It was the Wallabies’ biggest Test match since the 2003 World Cup final but the British and Irish Lions series-decider was blighted by a dreadful build-up.
Assistant coach Andrew Blades has revealed Australia’s 41-16 third Test meltdown in July followed unnerving distractions off the field as powerbrokers were in the process of removing coach Robbie Deans.
Blades, who remains the Wallabies scrum guru under Deans’ successor Ewen McKenzie, still regrets not stepping in to remove “unsettling” tremors and sharpen the team’s focus.
Despite a series-levelling 16-15 win over the Lions in Melbourne the weekend before, the writing was on the wall for Deans before the decider at Sydney’s packed ANZ Stadium on July 6.
Looking back, Blades remains irritated the moving and shaking wasn’t left for another day.
“For me that was one of the hard things in the lead-up to the third Test was all the sense and speculation going on and people getting pulled aside here and there,” Blades told AAP as the Wallabies prepare for their last game of the year against Wales in Cardiff.
“It was very distracting in that last week.
“We all knew that if we didn’t win that series that we would all likely to be gone.
“But it was a weird thing to have it in that last week…that something was going on.
“Everyone was looking over their shoulders. It was pretty unsettling for the group.”
Deans looked and spoke like a man who knew his fate before and immediately after the match, when the Lions ran away with the match with three tries in the final 20 minutes.
While no one from the Australian Rugby Union canvassed Blades about Deans’ pending demise, he admitted players and coaches alike sensed “a lot of things going on in the background”.
“Not everyone’s mind was on what was important that weekend,” said the 1999 World Cup-winning prop. “It was a weird week and one that I often think about now, one of those if you had your time again.
“You sense those things unfolding and you wonder if you could have almost said ‘everyone forget about it’.
Making the preparation worse were worrying injuries to captain James Horwill (calf) and other forwards that were kept secret but badly affected the Wallabies scrum.
French referee Romain Poite showed little mercy to the home side’s set-piece from the outset, whistling them off the park early and sin-binning tight-head prop Ben Alexander in the 25th minute.
“We knew what (the Lions scrum) were trying to do in the first two Tests in trying to create sideways movement to get a penalty and we coped with it really well,” Blades said.
“In the third Test we did some things slightly differently and it didn’t work.”
A big problem was keeping the normally-powerful Horwill on the tight-head side of the second-row in spite of a calf strain.
“He couldn’t keep his foot on the ground so he was trying his guts out but it left the tight-head in a bad situation,” Blades said.
“You want him to play because it’s the biggest game of his career but in hindsight you either move him to the other side or …. whatever.
“They were able to get away with things. We knew what they were going to do but we weren’t good enough to stop that.”
Although new coach McKenzie has brought in major change to the Wallabies, particularly attempting to lift cultural standards, Blades only has praise for Deans as a man and mentor.
The former All Black, the Wallabies’ first foreign coach, was under pressure once he was recontracted before the 2011 World Cup, where Australia were knocked out by New Zealand in the semi-final.
“He always used to say ‘It’s not about me it’s about the team, let’s just get on with it’,” Blades said.
“You haven’t heard boo from him since and he’s that sort of bloke and he always wants the best for people.
“I’ve been mates with Ewen since we played and even though I only knew Robbie for that short time he’s someone I’ll keep in contact with because he’s a good bloke and he cares for people.”
That care ultimately hurt Deans as frustrated senior players lost patience with wayward stars Kurtley Beale and James O’Connor, who let the coach and team down with repeated misdemeanours.
“Robbie had a way of dealing personally with those blokes,” Blades said. “Sometimes people are looking for public executions but he did a lot of work behind the scenes with guys helping them getting through things.
“It probably wasn’t appreciated how much of that sort of stuff he did do himself. He didn’t feel the need to chop someone’s head off in public, but that might create the feeling that it wasn’t done.”
More than four months on, the Wallabies have begun to turn the corner under McKenzie as they look to enjoy four straight wins for the first time in five years.
Victory over Six Nations champions Wales would also provide the first four-match winning streak on a European tour since Blades made his Test debut in 1996.
The former 36-Test prop can see the similarities with that young rebuilding squad, which provided the bulk of players that went on to win the 1999 World Cup, and the current crop.
