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Fresh off a heartbreaking series loss to the British and Irish Lions on Saturday night, Wallabies coach Robbie Deans has had his contract terminated with Australian Rugby Union, with premiership-winning Queensland Reds coach Ewen McKenzie to replace him.
The move comes as Deans’ side was thrashed at the hands of the Lions, after two tight tussles earlier in the series.
For many, the news could not come soon enough.
Deans had long been talked about as the man most likely to deliver Australian rugby back into the golden lands of World Cup success, but had failed to deliver any substance to those claims.
Australia had won just 58 percent of their 74 Tests since he had taken over, and with the Bledisloe Cup just around the corner (and the 11-year hoodoo that comes with it), Deans simply could not be in charge any longer. Simply put, he had to go.
Yet despite the resolve that Deans’ dismissal might appear to bring, the reality is that Australia’s future in international rugby is far from certain – especially if the man that takes over from Deans is McKenzie, as is expected.
McKenzie – despite his glowing resume and successes in Super Rugby – brings more questions than answers with him and those questions are likely to dominate the rugby landscape for several weeks and months to come.
Perhaps the biggest area of question to arise will be that of the tactics that McKenzie will employ, with a particular focus on the tactics of the back-line.
During his time at the Reds, McKenzie was known for his attacking rugby across the back with those tactics unearthing several future stars as a result.
Thus the question becomes as to whether we will see an international team play similar free-flowing rugby or whether McKenzie will adopt more traditional tactics.
Will we see a return of Quade Cooper, whom many fans were crying out for as James O’Connor sputtered his way around the field from against the Lions? Will Kurtley Beale be the first choice fullback once again? What else could we see from the man they call Link?
Under Deans, the Wallabies continued to get slammed by the media as unprofessional and lacking discipline from the top down. Which, given what we saw and heard, didn’t appear that far from an accurate assessment.
They didn’t turn up to team announcements and yet they did turn up to fast-food restaurants at four in the morning. They did (and didn’t) turn up to their court appearances for a myriad of different offenses and yet, for most of the part, there appeared to be no real punishment or consequences from those in charge.
Thus Deans — in his failure to act — was just as guilty as those whose actions brought negative media attention and spotlight on the team.
And it is in that arena that McKenzie could well face his biggest questioning.
How will he ensure the Wallabies remain focussed on the job at hand, and the potential success that lies ahead in the Bledisloe Cup and the Rugby Championship? How will he remain both a role model and a compatriot? How will he lead from in front and from alongside at the same time?
McKenzie’s biggest coaching strength is his understanding, and that will be no more true than with the Australian international team.
He understands the players and their thinking, and he understands how they respond to coaching.
For he — unlike Deans or those that have gone before him in recent years — remembers what it was like to be in their position.
Thus where McKenzie will draw the line and to what lengths he’ll go to in order to keep the squad he desires will be fascinating, and will no doubt bring with it plenty of questions.
Especially if, like Deans was faced with so many times, he is forced to choose between suspending a world-class player or choosing another reprimand.
These off-field questions (and answers) will be just as intriguing and perhaps even more important than any question that McKenzie will answer in terms of what happens on the field. Off-field disarray so often reveals itself in on-field production, and Australia cannot allow such disarray to reach as far as it has any longer.
Whether such disarray — both on and off the field — started with Deans or was there before him is a question that will likely never have an answer.
The only answers that are needed, for now, are those to the questions that are bound to arise over the coming days and weeks as McKenzie steps in to a job that his predecessor found so difficult to effectively fill.
They are the questions that we need to start asking and answering. For if you thought that the time of questioning head coaches, players, tactics and organisations died alongside Deans’ coaching contract, then think again.
The biggest questions are only just starting to be asked. How they are answered will be fascinating.
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.