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Rod Macqueen knew he was jeopardising his well-earned rugby coaching reputation when he took on the Melbourne Rebels. It was a decade since he became the most successful Wallaby coach of all-time, capturing the 1999 Rugby World Cup, the Bledisloe, and Tri-Nations with that historic 2-1 win over the British and Irish Lions in 2001 – the icing on the cake for his swansong.
Macqueen’s success was based on attacking running rugby and solid defence.
The aptly-named Rebels?
The newest franchise is allergic to defence, so foreign to the Macqueen doctrine, and the main reason why they’ve won just three of their nine Super 15 games – the Brumbies 25-24, Hurricanes 42-25, and the Force 26-25 – against being walloped by the Waratahs 43-0, Chiefs 38-10, Reds 53-3, and Highlanders 40-18 – leaking 24 tries to three.
Last night at North Harbour, the Blues ran in six tries, four of them gifted by non-existent Rebel defence. The Blues won 40-23, thanks to a 17-minute blitz at the start, and six minutes from time.
The Blues led 17-3 after 17 minutes, thanks to three soft tries and a conversion.
With the score 28-23, and six to go, the Blues crashed over for two tries, one converted, meaning five of the Blues’ six tries were scored in a 23-minute burst. But there weren’t enough fingers and toes to count the missed tackles – with Danny Cipriani and Richard Kingi serial offenders.
Yet in the middle 57 minutes, the Rebels played well enough to possibly sniff a win – despite living off scraps.
Little wonder Macqueen looked as though he’d been hit over the back of his head by a lump of 4×2.
The match stats show the Rebels made 150 tackles to 106; the same stats don’t show the Rebels missed about 30 more.
The real proof is abundantly clear on the ladder, with the Rebels by far the worst-performed in the for-and-against columns at minus 143 – the closest are the Lions, at minus 73, and Force, minus 72. Daylight.
Transfer that to the Wallaby internationals over the last 29 years, and see why Macqueen’s the undisputed best-performed coach for the men-in-gold, and how he must be so exasperated by the Rebels’ shortcomings and lack of commitment:
* Rod Macqueen (1997-2001) – 43 Tests, 34 wins – 79.07%.
* Alan Jones (1984-1987) – 30 – 23 – 76.67%.
* Bobby Dwyer (1982-1984 and 1988-1996) – 73 – 47 – 64.38%.
* John Connolly (2006-2007) – 25 – 16 – 64%.
* Greg Smith (1996-1997) – 19 – 12 – 63.16%.
* Eddie Jones (2001-2006) – 57 – 33 – 57.89%.
* Robbie Deans (2008-current) – 43 – 24 – 55.81%.
Macqueen’s only been surpassed on the world stage by two All Black coaches – Graham Henry and John Mitchell.
Both would be the first to admit they had by far the better “cattle” and depth than Macqueen.
* Henry (2004-current) – 91 – 78 – 85.71%.
* And Mitchell (2001-2003) – 28 – 23 – 82.14%.
Mitchell’s “crime”? He didn’t win the 2003 Rugby World Cup. Instant sack.
But Henry survived losing the 2007 RWC, despite being bundled out in the quarters – the All Blacks’ worst performance in six starts.
So there won’t be a more nervous man than Graham Henry at this year’s RWC on home soil. Especially if the ARU has the vision to include Rod Macqueen on the Wallaby coaching panel, as a consultant.