After the 2007 Rugby World Cup, there was the inevitable fallout following the disastrous quarter-final exit by the All Blacks.
Many New Zealand rugby fans demanded a new coach and most expected that Graham Henry would either stand down or be sacked.
Much to the stunned surprise of many, Henry re-applied for the position and so began a long drawn out process that divided opinion among the New Zealand rugby public.
I, for one, was a Henry fan, and while I was absolutely gutted at the World Cup exit, I had seen enough in the preceding four years to see that the All Blacks were on the right track.
And despite the ’07 Cup, we were still considered the best side in the world – a winning percentage of over 80 percent saw Graham Henry regarded as one of the All Blacks most ‘winningest’ coaches.
Plus, I had seen the farce surrounding his predecessor in John Mitchell, who compiled a similarly successful record in his short tenure after being thrown the job in 2002. A semi-final exit at a World Cup, and he too was gone by lunchtime.
I had also seen how England had handled their quarter-final exit at the 1999 World Cup. They retained their coach, Clive Woodward, and the rest is history.
Standing opposite Henry was Robbie Deans, the popular and very successful Canterbury and Crusaders coach,who had forged an impressive coaching record for himself, and one that many believed should give him the top All Blacks job by rights.
Deans was a good man, and deserving of consideration. But further examination of his coaching credentials shows a rather different picture than the rosy one the media prefers to show.
Appointed Canterbury coach in 1997, Deans immediately gained success, winning that year’s NPC title. Yet in the next three seasons he came up empty-handed.
A far cry from current coach Rob Penney’s record of four successive NPC titles. While Canterbury again made the final in 2000, they lost to Wellington, though they did end up with the Ranfurly Shield.
Deans was appointed the Crusaders coach in 2000, succeeding Wayne Smith who stepped in to the All Blacks role.
What Wayne Smith had done for the Crusaders has gone largely unnoticed, as he took over a side that finished dead last in the inaugural Super 12 competition in 1996, and turned them in to Champions just two years later, scoring a double with them the following year, and along the way installing the systems and the structure that would make them the most successful Super rugby team in history.
This series of sytems would ensure that future coaches, players and management would have a clear blueprint of success to work from.
Robbie Deans became the first benefactor of that in 2000, when he took over from Smith, and capped a hat-trick of Super rugby titles. Todd Blackadder has continued the fine tradition, reaching successive semi-finals and this season’s final.
Yet in 2001, Deans’ second season in charge, the Crusaders slumped to 10th.
In 2002, Deans was appointed assistant coach of the All Blacks alongside head coach John Mitchell. What has also since gone unnoticed in the wash-up of the 2003 World Cup was the role that Deans had in the playing of Leon McDonald at centre during that campaign and the controversy surrounding the non-selection of a fit Tana Umaga.
While John Mitchell was left to face the wrath of the New Zealand media and public, Robbie Deans got off scot-free and untarnished.
So when November 2007 rolled around, the country was still in the depths of post World Cup grief, and Deans was seen as our saviour, the man who would lead us to the promised land, as his coaching record spoke for itself.
And yet…one NPC title in four attempts. One Ranfurly Shield win in 2000. Five Super Rugby titles in nine seasons. Losing World Cup semi- finalist.
Hardly inspiring stuff, considering the Crusader legacy started by Wayne Smith, continued by Deans and later Blackadder.
When Graham Henry was reappointed as All Blacks coach in December 2007, all hell broke loose. There were the idiots who pledged to never support the All Blacks again and to proudly wear the yellow of Australia instead.
The lunatics who spat the dummy, simply because ‘their’ man didn’t get the coaching role they felt he deserved.
When Australia came calling,and Robbie became ‘Dingo’ Deans, then a new brand of New Zealander emerged. Those that supported the Wallabies.
So across the ditch went Deans, to become the enemy, amid a chorus of resentment from many Australians. Robbie Deans was simply ‘un-Australian’ and how on earth could he gain the respect of the Wallaby dressing room?
Well, he earned the respect and adulation of all the Australian rugby public after four successive victories. First there was Ireland, France and South Africa. Then the Wallabies fronted up in a hugely anticipated Tri-Nations showdown with the All Blacks, and belted out a super-impressive 34-19 win.
Dingo Deans was The Man.
Yet, how the mighty fall.
The next Ten tests in a row were lost to the Men in Black, and Graham Henry. In the seven years before Deans, the Wallabies had won seven times and lost 11 against the old foe.
