The ARU has made the right decision to appoint Ewen McKenzie as the new Wallaby coach. He is immediately available and, perhaps most importantly, he is the most qualified Australian available to coach the Wallabies.
This last point is extremely important. Deans was never accepted by a significant group of Australian powerbrokers because of two factors: first, he was appointed when John O’Neill held sway at the ARU as a dominating CEO. And second, because he was not an Australian.
The O’Neill factor was poisonous at time as his detractors and enemies moved seamlessly from attacks on him to attacks on Deans. These attacks mounted in intensity and nastiness after Deans was given a further two years as Wallaby coach before the 2011 RWC tournament.
All these various streams of hostility from different interest groups joined together to become a flood of never-ending criticism that reached its peak with Greg Martin’s astonishing and nasty accusation that Deans was some sort of Trojan Horse from New Zealand to undermine Australian rugby.
The sheer venom and stupidity of this comment made it essential that the successor to Deans had to be an Australian, even if he was not the strongest candidate for the job.
And this is what has happened. There was strong support for Jake White, the Springboks coach in their RWC 2007 triumph, notably from Brendan Cannon in The Sunday Telegraph. But this was never on the cards.
McKenzie is a former Wallaby, an assistant coach during the wonderful Rod Macqueen era and the Reds coach when they won their first (and only) Super Rugby tournament.
He was effectively sacked or not renewed as coach of the Waratahs despite the fact that he got them into the finals in 2005 and 2008. And he was sacked as coach of Stade Francais.
However, being sacked is part of the life history of rugby coaches, and coaches in all the major professional sports.
He transformed the Reds franchise from a motley mob that lost most of their matches before small and dwindling crowds to an exciting team that draws big crowds, has won a Super Rugby tournament and is in the running to do so again this year (perhaps) and consistently defeats New Zealand sides.
This last consideration was an important factor in his elevation to the Wallaby coaching job. The great blot on Deans’ record was the inability of his teams to defeat the All Blacks. In the 18 Tests against them in his tenure, the Wallabies won three.
And one of those wins was the very first time he coached him against the All Blacks, which was a massive victory at Sydney that augured (but was unfulfilled) a new period of dominance to match that achieved by Macqueen and his great side.
But it was not to be. The All Blacks, under the beleagured Sir Graham Henry, regrouped for the Eden Park return Test and won just as convincingly as the Wallabies had won at Sydney. Henry concedes now that the ultimate success of the All Blacks in RWC 2011 and his continued tenure as coach really rode on that Eden Park result.
Aside from the lack of success or only occasional success against the All Blacks, Deans racked up a reasonably strong coaching record.
The Deans record for the Wallabies is: 58 per cent wins in 74 Tests: 3 wins out of 18 against the All Blacks: 9 wins out of 14 against the Springboks: 5 wins out of 6 against France: 8 wins out of 9 against Wales: 4 wins out of 6 against England: 71.4 per cent of wins against all nations except New Zealand (16.6 per cent).
He, along with Macqueen, is the only Wallaby coach in the professional era to win the Tri-Nations Cup.
His Wallabies had a strong winning record against the Springboks, with the win at Blomfontein in 2010 with Kurtley Beale’s last second successful penalty from the halfway sideline being the first Wallaby win at altitude for 40 years.
And in the RWC 2011 tournament the Wallabies defeated the Springboks in the quarter finals. The third finish in the tournament was one the Wallabies strongest performances, although well short of the wins in 1991 and 1999.
There has been a strong campaign for McKenzie for several years. This campaign has come, mainly from Queensland, with the leading Queensland rugby writers, Queensland administrators and Queensland former Wallabies leading the charge.
The campaign has been successful. McKenzie has the job. He is no longer the Queensland candidate for the Wallaby job, he is the Australian coach and the Australian rugby community, all sections of it, need to get behind him and give him the support that was never given Deans.
Somehow he has to present a Wallaby side that can match the All Blacks on August 17 at ANZ Stadium, the ground where against the British and Irish Lions the Wallabies played their worst Test in years.
Gavin Melville
Roar Pro
I have no problem with Deans record. (I didn't think he was that bad a coach. I think it's a bad idea to get rid of him this close to RWC 2015. I think coaches should be appointed on a 4-year RWC cycle. That said, I think the ARU should be doing a proper job of the succession and not just having "Buggins Turn" And no, I'm not saying McKenzie is Buggins. I like him, too. Best of luck Ewen.) I think Jones was OK too & he's putting his experience to good use in Japan. Japan are good. Ask Wales. Jones came 2nd and Deans 3rd in RWCs. I think that's further up than Australia will be finishing for a while. I'm not a big fan of success % or IRB Rankings as a measure of how well a coach does. I think success % is meaningless. Context is all. IRB Rankings are only used once every four years to select seeds for the RWC. And I don't think that form should be going back too far, especially internationally. Why does it matter that FRance won/lost by 1/21 points 3 years ago?
Whipster
Guest
Good article Spiro,...read a comment earlier about how RD brought the Wallabies back from the brink (or thereabouts) and was wondering... at what expense to our trophy cabinet?. Anyone know what we've still got in there?. Just curious!... was thinking if EM would be starting from scratch.
Mike
Guest
Actually Gavin, if you look at it from those angles, Deans still scrubs up quite well. Look at his win-loss against England, France, SA for example. But I agree with your main point, that Jones shouldn't be rubbished - he also had his achievements. In many ways he was hammered simply because he didn't achieve what Macqueen did - yet when viewed in light of his successors' Deans and Connoly, who also did not achieve the level that they wished, Jones didn't do that badly.
