Backlash at Robbie Deans' leaky vote

[SinBin]

AUSTRALIA'S Super Rugby coaches could refuse to express their opinions on Wallabies selections in future after the collated response to Robbie Deans request to nominate their side to play the British and Irish Lions was leaked to the media.

As he has done in recent years, Deans earlier this season asked the five Super Rugby coaches - Michael Cheika (Waratahs), Jake White (Brumbies), Ewen McKenzie (Reds), Michael Foley (Western Force) and Damien Hill (Rebels) - to select their Wallabies 23 and a back-up XV for the Lions series.

Cheika declined but the other four coaches supplied names as requested. Of those who responded, all but one spoke to The Australian yesterday to express their dismay that their collated results had been leaked to a Sydney newspaper yesterday.

"It makes you question whether you'll co-operate in future," one coach said. "We followed the process in good faith. Would you do it again? I'm not sure."

It's not just the fact that opinions they had expressed privately had been made public but that what appeared in the press, while accurate, did not represent their current thinking. The coaches responded to Deans a month ago, at which point, they said, both Quade Cooper and Israel Folau - two omissions from the leaked team - were playing well but not especially brilliantly. Since then, both have unleashed match-turning performances for the Reds and Waratahs respectively.

Moreover, the coaches were asked to give their thoughts on who should be in the Wallabies without being told by Deans what sort of game plan he intended to use against the Lions.

If, for example, Deans intends to play expansively to blitz a Lions side unaccustomed to the speed of the game on hard grounds, Cooper would be the ideal playmaker. But if he intends to continue with his pattern of recent seasons and use Pat McCabe at inside centre to run the crash ball then a five-eighth with a short-passing game prepared to take the ball to the line - like James O'Connor - would make more sense.

Deans emailed the five coaches on Tuesday to alert them the story was about to break but suspicion still is running high that the leak came from within the Australian Rugby Union.

The common belief was that the leak was intended to soften the blow if/when Cooper is omitted from the preliminary squad of 25 to be announced on Sunday.

The rationale was that the selectors could not be criticised for omitting him if the Super Rugby coaches also didn't believe he warranted inclusion. However, as one coach who admitted to not having Cooper in his team put it yesterday: "If I was picking my team now, I'd pick a different team."

Cooper is emerging as the favourite for the hotly-contested No 10 jersey, not just because of his game management but because he has the advantage of a long-established partnership with Will Genia.

Matthew Burke, Stirling Mortlock and George Gregan all have nominated them as Australia's halves for the first Test in Brisbane on June 22.

But Cooper also made a lot of enemies with his comments last year about the Wallabies' "toxic environment" and although he has been a model of discretion in recent times, while also working hard to prove his defence is up to Test standard, speculation continues his name will be missing on Sunday - ostensibly to give him the chance to prove himself in the Reds' match against the Lions on June 8.

If he performs well then he will be allocated one of the late additional six Wallabies squad berths to be announced on June 11.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/spor...-1226643407289

[zimeric]

1 WF player in the whole squad is an insult to this team as far as I'm concerned
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[The InnFORCEr]

So where is this list?

[jargan83]

1 WF player in the whole squad is an insult to this team as far as I'm concerned
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Given we have only won 2 games it shouldn't come as a surprise

Playing in a winning side gets you noticed more then playing in a losing side

[JediKnight]

Rumour has it that Cheika didn't feel the need to complete the task as he just said look at the Waratahs team sheet and there you have it!!!

[chibi]

I wanna see the team Jake White picked. And I hope he has some serious input along with Ewen McKenzie.

I'm a little concerned about this whole "short pass and McCabe VS Cooper-blitz" mentality. Sounds like bullshit. For a team that has done so much dumb shit over the last 5 years, let's get the Wallabies playing simple, basic rugby that everybody is on the same page with; so that we can take into account the need for bringing in players to cover injuries or bringing in players who are bolters. From there we can formulate numerous ways to take down the Lions, whom we'll be able to watch in a series of warm-up games prior to the tests anyway.

