Australian rugby in good shape says O’Neill
Australian rugby supremo John O’Neill has labelled fierce criticism from former Wallabies coach John Connolly as absurd and not based on fact.
Connolly last week said the past four years had been the worst for Australian rugby in the professional era and called for a complete review of the game if the Wallabies lose their three Test series with Wales.
His comments came between the Wallabies’ disastrous 9-6 loss to Scotland last Tuesday and their face saving win over Wales in the first Test on Saturday.
The 27-19 win over the Welsh relieved the pressure on O’Neill as much as it did for coach Robbie Deans who Connolly said should be replaced if the Wallabies lose the series.
“There are those who choose to bring an agenda to any stumble in Australian rugby,” O’Neill told AAP on Tuesday.
“For a commentator to say where we are now is the worst shape Australian rugby has been in in the entire professional era off the back of that loss to Scotland is absurd and cannot be supported by fact based evidence.”
The Australian Rugby Union chief executive said the facts showed Australia is ranked No.2 in the world and won the Tri Nations last year, while Queensland won the Super 15 in 2011.
He also cited a 25 per cent growth in playing numbers, record TV figures and record crowds to indicate rugby was healthy in Australia.
He admitted the defeat by Scotland and last year’s loss to Samoa were inexplicable, but boilovers were a part of sport.
O’Neill, who was instrumental in securing Deans in 2008 and last year re-signed him for another two years, says the New Zealander is the right man for the job and has his full support.
“It’s premature to make any judgments on the coaching position until well into next year,” O’Neill said.
“I’m not being drawn, and nor is anyone at the ARU even thinking about, the coaching position other than supporting Robbie and the team to go on and win the Wales series, then go on to win the Rugby Championship and then on to the British and Irish Lions series next year.”
© AAP 2013- Explore:
- John Connolly, John ONeill, Rugby Union, wallabies
June 13th 2012 @ 2:55am
Johnno said | June 13th 2012 @ 2:55am | Report comment
-If we are in such good shape as JON says well I have some credible evidence for JON, this junior under 20 world cup debacle currently in South africa.
It is starting to resemble the Olympic olyroos soccer london debacle 2012 campaign, which they failed to qualify and barley score a single goal.
-I have just watched it and we were physically man handled by a massive French team smashed 31-7, it looked boys to men, boys playing men.
On top of losing to Argentina as well our junior under 20-world cup is over Liam Gill looked a 1 man team.
June 13th 2012 @ 3:12am
bluerose said | June 13th 2012 @ 3:12am | Report comment
i just watched the u20 too and they were pathetic, whoever coached them should be sacked, Frisby was hopeless the entire game, they had no answer to France’s game plan, speed, power and enthusiasm,i feel for Gill who gave everything in that game.
June 13th 2012 @ 3:39am
Johnno said | June 13th 2012 @ 3:39am | Report comment
bluerose I agree it was pathetic it looked like France were a real men’s team so big and storng and fast, and we looked like a GPS 1st 15 schoolboys team in comparison, a real worry that France loss we were exposed badly.
Who ever the head coach is should be sacked if not now, then after the world cup i really felt for Liam Gill a 1 man man playing in a team who resembled boys not men compared to the France team, it was a bit sad to watch to be honest as it made me worry about the future.
And wales beat the NZ team admittedly in the worst pitch conditions i have ever seen in modern rugby , so it totally slowed down the match and any attacking ability both teams had.
But this aussy-france match was played at cape towns new world cup staid that was built in 2010. Perfect weather and perfect drainage on the pitch.
No excuses bluerose, just no answer to frame, game plan and tactics, speed,power,enthusiasm as you said bluenose.
June 13th 2012 @ 4:02am
bluerose said | June 13th 2012 @ 4:02am | Report comment
if this is the future of Australian rugby then we are really really screwed.
June 13th 2012 @ 4:22am
Johnno said | June 13th 2012 @ 4:22am | Report comment
Totally agree Bluerose it was a real worry we were outmuscled france just looked so much bigger and athletic and stronger and fitter and better coached tactically, was painful to watch a real reality checkoff where our so called best under 20 players are at, and the system in Australia has to be blamed or looked at.
