What Robbie Deans said at half time
By The Bloke from Borenore, 30 Aug 2010 The Bloke from Borenore is a Roar Rookie
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After watching the test match from Pretoria I was left disappointed that the Wallabies had again failed to make the most of the opportunities they had to notch up a long awaited win at altitude in South Africa.
Most puzzling was their inability to continue to put points on the board in the second half of the match after those wonderful tries in the first half.
After nodding off I soon had the answer, I had a vision of the talk that Robbie Deans’ gave the team at half time. It went like this:
“What the hell are you guys up to? You are not playing to the game plan that we discussed. You are playing as if Australian customs have told you all to expect an internal examination on arrival back in OZ if you lose tonight.
What’s with all the razzle dazzle? You are giving away our game plan for the semi-finals of the World Cup.
Drew, I know that I dropped you the other week, but you are doing enough to stay in the team as long as you don’t again miss any more easy tackles that the press can hound me about, so calm down a bit.
O’Connor, you also need to slow down a bit. You need to get over all that talk last week that you are not really a winger. You have made your point but two tries is just showing off. J.O.N. told me that as long as you keep looking like Justin Bieber you stay in the team because you keep the teenagers watching rugby.
Guys, remember I told you the other day that if South Africa don’t win a couple of Tri Nations games at home they are going to appoint someone who can really coach. If they do that it will stuff up the World Cup for everyone.
So guys, get back out there and play like I told you to.
We need to keep the rugby world asking why we are still ranked as high as number three. Lull those All Blacks into a false sense of security and come the semi-finals of the World Cup you can bring back the razzle dazzle.
Australia can then be the first country to win three world cups and I will have proved once and for all that I am the best coach from Aotearoa”.
I awoke and thought was that for real?
I hope it was because the worrying alternative is that Australia’s finest with an estimated combined payroll that would fund seven or eight NRL teams may only be able to put together 30 minutes of smart, top notch rugby in a game. And when they are put under pressure, they are lacking in composure and the ability to make the most of their opportunities.
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August 30th 2010 @ 8:53am
inkosi said | August 30th 2010 @ 8:53am | Report comment
Love it – well done! And lets hope that it wasn’t a dream…..
August 30th 2010 @ 10:55am
gekko said | August 30th 2010 @ 10:55am | Report comment
I hope it is true … We need articles more like this.
August 30th 2010 @ 12:17pm
EP - Rugbywits said | August 30th 2010 @ 12:17pm | Report comment
Well written. It must be real for you to have remembered in such detail!
The second half intensity was fairly average wasn’t it!?
August 30th 2010 @ 1:12pm
Cattledog said | August 30th 2010 @ 1:12pm | Report comment
Whatever he said at half time must have been imbued with altitude sickness. I’m also really not convinced Jim Williams, nice guy that he is, really brings much to the table. Why is it that 99% of the Roar see a poor use of the bench but it occurs week after week? JON will be spending a fair amount of time looking for places to hide, me thinks!
August 30th 2010 @ 1:38pm
sixo_clock said | August 30th 2010 @ 1:38pm | Report comment
Good work BB. clever and enjoyable.
August 30th 2010 @ 3:14pm
RedsNut said | August 30th 2010 @ 3:14pm | Report comment
Maybe the half time talk went like this -
“OK guys, you’ve done enough for now, so just take it easy in the second half and “we’ll be right”
August 30th 2010 @ 5:00pm
ohtani's jacket said | August 30th 2010 @ 5:00pm | Report comment
He probably told them: “What are you doing? You’ll never get any character or build for the World Cup by winning a game. I won’t sub any of you until I see some more season ending Injuries. Now get out there and give us your best excuse. “
August 30th 2010 @ 5:38pm
M.O.C. said | August 30th 2010 @ 5:38pm | Report comment
I reckon it went like this “what are you doing? trying to win? ….look at what happens to the All Blacks when they win all the time – they lose world cups, now pull your heads in and stop trying to PEAK TO EARLY!!!”
August 30th 2010 @ 5:48pm
Mick Gold Coast QLD said | August 30th 2010 @ 5:48pm | Report comment
Nice work, Bloke from Borenore. Clever, entertaining writing.
August 30th 2010 @ 7:38pm
Spectron said | August 30th 2010 @ 7:38pm | Report comment
Love the article.
It is great to be reading articles that are not about how the Wallabies are getting better each week and are only fractions of a second away from clicking.
Maybe someone should look at taking away Dean’s copy of “How to lose games and alienate punters”.