In between times have seen Australia lose to Wales in 2008, Scotland in 2009, England (in Australia) in 2010,and Samoa in 2011, while producing the Jekyll-and-Hyde performances usually reserved for club Colts sides, not internationals.
His 56 percent winning record is below that of all four of his predecessors – John Connelly (64 percent), Eddie Jones (57 percent), Rod MacQueen (79 percent), and Greg Smith (63 percent).
And the coup de grace may well be the 15-6 loss that the Irish inflicted last Saturday night at Rugby World Cup 2011.
Australian rugby is a fearsome enemy. One that should always be respected. They are World Champions twice over and have produced some of the greats of the game.
So why the Australian Rugby Union would employ a New Zealander with a dubious coaching record to coach the Wallabies is beyond me. The results so far show a total lack of foresight.
Foresight that the New Zealand Rugby Union had, thankfully.
No comfort for the New Zealanders who rushed out to buy Wallaby jerseys in support of their boy.
Jonny Boy Jnr
Guest
'overrated' you say ??!! I'd much rather take Buffalo Bill as a flat mate than let this joker destroy the local rugby team
stillmatic1
Guest
paul, what is graham henry's winning percentage again? you cant claim the 14 year old tenure line and then erase his results in those years down to a loss in a WC!! nobody gets paid solely and only to win the WC. the job has to be done week in, week out and on this accord, anyway you want to twist it, henry is streets ahead of deans.
Paul from Melbourne
Guest
Whether Deans is overrated or not. It is far too early to say Henry on the other hand, has been a head coach of a national team since 1998. Now that is 14 years. If he wasn't sacked in 2002/2003, he would have been to 4 world cups. There is no doubt that he has more experience in world cup tournaments than anyone else. Interestingly, the best result he has achieved so far is just getting past the pool stage and in 2007 he had the best team in the world at his disposal. In 1999, he didn't even make it past pool stage before he was sent home by the Samoans. If All Blacks wins this world cup, we would never know how much of that is due to his coaching, and how much of that is due to the home ground advantage. I would say home ground advantage would be the overwhelming factor. Because after 14 years, he still chooses players that he can't use and after 14 years, he is still experimenting with his team during the world cup. He might have a lot of respect from Richie and the team, he might even be a good test match coach. But He is definitely below par as a world cup coach, considering what he has been given to work with. If we want to compare apples with apples. We need to wait until Deans has 14 years behind him as a head coach to make the same conclusion. If Wallabies get to the semi, then Deans would have done better than Henry as a first term coach. Remember, the Walsh was sent packing at the end of the pool stage.
Justin
Guest
The coach picks the players ;)
sixo_clock
Roar Guru
It sounds like a broken record to repeat 'Rugby coaches do not win or lose games, the captain and his players do all that is necessary to record the final result'. That is even more patently true at test level. If Deans is guilty of anything it is in the pre-game preparation. But doesn't anybody else find it somewhat ludicrous that you can throw all kinds of money at the players, invest in state of the art training facilities and programmes and then they run out onto the pitch and perform dreadfully. If the best youngsters a national sport can attract, train and promote are fragile mentally, fox each other in games and lose then that is the essential problem. Selection should be based on their ability to play hard, determined, balanced and thoughtful Rugby. If the coach has any duty to the players it is to make them the authors of their own careers. When the players have no-one else to take the blame then we can expect more consistent results because they will then insist that everyone does their part when it counts, on the playing field. Blaming coaches, nah. However I think that sides from Oz will benefit with a solid mentoring programme. We need to have each player attached to some old hard-heads to whom they can discuss and analyse their performances outside the team, someone they look up to and respect.
dc
Guest
this is the team (approx) that Robbie Deans has to get the intensity up for...in the quarters... South Africa: 15 Pat Lambie, 14 Gio Aplon, 13 Jaque Fourie, 12 Frans Steyn, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Morné Steyn, 9 Francois Hougaard, 8 Pierre Spies, 7 Schalk Burger, 6 Willem Alberts, 5 Danie Rossouw, 4 Bakkies Botha, 3 CJ van der Linde, 2 John Smit (captain), Gurthro Steenkamp. can some one please write a column re the tactics the Wallabies should deploy? And then how should the All Blacks, (if they earn the right to play in the SF), prep to play the Boks...(or Australia?) ..