June 13th 2012 @ 7:44am
mcxd said | June 13th 2012 @ 7:44am | Report comment
Isn’t high performance manager David nucifora and wanna be wallaby coach the coach of the u20s ?
June 13th 2012 @ 9:13am
Red Kev said | June 13th 2012 @ 9:13am | Report comment
Yes, yes he is mcxd
June 13th 2012 @ 12:32pm
Jutsie said | June 13th 2012 @ 12:32pm | Report comment
The same david nucifora that was in charge of the post world cup review.
June 13th 2012 @ 1:13pm
ianmac said | June 13th 2012 @ 1:13pm | Report comment
?And didn’t someone say in one of these discussions recently that he is also responsible for choosing Robbie Deans’ coaching assistants?
June 13th 2012 @ 6:07am
King of the Gorgonites said | June 13th 2012 @ 6:07am | Report comment
Johnno the under 20s is disappointing but remember we made the final last year. This year has been a year of upsets. The argies are undefeated. Wales beat the abs. Ireland beat the boks. Still it was a failure of a campaign and must be looked at.
June 13th 2012 @ 7:57am
nickoldschool said | June 13th 2012 @ 7:57am | Report comment
Bit of a joke this under 20 rwc imo: baby AB qualify for the semis after losing to the only euro team of their pool, Wales and winning against Samoa and Fiji (no offense) while France beat Australia and Scotland but dont make it through! Same stuff in pool B where the baby Boks are the only to go through with Ireland and England also with 2 wins each.
what a joke!!!
June 13th 2012 @ 8:18am
King of the Gorgonites said | June 13th 2012 @ 8:18am | Report comment
Agreed. Strange how the pools were allocated.
June 13th 2012 @ 9:29am
Sam Taulelei said | June 13th 2012 @ 9:29am | Report comment
Nothing suspicious or contrived with this tournament.
This the fourth year this competition has been running and the teams in each pool change every year.
As there are three pools of four teams the semifinalists are determined by the three pool winners automatically qualifying followed by the wildcard fourth team with the most points. So even if you drop a pool game, you can still make the semi’s.
Australia has qualified twice in this fashion for the semifinals in the past after dropping pool games, NZ qualified this time after losing their first match in four years at this tournament to Wales.
The semifinalists are Wales, Argentina, South Africa and NZ because Wales and Argentina are unbeaten, South Africa finished ahead of Ireland on points in their pool and NZ was the highest fourth placed team overall.
June 13th 2012 @ 10:14am
nickoldschool said | June 13th 2012 @ 10:14am | Report comment
well, i just dont like this pool/qualification system Sam. And i still think its odd to say the least that Samoa and Fiji are in the same pool with wales and nz. No wonder these 2 teams are making the semis.
June 13th 2012 @ 9:07am
Harry said | June 13th 2012 @ 9:07am | Report comment
We didn’t actually make the finals last year, think it was the year before. But by and large we have a good record in this competition. New Zealand miles ahead of everyone else though.
June 13th 2012 @ 6:49am
p.Tah said | June 13th 2012 @ 6:49am | Report comment
Johnno most of those kids from Australia will be back next year, they are 18 years old. I’d hold judgement as to whether our future is bleak until we see them going around again.
June 13th 2012 @ 8:09am
formeropenside said | June 13th 2012 @ 8:09am | Report comment
Then where are the talented 19 year olds? Why aren’t they there?
June 13th 2012 @ 10:08am
p.Tah said | June 13th 2012 @ 10:08am | Report comment
Not sure unfortunately. I don’t follow the junior ages close enough, but I believe this group of 18 year olds have come from the very successful Australian school boys team. Perhaps they’re grooming them for a serious tilt at next years tournament. That is pure speculation, I have no idea.
June 13th 2012 @ 9:59pm
the bone said | June 13th 2012 @ 9:59pm | Report comment
Boyd Killingworth (Pocockjnr) and gun backrower Michael Wells both out injured and stars of the future, available next year also
June 13th 2012 @ 9:06am
Harry said | June 13th 2012 @ 9:06am | Report comment
I understand this was a young side, most of the players will be back next year. But agree, some cause for concern. What concerned me more was the lack of a decent playmaker.
Once again, let us not be disrespectful of the Opposition. France have a huge junior network, and a very fine rugby heritage.
