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There is no doubt that Ewen McKenzie is embarking on a calculated campaign to become the next Wallaby coach. Whether this is sooner, as in next year, or later in 2016 remains to be seen.
The consensus among rugby writers around the world is that the job of being head coach is his if he wants it. But there is a crucial matter of timing involved in all of this.
In June, an Ireland development side tours the USA with Les Kiss, the former rugby league winger, as the coach.
McKenzie has said he has not been in contact either with Kiss or the Ireland Rugby Football Union.
There remains the question of how long the IRFU will delay naming a new head coach with the November Tests coming against several southern hemisphere sides. They may be prepared to wait until after the Wallaby – British and Irish Lions series.
If the Wallabies win, as All Blacks coach Steve Hansen thinks they will, then McKenzie’s chances of coaching the Wallabies in the near future look dim.
But if the series is lost, then it is game on for him.
In this situation he may well decided to take his chances at the end of the year when the Wallaby coach to take the team into the 2015 Rugby World Cup tournament will be picked.
Meanwhile, he is doing a good job in talking himself up as a coach who knows how to defeat New Zealand sides.
And to hammer home this point, the Reds had a terrificly impressive victory over the Chiefs, the best team in New Zealand right now, at Hamilton. It is the fourth time in succession that the Reds have defeated the Chiefs at Hamilton.
McKenzie has been talking openly of his prospects and possibilities as the Wallaby coach to the Sydney Morning Herald’s Paul Cully.
McKenzie writes a column for the SMH and this, presumably, requires him to give that paper the benefit of his thoughts on his ambitions for himself and for the Wallabies, should he get to coach them.
In the first of two interviews, McKenzie insisted that he had an extremely good record of defeating New Zealand teams, including the All Blacks, as a player and as a coach.
As a player he was a front row pillar in the Rugby World Cup 1991 triumph under the coaching of Bob Dwyer.
As an assistant coach, he was part of the Rugby World Cup 1999 triumph with coach Rod Macqueen.
Now with the Reds as the head coach, he has won a Super Rugby title in 2011 when his team defeated the Crusaders in the final.
And on Sunday, in the Sun-Herald, McKenzie went on the attack defending Quade Cooper. He knocked what he called the ‘national obsession’ with Cooper not playing in the front line on defence as “just dumb.”
Well, the person most responsible with this national obsession about Cooper dropping back to fullback and sometimes wing in defensive situations is the current Wallaby coach, Robbie Deans.
So McKenzie is calling Deans (by implication, admittedly, and not by name) ‘just dumb.’
This is a big call given Deans’ record as a coach.
Cully made the point that McKenzie’s comments will reverberate in reinvigorating the debate over Cooper being left out of the 30-man squad that met in Sydney over the weekend to start preparations for the Lions tour which starts in June.
McKenzie could not have been more complimentary about Cooper saying, ‘I’ve got a lot of time for him.’
He praised his interaction with the fans. And his attitude, on and off the field: “He takes great pride in taking the game plan and making it happen. And he does a pretty good job of it because we change it every week.”
The article was written before the Reds played the Chiefs. And as David Lord pointed out in The Roar on Sunday, Cooper had a first-half to forget.
He knocked-on and was stripped of the ball going for an offload, and missed touch with a penalty punt.
But in the second half he got his act together and calmly guided the Reds to an impressive victory. His kicking out of hand was excellent and he showed how dangerous he can be when he runs by going past Aaron Cruden to score a try.
I’ve mentioned earlier in this season in The Roar that I prefer Cooper’s play at fly half when he underplays his game. And this is what he did in the second half against the Chiefs.
But is this enough to get him reinstated into the Wallabies when the real squad is announced?
We will have to wait until at least the end of next weekend, after the Reds – Brumbies match for a possible answer to this question. But I have my doubts.
And the reason for this is that the Wallabies camp squad seems to me, at least, to be the list of players that Deans is really looking at for his Test squad.
The list was not announced in alphabetical order as it might have been in a sort of trial squad. It was announced with the clear point of stating where the players might be playing.
It started with Jess Mogg at fullback (presuming, I suppose, that Kurtley Beale might not be ready for Test, as George Gregan suggests, by June).
Then it works through the wings, centres, halves and so on into the forwards. Only two number 8s, Wycliff Palu and Fotu Auelua, are listed.
Henry Speight, who played so splendidly against the Highlanders, dominating Hosea Gear, will be eligible following the end of the Super Rugby season. Justin Marshall has said he is the best winger in Australian rugby, while The Roar’s own Clyde Rathbone says he should be rushed into the side as soon as possible.
Only two halfbacks are listed, Will Genia (who was masterful against the Chiefs, just the best halfback in world rugby and destined to be a Wallaby all-time great) and the feisty Nic White who was very good against the Highlanders.
Berrick Barnes and James O’Connor are the listed fly halfs, with Christian Lealiifano as either a flyhalf or inside centre possibility.
The way O’Connor played against the Kings, even though the Rebels lost, suggests to me that he is likely to be the starting flyhalf.
There were some muffed passes but O’Connor got the ball to his centres efficiently, kicked shrewdly and made his tackles.
There are 11 Brumbies in the initial squad 10 Waratahs, seven Reds and two Rebels. Digby Ioane is in the list so behaviour off the field is not being held against specific players it seems.
In a way, the reduced number of Reds’ players is a roundabout compliment to McKenzie for producing a side with (possibly) limited real Test players compared with the Brumbies and Waratahs.
Presumably, though, if the Reds continue to play as they did on Saturday, more of their players will come under consideration.
The captain will probably be James Horwill, who was formidable in the tight and loose against the Chiefs, making charges that couldn’t be stopped, winning crucial lineouts and making a vital tackle to save a try in the corner.
The vice-captain is likely to be Will Genia. So what the Reds lack in quantity they make up in quality, with Liam Gill the pick of the number 7s in my opinion.
One further point about the 2013 Super Rugby tournament is that the Australian sides are beating the New Zealand sides with 3 – 0 last weekend, with the Force deservedly beating the Crusaders at Perth.
With this, and the two top teams in the tournament in terms of points being the Brumbies and the Reds, all talk of the Australian Conference being the weakest of the three should now stop.
The fact of the matter is that the Super Rugby tournament, especially this season, features teams that can all defeat any other side, given the bounce of the ball and so on.
All this, of course, is great preparation for the Wallabies going into the series with the Lions, with or without Cooper.