We cannot bandy about nonsensical ideas like: because they're European they can't play on fast grounds. Instead, how about the idea the most of the Lions backs and ball-running forwards might relish the chance to cut loose on fields conducive to expansive play? Isn't that exactly what happened in 2001?

There has been too much inconsistency over the last 5 years, no steady improvement. One week the Wallabies will have no kick-and-chase, the next week their body-height is all wrong, the next week no goal-kicker, the next week no ball-retention, the next week too many aimless garryowens, the next week no line-out strategies... club rugby sides shouldn't be doing this, let alone the Wallabies.

Robbie Deans has been trying to run, gallop and pirouette, before he has gotten the team to walk steadily. When it comes off once in a while, great. The rest of the time, the team is mediocre; either scraping wins together or losing with much effort on the field and no effort between the ears.

Dare I say it, this attitude reminds me too much of the overall New Zealand Rugby attitude which continually caused choking at the world cup. The inherent belief in your own innate superiority, "we'll do this, we'll do that and steamroll 'em" Which means that you don't believe your opponent to be a threat, and you're not respecting them enough to dissect and analyse them in terms of individual players' strengths and weaknesses, which means you're not formulating a strategy to counteract them specifically; all because of your inherent belief that your natural game is good enough - bollocks! Even worse, it prevents you from seeing your own weaknesses and therefore leaves you to be exposed to, and exploited by, your opposition.

In 1999 France analysed the All Blacks and took them down in the world cup semi-final. New Zealand never expected it, yet it was plain as day that the French had better, more naturally talented individual players in key positions all over the park. The All Blacks never took into account that they had to shut down Pelous, Ibanez, Benazzi, Magne or try and rattle Galthie, Lamaison and Emile N'Tamack. They didn't rate them, so France's individually talented forwards lifted their game and left John Hart's out of position backline exposed and ripped to pieces. In 2001, the Lions did the same to us in the first test and shook the arrogance out of a great Wallaby side who came back and won the series in two of the greatest rugby contests I've ever seen. In 2003 the Wallabies did the same to the All Blacks in another world cup semi-final.

We've got to get a solid foundation of basic rugby together. No more lapses in the basic fundamentals which a club side wouldn't do. The players come from 5 different provinces, so let's find a common denominator which allows us to use talent from all of them and won't be a culture shock to new players coming into the team, but will also allows us to remove players who can't perform on the day (Cooper) without messing up the entire team's structure and philosophy. It's only a short period of time, so let's get the basics right; so players like Mogg, Toomua, Lealiifano, Foley, White, Folau, Godwin, Gill, Mowen, Hooper et al can come into the team if needed without it being completely unfamiliar. It would disappoint everyone concerned if these guys were the form players in the competition, but we had to pick the usual suspects instead, because we have to stick to Robbie's pre-existing "gameplans." We've lost Giteau already because of this. Never mind all the side-issues, honestly, talent-wise, who picks McCabe ahead of Giteau?! Australian Rugby has always had to make the most of the talent it had, not waste any of it. We had two talented fly-halves in the 80's, on talent alone we couldn't leave either out. So Michael Lynagh became a successful inside-centre to Mark Ella on the 1984 Grand Slam Tour and eventually a Bledisloe Cup and World Cup winning fly-half. That he became Wallaby captain and Australia's all-time record point-scorer only adds to the story. When Matthew Burke came back from injury, did we dump incumbent fullback Stephen Larkham? No, we developed an overall system whereby he became the best fly-half in the world. A system which allowed Tim Horan to fit in to fly-half when Larkham was injured; or allowed Elton Flatley to slot in and win the Lions series. In the meantime New Zealand never developed a Mehrtens-Spencer-Umaga inside back combination, nor South Africa a halves pairing of Joost van der Westhuizen and Werner Swanepoel, despite the inherent talent of those five players - and both teams would struggle in those positions for the late 90's-early 2000's. Australia, on the other hand, cannot afford to be so profligate with its rugby talent. We need a system whereby we can use all the talent at our disposal effectively and efficiently; and I think the best way to do that is to get the basics right. From there, we can come up with specific strategies to combat this particular Lions team's strengths and weaknesses. (A Lions team whom I don't believe to be anywhere near as strong as the team in 2001; but certainly stronger than their last two tours)

Otherwise, how disgusted would we feel if we lost this series; while a bunch of talented guys go unused or disregarded, because Robbie Deans's gameplans aren't versatile enough to use them - or worse still, because the Wallabies make the same mistakes on-field that we've been making for the last five years?