June 13th 2012 @ 9:59am
Sledgeandhammer said | June 13th 2012 @ 9:59am | Report comment
yeah, if it wasn’t for Deans we would be unbeaten in South Africa, no doubt!
June 13th 2012 @ 5:34am
mace 22 said | June 13th 2012 @ 5:34am | Report comment
come on guys the future of australian rugby isn’t all about this years junior comp. Australia has competed very well at all the other junior world comps. All that is needed is that every year one or two players are good enough to progress to higher levels, and this year it looks like it could be mr gill. Of all the players that have played for the junior world cup, how many percentage wise have progressed to higher levels? I think it would be very low.
June 13th 2012 @ 5:42am
Johnno said | June 13th 2012 @ 5:42am | Report comment
read this mace 22
http://www.irb.com/jwc/news/newsid=2062563.html#jwc+2012+day+three+reaction
And mace 22 you need more than 1 or 2 good players, you have 5 super 15 rugby squads to fill,.
That means 150 spots need filling and each year, with retirements, and players going overseas you need to fill 20-30 new spot each year in replenishment work.
June 13th 2012 @ 7:43am
kingplaymaker said | June 13th 2012 @ 7:43am | Report comment
Johnno someone on here posted a list of ex-Australian schoolboys who are now in the NRL and the list was long and monstrous, a very impressive array of talent and enough to make the Wallabies intimidating. There are four new Melbourne Rebels in the Wallabies squad now, after only two years (I exclude Beale and JOC). What would these players be doing without the Rebels? NRL or nothing, spinning out their days in obscure club rugby, their talents squandered. Add 90 more places in three locations and suddenly another 12 Wallaby players would appear within two years, and more soon after. Private owners and the money to bid for these young schoolboys. It’s so obvious, so easy, and so why are JON and the ARU terrified of doing it?
June 13th 2012 @ 8:12am
formeropenside said | June 13th 2012 @ 8:12am | Report comment
Pfft, if they went to league who needs them and who cares?
As to the Rebels, if they were good enough they would be picked up. Its the marginal players now being picked up who are the real beneficaries of the 5th (and 4th for that matter) team.
June 13th 2012 @ 10:45am
kingplaymaker said | June 13th 2012 @ 10:45am | Report comment
fos it doesn’t work exactly like that: a young player will take the first pro contract offered, and with so few squad places rugby can’t offer enough contracts to keep players.
June 13th 2012 @ 1:29pm
jeznez said | June 13th 2012 @ 1:29pm | Report comment
KPM – Union isn’t competing with League for the likes of Pyle and Neville – which is two of your four new Rebel Wallabies.
June 13th 2012 @ 12:29pm
mace 22 said | June 13th 2012 @ 12:29pm | Report comment
Johnno not all super 15 players will go through the junior rep team some players are quite not good enough at the moment. But some in the team at the moment, might not develope as fast and could be very good players in a couple of years time. Yes you probably need up to five players in each year to progress. This maybe a lean year. But every other year the talent has been there. So I don’t thnk you can judge the future quality of australian rugby on just a single year.
June 13th 2012 @ 6:08am
King of the Gorgonites said | June 13th 2012 @ 6:08am | Report comment
How did Connolly go at the recent Queensland election?
June 13th 2012 @ 5:02pm
formeropenside said | June 13th 2012 @ 5:02pm | Report comment
lost to a sunshine coast independent, more or less narrowly. The ALP candidate, if there was one, must have got 2-3 votes.
June 13th 2012 @ 7:58am
RedSkippy said | June 13th 2012 @ 7:58am | Report comment
Australian Rugby is in good shape when we take down the opponents we should and stand proud against the best with a better than even chance of victory. At the same time it means having franchises at the Super Rugby level that play to their potential affording selectors at the national level a talent pool of players and coaches of every description.
JO’N is dreaming if he thinks he can just tweak the benchmarks against which he measure the game and based on that suggest Australian Rugby is in good shape.
June 13th 2012 @ 8:13am
formeropenside said | June 13th 2012 @ 8:13am | Report comment
How long since we held the Bledisloe again JON? Or the RWC? Or dont those benchmarks count?
