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Last year, Australia’s rugby fathers banished the outlander Robbie ‘Dingo’ Deans. As his replacement, they chose favourite son Ewen ‘Link’ McKenzie over brash South African Jake White, to wide acclaim.
Link brought the whole package. A great relationship with rugby media and liked by the scribes and pundits.
An old prop – he wasn’t a fancy pants member of Generation Y. He had claimed 51 Test caps and a World Cup. He had a square face and was tactically astute.
An attack-minded coach with a record of success at Super Rugby level.
Even his first three losses – to New Zealand by 18 and 11, and then by 26 to South Africa – were not seen as negative. He was trying. He was giving it a go.
He was affable in press conferences and plain-spoken. By going with Matt Toomua over Quade Cooper at flyhalf, he seemed to signal he was going old school. Let’s make our tackles. No craziness.
He won his first Test against the Pumas by a point, after not scoring in the second half at all.
Some might have thought that this was not a good start. But it seemed like he was a charmed man. There was no real critique for making a Test rookie his captain, and even dropping one of the Wallabies’ only world-class players, Will Genia, in favour of a journeyman, Nic White.
A real hiding (54-17) to Argentina seemed to right the Australia ship, but then a dismal effort (8-28) in Cape Town, followed by another loss to the All Blacks and then to England, meant that Link had started out with a 2-6 tenure.
He never was able to win much against another top-four team, winning one of eleven. He did string together a seven-game winning streak before a draw against the All Blacks in Sydney.
He continued to tinker with his playmakers. Kurtley Beale, his strange bedfellow, took a turn at the pivot and then made vile texts about Link’s business manager.
There were other players who were chafed by Link’s authoritarian ways. The ridding of James O’Connor, the Irish drinking saga, the oranges on the field even during big losses like the one at Newlands in 2013 and the 20-51 smashing by New Zealand were clear examples.
Generation Y lives on smart phones and spew all manner of communication constantly. I am sure these boys send much worse to each other than what has been reported.
But Link was facing troubles on the field as well as the locker room. The loss to New Zealand was profound. It was a personal loss for Link. His team laid down. They quit and hung their heads. And the floodgates opened at Newlands again. The loss exposed all manner of personal demons, en route to Argentina, where Link could not muster a win.
Link is my age. I wonder what he will do next. Perhaps he was not ready for the big stage? I wish him the best. He will fix what he needs to fix outside of the media glare.
Was it his fault? Or maybe a culture shift is just too large a job for anyone. How do we bridge the generational gap and impart old values to young men? Hopefully Michael Cheika knows.
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.