During the rapid rise of the Wallabies over the last couple of weeks, a lot has been made of Robbie Deans’ mantra, “play what’s in front of you.” Deans’ stamp is all over this team, with some commentators swearing that the Crusaders have simply traded in their old jerseys for fresh gold ones.
But are there other factors behind the recent rise of Australian rugby that are being overlooked?
With the aid of a little hindsight, this year’s Super 14 season provides an interesting lead in to the Wallabies sudden turn around.
Take, for example, the change in form of the Waratahs that followed the announcement of coach Ewen McKenzie’s termination.
Was this a case of the Waratahs players getting behind their sacked coach, or was it that they took a bit more control of their own destiny on the field?
If it was the latter, and the players chose to reject his constrictive tactics and back their instincts more, then it is worth noting how neatly this mentality fits in with Deans’ approach to the game.
Given that the New South Wales team currently provides the bulk of the national team, it may be that the momentum of this change of attitude carried strongly into the Wallaby squad.
Quite the boon for a new coach?
Of course, this is nowhere near the full story.
Deans appears to have not only harnessed but built upon this wave of player power much like Jake White took the momentum of the South African Super 14 teams last year and used it to propel the Springboks to World Cup success.
But the stories of all of Australia’s Super rugby teams have not dovetailed so nicely with the plans of the national team’s new coach
The passing of the Brumbies’ Generation X has not completely ended the days of Rod MacQueen’s phase rugby – the controlled and sometimes predictable game that had turned into the antithesis of Deans’ “have a go” aspirations.
In the West, off-field dramas taunted the Force and the club seemed to be somewhat at odds with Deans’ demands upon player behaviour and responsibility.
Things were better, however, in the North where the vastly improved performances of the Queensland Reds were a vindication of the appointment of their new coach, Phil Mooney.
The Reds went from being the most boring team in the competition to one of its more adventurous, though sadly, not yet successful, in the space of a season.
It was as if Mooney had let a bunch of school-kids out of detention, given them a ball and told them to go and enjoy themselves.
Of the Wallabies’ most applauded players at the start of this international season, Queenslanders Berrick Barnes, James Horwill and Peter Hynes all owe a lot to Mooney’s coaching.
Barnes probably would have been a star this season without Mooney. However, there is something in his comfortable and laconic demeanour that seems to excel within his coach’s expansive game plans.
The decision to give the Reds’ captaincy to Horwill may yet prove to be one of the most inspired in Queensland rugby history as it has turned something of a reckless rogue into a “follow me” leader with a good decade of top level rugby ahead of him.
Horwill’s aggressive leadership harkens back to the grand old days of Reds rugby.
Back then the team was built around a no-nonsense pack of cantankerous hard men. The idea of Horwill packing down amongst Sam Scott-Young, Garrick Morgan, Tony Shaw or Troy Coker seems about right.
The greatest recipient of Mooney’s approach, though, has to be Peter Hynes.
For so long a bloke who struggled in a team that struggled, Hynes found something in Mooney’s approach that made sense to him. Something that Mooney’s predecessor, Eddie Jones, could never provide.
Whatever it was, Hynes now seems to have found that same something in the approach of Deans and in doing so he has leap-frogged countless other wingers to thoroughly deserve his selection in the Australian fifteen.
There have been plenty of players who shined brightly as youngsters but then faded under the scrutiny of maturity, but has there ever been a pot that sat for so long before reaching the boil?
As Hynes struggled for Queensland, so too did Al Baxter, Lote Tuqiri and Nathan Sharpe struggle for Australia.
The Wallabies recent rise is Hynes’ rise writ large and in no other player can both the Reds 2008 Super 14 season and the start of Deans’ tenure as Wallabies coach be so clearly defined.
He is Mooney’s ever-ready adventurer and Deans’ everyman hero. The perfect expression of each coach’s vision for how rugby should be played.
Despite their obvious differences in experience levels, it would seem that there exists enough similarities in the coaching styles and philosophies of Mooney and Deans to excite both Queensland and Australian rugby fans.
As history has shown, national teams perform best when their provincial teams’ philosophies are closely aligned to those of the national coach.
Hazy
Guest
eye gouging. If you do that in the street you would go to jail. Why doesn't Robbie start this off and state that if any Australian rugby player, including current Wallabies are seen clearly to be 'eye gouging', then they will never play for the Wallabies again. If he states it, lets see who follows..
Gordo
Guest
The short answer is yes. Yes he is. It isn't a fluke that the Crusaders win regularly and win the big games. Dingo has brought his winning ways to the Wallabies, I suspect they'd follow him everywhere he went. A much harder question is - will Dingo's Wallaby winning percentage still be 100% come Saturday night, or will it drop down to 83%?
Sluggy
Guest
"The wallaby backline lined up behind a scrum once in a neat line and then swung out one way as the ball came out. It didn’t work at the time, but jeez it was an interesting idea I thought." 'Gradient Zero' - a move used on occasion by lower grade teams in the 80's for a bit of a lark. It was ballsy for him to use it at international level though.
Peter K
Guest
MacQueen ushered in clever moves, backed by constantly recycling the ball. MacQueen saw that under those laws strong defence and ruck ball would win. He had a record 78% success rate. MacQueen was evolutionary not predictable. Enter steddie eddie. Steddie Eddie never improved the game plan or evolved it, of course playing the same as MacQueen ended 8 years before is predictable. I notice MacQueen constantly evolved the patterns etc. MacQueen was a very good people person like Deans. He trusted and relied on this he worked with steddie eddie the ex-teacher was a control freak. His way or the highway. I see a lot more similarities between Deans and MacQueen than MacQueen and Jones.
hoy
Guest
I think it is a bit harsh to attack MacQueens record and say he coached a predictable style of game. He won everything there was to win. He had every bit of silverware there was available at the time in the wallabies cupboard. I remember watching when he coached and in three consecutive tests, the wallabies used the same move with a slight variation in each test, and a try resulted in each test. Remember back to the late 90's when he took over, the style was set pieces and set plays, but I hardly think MacQueen was predictable in the way he had his players use the set pieces. The wallaby backline lined up behind a scrum once in a neat line and then swung out one way as the ball came out. It didn't work at the time, but jeez it was an interesting idea I thought. Post Rod MacQueen, Eddie promptly lost everything we had in our cupboard within about 6 months, losing all but one game in a Northern Hemisphere tour. I don't know how he managed to do it, but Eddie set the Wallabies back and he definitely set the Reds back when he took over there too. And it amazes me when he was giving the Wallabies a serve at the World Cup about how shite they were. It was all his doing!!!
Worlds Biggest
Guest
Well put Garth, I think the Reds have some good times ahead with Mooney in charge. Interesting stat with the Wallaby 22 man squad last weekend featured the following split, 10 Waratahs 6 Reds 4 Force 2 Brumbies Obviosuly the Tahs were always going to get the lions share but then the Reds had the next best. This shows that Mooney has them on the right track and Dingo agrees. As for the Brumbies providing the least Wallabies, swings and roundabouts.
sheek
Guest
Great article Garth. Although Deans approach is a universal one too often ignored by people obsessed with ego, power, whatever. We're all part of a team, be it boyfriend-girlfriend, marriage, work, sport, whatever. The key is always everyone working towards the greater common good. It all sounds so simple, but how many of us actually practice it? But you're right - events this year have happily conspired to dovetail provincial attitudes with those of the national coach.