PS: Does anyone else feel more confidence in the Brumbies beating the Lions, than the Wallabies?

[chibi]

Just bumping this thread, does anybody know if the "leaked Wallaby XV's" can be read anywhere on the internet?

[travelling_gerry]

http://www.foxsports.com.au/rugby/su...7#.UZoIGrU3Dzw

[chibi]

Thanks mate!

[DinkyDi]

Hmm - the team espoused by the coaches is still has some serious flaws in it so here goes MHO.. not so much H though

Benn R - out and out cheat boring in at every opportunity and never gets pinged.. no idea why
Moore - on form yes
Alexander - past it - should be Slipper/Ryan on form
Horwill - hate to say it but okay
Simmons - soft and stay soft butter. The sort of player I loved to play against back in the day. One good shoeing and he would be running for the sideline weeping
Higgers - in
Gill - still not sure. He will be pushed around by a monster Lions back row
Palu - I was not aware that Zimmer frames were allowed on the pitch - this must be a giggle
Genia - a Red.. but okay
JOC - not at 10.. too much open field flair to be wasted there. As a Lions supporter I want to see Cooper there.... throwing pies and curling up on the floor prior to being hit
LIALIALIA - should be JOC
AAC - best of a very mediocre bunch at 13
Shipperly - Oh please.... The Badger for this
Mogg - great in attack and poor in defence - a sober KB is required.

Re the bench -
TPN - another Zimmer Frame and body cast
Kepu - Love this guy
Ryan - warranted
Maddness - should be in for Mr Whippy Soft cone Simmonds
Mowen - not sure how he can see with his micro eyes but is a nasty bugger who will be needed
White - Agreed
KB - see above

[zed]

JOC - not at 10..

I don't think you can say he's not a 10 as he's been playing really well there for the Rebels lately. Some sublime passing. But I think he definitely lacks the experience to play there at international level.

As a Lions supporter I want to see Cooper there.... throwing pies and curling up on the floor prior to being hit

The Reds won the S14 a few years back with Cooper and they're now in the top 4. He's a great player, even with his defensive frailties and probably one of the best attacking 10s out there. He is immature and unprofessional and I think people struggle to get past this and acknowledge him as a good player because of his off-field antics. It was only a few years ago he was being touted as "the worlds best fly-half". Deans needs to swallow his pride and bring him into the squad.

[DinkyDi]

The Reds won the S14 a few years back with Cooper and they're now in the top 4. He's a great player, even with his defensive frailties and probably one of the best attacking 10s out there. He is immature and unprofessional and I think people struggle to get past this and acknowledge him as a good player because of his off-field antics. It was only a few years ago he was being touted as "the worlds best fly-half". Deans needs to swallow his pride and bring him into the squad.

The biggest issue is that this is not Super Rugby - on the international stage he has been found out. You send some large fast blokes running at him, screaming some weird Celtic war chant and he soils his shorts. Hit him first up, late, early or whatever and he spends the rest of the game looking over his shoulder lobbing pies. Give him space and time and he is mercurial.... however I cannot see the Lions doing that. Genia is no better under pressure as the Force showed. Pressure these two and the ball goes no where.

[jono]

deans strategy is that the forward pack will give them the space they need.

pity everyone is onto it

[zimeric]

Yep no poe or smith so the breakdown will be slower.
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[DinkyDi]

So true - and in all honesty there will be parity at best in the forwards and I think that is being nice.