Mike
Guest
"try and avoid thrashings to SA, England, France and the Lions" Really? Wallabies under Deans lost one match against France by 27 points. They won five matches against France, including by 43 points, 30 points and 21 points. I think Link will be very happy if he can cop a single "thrashing" in exchange for dishing it out like that. Wallabies under Deans lost two matches against England, by 17 points and 1 point respectively. On the other side of the ledger they won four matches, by 14, 10, 9 and 6 points. Again, overall that sounds like a thrashing worth copping. And sure, Wallabies under Deans did cop that 45 point thrashing from the Boks in his first year, but his overall record against them is 9-5, with some decent scores in there. Talk to most South Africans and there is no doubt which side of that ledger they would rather be on. There's many things that Link can improve on, but in regard to these three countries (who incidentally are our greatest competition for No 2 ranking) Link will do well if he simply manages to stay close to Deans' record.
Mike
Guest
niwdEyaJ, you seem to be aiming Link for mediocrity. :) I want him to aim to WIN the Bledisloe. If he gives it a decent crack I do not care whether he loses a match by 1, 20 or 30 points. And I won't slag him merely because he doesn't manage it in his first season - in the last decade the ABs have lifted their impressive record a notch against all teams. Losing against them is not a disgrace. I would also like him to maintain Deans' record against the Boks, however, from memory Deans has the best record of any Wallabies coach against Bokke and I will understand if Link cannot match that. But if he can maintain series wins against them that would be enough. And I would be very happy as well if Link can maintain Deans' 4-2 winning record against England and his 5-1 record against France. With all of that we will at least maintain our No 2 ranking. And then the culmination will come in 2015 - as long as there is a big effort I will be happy.
Mike
Guest
Interesting point, Ash. The ABs are very adaptable, to fly-halves, to coaches and to packs.
Mike
Guest
Not sure I follow your point: Wallabies under Deans played two tests against Argentina. Wallabies under Rod Macqueen played four tests against Argentina
Mike
Guest
Or whether change of another kind is needed.
Gavin Melville
Roar Pro
Got Wallabies to RWC Final 2003, wins over Ireland, Scotland and NZ. Drew with England over 80 mins in the final. I'd put that higher than %wins. Still, if that's what you want, why not play little teams like Georgia, China or Brazil more often? Or IRB Ranking. Why not rate the Wallabies by IRB Ranking? How relevant is that? Still 3rd after the Lions defeat
Mick Gold Coast QLD
Roar Guru
Catch ball kick ball
Guest
Eddie Jones? Are you crazy? His win/loss rate is worse than Deans!
ohtani's jacket
Guest
Connolly was a caretaker coach brought in to take over from Jones ala McKenzie taking over from Deans. Connolly didn't do a bad job. At least under Connolly the Wallabies played the type of structured football that made them successful at the beginning of the pro era. If you honestly think Deans improved upon Australian play or made the Wallabies better then how about providing some evidence of that.
Gavin Melville
Roar Pro
It's all a bit parochial, isn't? Did anyone look further afield? Scott Johnson from Scotland? Eddie J back from Japan for another stint? International experience to hit the ground running.
KiwiDave
Roar Guru
Thanks mate. Found it very inspirational in the bedroom last night
KiwiDave
Roar Guru
SA were unranked at the time. They had just re-entered international rugby. Wouldn't happen nowadays with the ranking system.
Gavin Melville
Roar Pro
God is ultimately doomed to be breaking up the side at the Apocalypse. The Wallabies fans demand more than that. Why can't we get players like those Four Horsemen on our side?
KiwiDave
Roar Guru
I am saying he has left the Wallabies in a far better state than when he first took over. McKenzie will have a far easier job taking over because of the work Deans has done rather than what Deans had to work with after Connelly's reign. The way half the posters rave on here it is like Deans has plummeted the Wallabies backwards which is clearly not the case.
Gavin Melville
Roar Pro
Oh no. Stuart Lancaster IS massively competent. He realised he'd need a test team with 600+ caps to compete at the RWC. So, youth in, blooded, tested & mentored at the start of the 4-year cycle. Personal Improvemnt Plans in place, Game Plan maturing. Fixtire list meticulously planned. No stone left unturned, no detail too small for attention. AND he coaches his kid's U11s
Gavin Melville
Roar Pro
Your paranoid rant fails to include - the IRB conspiracy against Horwill - the Kiwi plot to put a mole in the ARU - the Illuminati pulling all the strings Get real - the players are pants. Especially the scrum
Ra
Guest
McK should have his contract extended another two years at least. It will take him two years just to learn the guys names. He needs time to build his side and enjoy it. I'm afraid he will still be building it at world cup time. As for front rows. Old adage: front row going forward - team going forward.. I agree with Handles, there is plenty of quantity in Ozi rugby front row, and plenty of international experience. I think those guys are as good as any in the world - just not consistently. Maybe its not quality or quantity, maybe its just plain mongrel that's missing. Maybe they need to go and winter up in Otago/Southland instead of Gold Coast/Bondi, play their rugby week in - week out in freezing cold and learn to get angry about it. A great pity the day of the rucked ball is gone cause they'll get angry quick smart after a couple of welcomes to the deep south tap danced on their legs and backs