June 13th 2012 @ 8:31am
Benson said | June 13th 2012 @ 8:31am | Report comment
What happens at u/20 level doesn’t mean a thing. Wales for years were brilliant at schoolboy level and underage level but never transferred it to the senior level. Bangladesh are regular semi finalists at u/19 cricket competitions but have never transferred it to senior level. Just have a looked the u/19 team that Owais Shah captained to winning the the world cup. A team made up of future county cricket plodders and test cricketers with batting averages in the 30′s and bowling averages in the 40′s.
Junior competitions offer zero relevance to the future.
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June 13th 2012 @ 9:09am
Harry said | June 13th 2012 @ 9:09am | Report comment
Disagree, you get an excellent indication of how rugby nations are travelling with the underage teams.
June 13th 2012 @ 8:36am
Benson said | June 13th 2012 @ 8:36am | Report comment
I guarantee if we bring these French and Aussie sides together in 3 years Australia would win.
Underage sport means jack, just look out future tennis greats such ad Todd Reid. Mariano Zabaleta( who’s father by the way was a very good Argentinian rugby player) lost one match between the age of 12 to 18. He achieved a highest world ranking of 32.
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June 13th 2012 @ 11:35am
AndyS said | June 13th 2012 @ 11:35am | Report comment
Really – if we reassemble that French squad (all of whom will move into Top 14 and Heineken Cup) with that Australian squad, a few of which will get a Super Rugby berth while some others pick up League contracts and the left-overs go off to play semi-pro in the suburbs…?
June 13th 2012 @ 8:38am
Benson said | June 13th 2012 @ 8:38am | Report comment
Just have a look at how poor the future of NZ rugby is, they are at a real turning point in the state of their game. Their u/20 lost to Wales.
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June 13th 2012 @ 12:32pm
mace 22 said | June 13th 2012 @ 12:32pm | Report comment
Very good benson all doom and gloom
June 13th 2012 @ 2:28pm
JBees said | June 13th 2012 @ 2:28pm | Report comment
Yeah NZs future is all doom & gloom especially when I watch NZs current 1st XV comp – scary, full of talent, NZ 7s winners, U20s consistantly winners and onlly lost by 3 playing in Newcastle weather, I’m sure the Wallabies can relate. I think their rugby conveyor belt seems to have more & more on it – worrying times
June 13th 2012 @ 2:34pm
Richie McCaw said | June 13th 2012 @ 2:34pm | Report comment
Sarcasms a funny thing.
June 13th 2012 @ 8:42am
Blue Blood said | June 13th 2012 @ 8:42am | Report comment
O’Neill frustrates me to no end. He has slaughted club rugby in WA and left the Force to dwindle by the year. Where are the assessments of the new clubs to check that they are doing well not just surviving. The Force need recruitment concessions like the Rebels and they also need a decent slice of the community pie. $250k for the entire state for community development and pulled finding for the rugby academy is Oneill’s legacy and how he will be remembered here in WA. With very limited local playing stocks that are not being nurtured by the ARU, we then need to recruit people to the far isolated corner of the country. With no coach and no current starting 15 Wallabies signed for next year. But rugby in Australia is doing well is it? O’Neill you should not get to stay in your over paid role until the end of 2013. You should be matched out with nothing but your name plate from your door.
June 13th 2012 @ 9:13am
Harry said | June 13th 2012 @ 9:13am | Report comment
For the good of Australian rugby I hope O’Neill becomes Chairman of Echo asap and picks up other corporate gigs/directorship so he gets out of the ARU forever. He has done the square root of FA in truly developing the game in Australia – axed a provincial comp and country championship, I can’t see anything thats in its place.
June 13th 2012 @ 9:27am
Wilson said | June 13th 2012 @ 9:27am | Report comment
BB you are singing my song. O’Neill is deluded and thinks if he keeps saying it in the press that it will be considered truth. No-one in WA belives you mate. The boys club at the ARU is an international embarrassment. I fear the Force will fold if they don’t do something drastic to give it a hand in a heavily AFL state.
June 13th 2012 @ 9:01am
Shungmao said | June 13th 2012 @ 9:01am | Report comment
P.tah spot on, the youngest team by a mile! And 18 years old become physically very different as a 19 & 20 year olds