Blades major job is to turn around global perceptions that Australia continue to sport a weak scrum.
Strong scrummaging displays in wins over Italy, Ireland and Scotland have started to turn opinions, with Welsh and Lions hooker Richard Hibbard this week labelling such Achilles heel tags a myth.
But McKenzie and Blades, Australia’s scrum anchors throughout the 1990s, know the scrum must remain consistent over time to prove themselves a dominant forces.
“The guys really want to develop a strong scrum and a strong scrummaging mentality, and they know they are up against it due to this perception,” Blades said.
“We’re the only ones who can change that.”
alex
Roar Pro
i was right he is writing a book right now
Chivas
Guest
I would have thought the more fans the better. Or is there a particular type that is favoured? Back in your hole, your cave.. oh aged for some originality.
Richie Walton
Roar Guru
How bout you email everyone at work and tell them your CEO is a muppet and he can't run the company to save himself - that'd be courageous. Let me know how that goes.
Richie Walton
Roar Guru
The result.. Still no premiership?
glacier
Guest
Deans will coach Clermont-Auvergne In France from next August (2014) when Vern Cotter takes over Scotland. Deans loved playing in France when his All Blacks' and Canterbury' career was over and his wife Penny is a French teacher.
Bakkies
Guest
Ireland just played basic Rugby to counter their opposition. The game is about doing the basics rather then fancy nonsense that Cooper did by throwing hail marys in to touch which butchered certain tries 5 metres out from the line. Wallabies fielded unfit players in the pack so murdered the scrum. Australian players ran high in to contact they sucked them in to static mauls to get the scrum. They do it every week so it is second nature.
Chivas
Guest
Apologies BenBris. I wasn't meaning to be patronising and yes I was thinking as I was typing am I sad and angry... I may have been a little. the truth is Ben I am just so tired of the bullets that get fired at Robbie Deans, even when he has left the building and someone close to him has expressed sadness at the way he was treated. Then I read posts which seem to justify such nastiness and blame the other side of politics for vitriolic comments. Can't we also be reasonable people and actually appreciate that Robbie Deans was in fact a very good international coach. He contributed positively to Australian rugby. And the means by which he was publically criticised and remonstrated really did no-one any good. I actually appreciated Mick's comments above because they were polite and on the money. But there are many who would just as soon spit on the man who according to Andrew Blades, cared more about the Wallaby team, than he did of his own position or what people thought of him. There are too few people in the world with such integrity and passion. So when the average fan climbs in and puts the boot in simply because they can it irritates me. But in saying, my apologies if my comments came across patronisingly. That was not my intention, but rather to point out the other side of the argument.
WoobliesFan
Guest
And that was the tragedy. Granting Deans an extension priorto the WC was incomprehensible and dangerous...so much so, that it reeks of corruption and wretched dealings. JON was the worst thing to ever happen to the WBs in the last 6 years....mark my words.
icky47
Guest
You are right Zero, what an incredible load of old rubbish you guys are starting to write. Jiggles! do you actually read the load of Crap you write? I would say one of the most informative writers on this blog is the one with the most pretentious name "Tane Mahuta". I can't see what most of your beef is with him. For christ sake lets get back to Rugby.
WoobliesFan
Guest
x2 The beginning of the end for Dingo Deans can be traced directly to that fateful day in New Zealand, 17th Sep 2011, when Ireland shocked the Wallabies by playing the most insipid and uninspiring tactics....yet, for all his Canterbury glory and intelligence, Deans failed to adjust and devise a strategy to overcome the most obvious and kindergarten play of the Irish. God damn, it was undoubtedly one of the worst dear-in-headlights moments by any coach in the history of professional sports...and from that day onwards until his sacking, we were stuck in his web of toxicity...it was like the dude was leeching the life out of us.
WoobliesFan
Guest
Thanks Ben.....you put it a lot more eloquently than I could. That Cooper is tearing the house down, that he has a coach who supports him (but that we also know deep down would bench him if his form dropped, aka Horwill, Genia), tactics to accentuate our strengths, etc, etc, etc, etc. Really enjoying this current WB team....Jury's still out on CL and one or two others, but the positivity and fun and honest direction and toil these guys are displaying is wonderful. Deans was rubbish in hindsight, dead-set. End of!