mother teresa
Guest
STORMERS ERASMUS,similar to nz wayne smith ;hasnt achieved anything but talks a good game. mckenzie should be promoted soon but you could be on to something,everything else from head coach to kickiing coach is given to overseas coaches/cosultants without results(useless actually) soccer needed oneills coaching intervention ;rugby had won 2 rwcs and beaten deans in 2003 with mckenzie as asst wallaby coach,so why go off shore for deans?
rae1
Guest
Could Deans be too busy trying to prove to the NZRFU how wrong they were in not choosing him rather than focussing on the team culture?Richie McCaw was asked to give his opinion during that selection process and surprise,surprise Henry was chosen.Would be interesting to know what he had to contribute Mmmmmmm!
johnny-boy
Guest
Reading Ewen McKenzie's article on the SMH this morning nearly made me weep. A coach with a plan compared to Deans who appears to just encourage his players to do whatever feels OK, Arrrggghhhh. Wrong country, wrong culture dude !
LionCity
Guest
If Deans is such a good coach, New Zealand would have won the World Cup in 2003 when Deans was assistant coach to John Mitchell. The fact that NZ didnt shows that Deans is nothing special. Australia is on the way to meeting South Africa in the quarter-finals after beating that team twice in the Tri-Nations. Many have stated, since they done it twice this year, it is no problem doing it again. I dont take that view. Given the proud nature of South African rugby I dont see how the Boks would allow themselves to be beaten three times in a row by the Wallabies especially in a World Cup tournament. Even if Australia wins they will be so battled and bruised, they would be unable to give an adequate account of themselves against the All-Blacks in the semi-finals. I see Australia's elimination at the quarter finals as a absolute certainty.
Sylvester
Guest
"The Crusaders systems and structures have been in place since Wayne Smith.That is common knowledge." "systems" can't continue without good coaching to back them up. What happened to the "systems" at the Blues after they were untouchable in the first two seasons? Then, you compare Deans' NPC results to Penney's. If anyone's benefitted from Canterbury's "systems" it's Penney. The depth in the province has never been greater during his time in charge. If you'd done any proper analysis, you'd find that in the mid to late 90s Canterbury had nowhere near the provincial strength compared to the likes of Auckland.
Nicksa
Guest
Very very Harsh!! Deans is a fantastic coach, u cant really say that no credit was due to him for making the crusaders the most succesful club rugby team in the world! He has created a quality wallaby team that hasnt been seen for many years! remember wallabies just won the tri nations after 10 years. I never thought this wallaby team could win this world cup unless they got a super easy draw were they would not have to face the all blacks. This wallaby team has NO CHANCE against the all blacks at home. They are not the finished product yet and i believe in a couple of years time they will be 1 hell of a team. Deans is a great coach! make no mistake.
taylorbridge
Guest
Ewen McKenzie
taylorbridge
Guest
Differences between winning and losing is small. Deans has the following characteristics that fail to create that extra point of difference that is needed. He fails to use the bench effectively and regularly substitutes with less than 10 minutes to go. You will recall how in RSA in the high veld the year before last ( 2009) he left players on who were making errors due to exhaustion and leaving the bench underutilised. Ditto v Ireland last week. He is very loyal , to the detriment of the team as a whole, eg persevering with Rocky Elsom who I believe has collapsed as a threat to opposition. He allows players to do their own thing when team tactics are thrown out the window evidenced by lack of phase build up v Ireland. Lineout throwing is an art still not mastered and shows little variety. Goalkicking does not have a specialist coach such as Ben Perkins. His selection of only 1 open side flanker. Pocock has had the last 2 seasons fractured with injury and by not selecting Hodgson, Gill or Robinson is simply foolish.
mother teresa
Guest
RECKON QUADE WILL HIT AND" MISS" go to league pity
mother teresa
Guest
BETTER STILL THE 3STOOGES SHOULD COACH BRUMBIES;WHAT WITH THEIR RECORD WITH BRUMBIE PLAYERS ITS BOUND TO TURN THEM AROUND
mother teresa
Guest
NUMBER 2 IN WORLD I SUPPOSE THEYLL WIN
mother teresa
Guest
justin,agree with you;structure follows strategy in planning. and deans goall is to win the rwc. IN 2011 ITS NOT A WEIGHT FOR AGE RACE IS IT?
mother teresa
Guest
OJ.WHICH OF THE 3 minstrels in this disparate group would you put forward.just like gillard ,there is no one on contract to take over so 50 percenta remains "for the good of australia"
The Way It Is
Guest
The guy is not Australian and I believe a national should be coaching their national team. It's a simple logic but that's the way it should be