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Australian Wallabies Coach Robbie Deans, center, talks to players Matt Giteau, left, and Stirling Mortlock during the captain's run at Eden Park in Auckland, New Zealand, Friday, Aug. 1, 2008. Australia will play against New Zealand on Saturday. AP Photo/NZPA, Wayne Drought
Many posts have dealt with the way Australia dogged it last Saturday. I won’t repeat them. Suffice to say that, since 2001, we have been consistently beaten by New Zealand.
For the last few days, my sense of betrayal has turned to thoughts of why this is happening and I have a theory. It may not be a popular one.
And I don’t think it is a sole determining cause of our problem, but it is a contributing one in my view.
My theory is that too many people involved with the Wallabies believe the Kiwis are better than us. The New Zealand influence within our team is too great.
Look at our jersey. The Canterbury Clothing Company makes it. Its emblem is a combination of CCC and three Kiwi heads.
What on earth have we got a New Zealand emblem on our national jersey for?
Look at our coach. He is a New Zealander.
He strikes me as a particularly decent bloke – intelligent, articulate and knowledgeable. But he was an All Black. As a player, he believed in the invincibility of the All Blacks.
He was passionate about them.
It is a simple matter of human nature that he is not going to have the passion for the Wallabies that the likes of Connolly, Dwyer and McQueen had, or that Deans had for New Zealand.
Look at our players.
Pek Cowan lived in New Zealand until he was 13. He was entitled, because of his Maori heritage, to perform the Haka in response to it.
Dean Munn’s grandfather was an All Black. Quade Cooper was born and raised in the Waikato, until his teens.
James O’Connor readily admits he wanted to be an All Black when he was a kid.
James Pocock is a Zimbabwean who wanted to be a Bok and, of course, he was raised in the tradition that the real rugby powers in the world were New Zealand and South Africa.
For all of those blokes I have little doubt that they are proud to be Australian and represent their country.
I also have little doubt that, deep inside, they think the All Blacks are superior to us.
It would seem obvious from this season’s performance that the rest of the team suffer from the same inferiority complex.
By all of this I mean no disrespect to Deans, or the players I have mentioned. Nor do I suggest that all things Kiwi should be shunned by us.
Far from it.
I have great respect for the way New Zealand play the game, their history and heritage. But at the moment, they have us beaten before we step on to the paddock.
Something needs to be done to change the Wallaby mindset. For all his strengths, I don’t see Deans as the man to do it.
Perhaps the first thing we do is get rid of the Kiwis on the jersey.
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.