Deans making the difference: Harrison

[laura]

Deans making the difference: Harrison
AAP - September 30, 2008, 11:30 am


Former Test lock Justin Harrison says the new-look Wallabies face a credibility exam on the Wallabies' Spring Tour of Europe.

After tackling the All Blacks in Hong Kong on November 1, the Wallabies play successive Tests against Italy, England, France and Wales before a final match against the Barbarians on December 3 in London.

Nominating coach Robbie Deans as the key to Australia's turnaround in fortunes during this year's Tri-Nations tournament, Harrison said the European challenge would determine whether the new crop were truly up to international standard.

Former Crusaders boss Deans has four uncapped players in his 34-man squad - utility back James O'Connor, flanker David Pocock, flyhalf Quade Cooper and prop Sekope Kepu - following on from the eight who made their debuts earlier in the year.

"Australia lost a lot of players - Stephen Larkham, George Gregan, Jeremy Paul, Bill Young - there's more than 350 caps leaving," Harrison said.

"So it was important for them to be able to discover players that were able to lead and play in high pressure games.

"They've managed to do that to date but there's no better cauldron than northern hemisphere touring, because all of your comfort zones are taken away.

"Blooding young players is what this tour will be good for and Deans has picked some new rookies. That will be good for us because now is the time to start building towards the 2011 World Cup.

"Robbie Deans has got a very astute rugby tactical mind as well as a good affinity with the players.

"In passing comments with the fellows that I'm still in touch with, I hear he's a man that talks about positivity and makes sure that he concentrates on what players are good at, rather than harping on negatives.

"Tactically, they'll have all the tools to take on the northern hemisphere."

Harrison said most international teams were still reconfiguring their sides following the 2007 World Cup, saying November 15 opponents England now had a similar squad profile to Australia in terms of age.

"The plus that we will have is that we have got a lot of players that have been exposed early in the Tri-Nations, huge marquee games - a lot of players over here in England haven't had that opportunity yet," he said.

"We will be in a strong position but you don't know until the day whether a player mentally is going to handle the pressure."

Deans making the difference: Harrison - Yahoo!7 Sport

[NTT]

Once the defensive patterns are sorted out theres no reason the Wallabies wont be highly competitive against any team they play. What's most exciting for me is we were competitive against all of the teams we played (2 glaring hiccups) even though we were adapting to new rules and new coaching philosophies. The regeneration is off to a good start.