- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
Wallabies coach Robbie Deans hailed four of the rising stars from his hothouse of emerging talent, believing Australia was on the right track for next year’s rugby World Cup.
Deans and several of his squad returned to Australia on Tuesday following a northern hemisphere spring tour which yielded five wins and two losses.
Their only loss in five Tests was against England, while a record breaking 59-16 win over Six Nations champion France in Paris climaxed a tour which also included a drought-breaking victory over New Zealand and conquests of Wales and Italy.
The cagey Kiwi wasn’t making any bold statements about Australia’s World Cup prospects in New Zealand next year.
Asked if the Wallabies were heading in the right direction, Deans succinctly replied: “Yes, we are.”
He said Australia had achieved his aim of progression on a gruelling tour which had provided logistical and travelling challenges in addition to those on the field.
World No.2 ranked Australia finished a hectic 2010 Test schedule with a 9-6 win-loss record.
The Wallabies beat each of the other top six ranked nations at least once, though they lost twice to England and thrice to New Zealand.
A typically pragmatic Deans dismissed the significance of those wins over Australia’s major World Cup rivals as “just good background, it’s no meaning in terms of the (World Cup) year.”
First caps on tour to back Pat McCabe and forward Scott Higginbotham swelled to 12 the tally of players Deans blooded this year.
While usually reluctant to single players out for special praise, Deans said skipper and flanker Rocky Elsom had grown with every game and mentioned the quartet of prop James Slipper, 21, winger James O’Connor, 20, openside flanker David Pocock, 22 and fullback Kurtley Beale, 21.
“Two of them have been nominated for the IRB Player of The Year in Pocock and Beale that’s essentially in their first full (Test) season,” Deans said.
“Likewise, James O’Connor on the weekend stepped up and took over the goalkicking duties and carried the ball and defended with a real purpose far beyond his 20 years.
“Another bloke who has just responded to everything that’s been put on him is James Slipper, so we’ve got a group that’s emerging.”
Australia have found it notoriously difficult to win crunch matches away to other leading nations, but Deans noted an improvement in that area.
“Playing away and winning away is a habit that we are starting to get better in, in terms of Africa and places like Stade de France and Millennium (Stadium),” Deans said.
He was hoping Australia’s greater player depth would be reflected in successful Super campaign.
No local team has won the tournament since the Brumbies in 2004 with NSW the sole Australian finals standard bearer in the intervening years.
Deans acknowledged New Zealand’s effort in completing another successful grand slam tour of the United Kingdom and admitted to being impressed with their emerging centre and rugby league convert Sonny Bill Williams.
“His biggest impact is that it changes their game slightly. There’s a long way to go for him, Super Rugby and then Tri-Nations. That will be his ultimate barometer,” Deans said.
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.