coming – it’s just a fantastic opportunity for this group of players, not only in terms of the bonds that they build but the experiences they get.
“The background of rugby is fantastic.”
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mother teresa said | November 22nd 2009 @ 5:16am | Report comment
more mid-week games the better for deans %wins.
if we cant beat scotland with 62% possession we should play club sidesl.
byebye deans
Harry said | November 22nd 2009 @ 7:16am | Report comment
Mid week games sounds great, sounds like mother is just a deans hater, the way I see it South Africa and New Zealand have been struggling as well
fred said | November 22nd 2009 @ 10:57am | Report comment
i agree with you HARRY mt doesnt go him,guess he likes to win occasionally
Colin said | November 22nd 2009 @ 7:43am | Report comment
If mid week games would help us win bring it on, All blacks and Springboks seem to be having a hard time as well mother teresa, I would blame Giteau for this loss…
cookee said | November 22nd 2009 @ 7:17pm | Report comment
colin,your comment does you no justice the 3 teams situations and results in internationals is incomparable
pothale said | November 22nd 2009 @ 9:32am | Report comment
The All Blacks have won all their matches so far, without having to shift into top gear it seems to me and/or absent their usual machine-like efficiency.
SA are definitely struggling, and the biggest worry for them appears to be that PdV has discovered his larder cupboard is quite bare when he wants to replace/rest his top XV.
Henry & Co have had it relatively easy so far – today’s game was their toughest test to date. They got to spread their brand in front of 80,000 Italians, tried out new players in their squad, new combinations, got one over the IRB refs, and put England to bed in Twickenham. Henry might even be having a small smile tonight.