BenBris
Guest
Why so patronising ? We agree to disagree, this is a forum and without difference of opinion it would be boring. You said in your original post "comments made in the public domain are made because people are sad and angry." Could this be more a reflection of the way you are feeling. I am happy with the direction the team has taken .
Chivas
Guest
Great post Ben and I guess that completely and effectively ignores the anti-deans pro Cooper group who have been completely silent. I agree Andrew Blades is completely wrong and his view is skewed. The people really hard done by is Quade Cooper. And that vindictive Deans got what he deserved. Glad that's cleared up. And the nastiness in politics is all Labour and the invisible men. Give us some credit.
BenBris
Guest
It wasnt a military coup to replace Deans, nor was it as unsavory as the Labor party replacing the PM a couple of times. I also disagree re your view on "vile" commentary. My issue is with this blog is the suggestion that Deans is such a good bloke not to say anything about how badly he was treated. Yet it was deans who confected many reasons to exile QC (who was certainly one of the top 30 players in Australia at the time) and rob him of a once in a lifetime lions tour . The word Vindictive comes to mind. That treatment says a lot. I think that the pro Deans camp and anti cooper camp have a certain synergy and are amongst the most bilious posters on this site and in the general rugby media (Harris / Ella/ Spiro) . They have continued in a similar vein attacking EM and minimising any success QC has had since his return. Deans had 5 and a half years to be successful. A further poignant reminder , this morning we won 4 games in a row for the first time in 5 seasons! Deans was coach for 5.5 seasons.The Welsh had 10 British lions in that side , the same side that flogged us on our home turf early this year. We beat them well and left a few points on the field. Also QC was the clear MOM. Things are looking up.
Chivas
Guest
What bollocks. His treatment of Cooper soured the end of his tenure. I am pretty sure the feral noise coming out against Deans had little to do with Cooper. Just a pitiful excuse as is everyone's justification why they think it is ok to slander and bash someone based on next to no evidence. It's called the internet and speaking with complete anonymity and impugnity is central to this. Even now people want to have a go. Poor Quade. The boy next door for whom butter wouldn't melt in his mouth. And EM the saviour who came in and sacked the big bad man and save Australian rugby from this terrible disgrace of a man. That Robbie Deans. I believe the vile comments made in the public domain are made because people are sad and angry. My point here is it's a bit rich putting up this as some kind of excuse or reason for this appalling behaviour by some people. I don't for a minute think the majority of Australians would hide behind that or find that an acceptable excuse.
icky47
Guest
Am So!
icky47
Guest
I don't think this was ever against McKenzie, it was all about the appalling treatment of Deans. An injustice he quite clearly did not deserve, and I believe Ewen's incredible struggle with the Wallabies, more than vindicates Deans. If it was about Deans, then the new coach would have put it right after the first three or four games. Australia judged Dean's performance by the Wallabies success (or lack of) against the All Blacks, and let's face it, this All Black pack has been quite outstanding..... and No! Dean's level as a coach is far greater than that of a Super Rugby coach, as you so disingenuously remarked. There are still many, who are resolute in their negative opinion of Deans, despite clear evidence to the contrary, and I'm sure much more will come out in his favour as time goes by ......However none of which I am equally sure will change the likes of your opinion.
alex
Roar Pro
I'm looking forward to his book, i'm sure he will write one. It could be what he's doing now
Zero Gain
Guest
Wrong "Tane". I never complain about players because they are not from Queensland. I do criticise Hooper and Mowen because I believe that they are greatly overrated. I never denigrate them personally and I always recognise that they are both good players. l also always refer to the ABs as the 'mighty ABs' because I believe that they are mighty and I invented the term 'the Great Sir Richie'. I show respect where I believe it is due and I criticise honestly and openly. The complete opposite to your immature, boastful and boring posts. By the way, as from Sunday, 1 December 2013, Robbie Deans became a footnote in Wallabies rugby history after a magnificent victory by the Wallabies, with the World's (and the Red's) greatest attacking 5/8, Quade Cooper calling the shots. Thanks Robbie, you tried hard and are a good man, but you are now, in Rugby terms, effectively dead and buried.
mikeylives
Guest
Back in your hole then. Sounds like you wouldn't be much chop as a fan at the game, best stay at home.