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I’m going to cop a lot of flack, but I can say I am a Robbie Deans fan, loud and proud. Dingo or Aussie Bob as we regard him is in his sixth year as our international coach, and the first foreigner to guide the Wallabies.
A man of very few words, he boasts a fantastic rugby CV. A decorated All Black, numerous Super Rugby titles with the Crusaders and assistant coach of the All Blacks under John Mitchell.
With many Australian fans calling for his head, it seems that this coming Lions Test may be the make or break for Dingo Deans.
The strong candidate and the fans’ favourite to replace Deans has to be Ewen McKenzie.
Ewen also boasts a strong rugby CV. A decorated Wallaby prop, who had stints with both NSW Waratahs and ACT Brumbies.
His coaching career has seen him as an assistant coach of the Wallabies before taking the roles of head coach at NSW Waratahs, a brief stint with Stade Francais and then settling down with the Reds and winning the 2011 Super Rugby title.
I respect and appreciate what Ewen has done with the Queensland Reds as a team and to Queensland Rugby as a culture. Rebuilding the team and attracting Australia’s largest membership / fan-base, due to the fast running rugby style he established in the sunshine state.
The downfall I see with Ewen is that Super Rugby is a totally different concept to Test rugby. Ewen, in my opinion seems a tad too one dimensional in the way he coaches the game.
His game play looks amazing, but sometime we will need to slowly grind away wins, especially when we face the European teams in tragic weather conditions.
We all love to mock the coach when we lose, and I think Deans has really copped it. But to be fair, he has never had a fully fit team, and his own downfall is that he is sometimes very stubborn with his selections.
Only one specialist No.7 taken to Rugby World Cup 2011, very weird! Giteau, according to the murmur mill, was poisoning the team, hence why he stayed in Oz.
Deans has changed and accomplished a lot in his six years at the helm of Australian rugby. He adopted a Wallaby team that was in tatters after a dreadful 2007 Rugby World Cup and introduced a ‘no-one is safe’ policy as well as many other strong core values.
Deans blooded the likes of Genia, O’Connor, Cooper, Hooper, etc. He helped Beale rediscover his world class talent with a positional change to fullback, and has also been a major mentor in Beale’s latest off field dramas, as well as many others.
Under his reign we have finally won the Tri Nations after a decade wait, beaten the Boks for the first time in 47 years at the Highveldt and climbed the ranks from sixth to second in world rugby.
His many losses came from the All Blacks, who look to be a once in a lifetime team, and will go down in the history books with a legendary status.
This Lions series will be brutal, a war of attrition, but finally Deans is treated to a selection headache. Let’s give him a chance to reward us with a series win since he finally has a playing roster full of depth.
If we lose the series, goodbye Dingo and hello McKenzie. But I am more than happy to ride with Dingo until the 2013 Rugby World Cup and let McKenzie gain more international experience.
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.