Wallabies have shown outstanding improvement under Robbie Deans

By Wayne Smith in London
December 06, 2008 IN Wallabies team-speak, one word rules them all. Growth. It seemingly works its way into every interview, every press conference, every conversation.

So at the end of the most arduous season Australia have undertaken with 14 Test matches - one every 12 days since they set out on June 14 against Ireland in Melbourne - plus the tour-ending match against the strongest Barbarians side in a generation, it only seems fair to ask: How much have the Wallabies grown under Robbie Deans?

Statistically speaking, not a lot. Nine victories from 14 Tests yield a 64 per cent success rate, which was precisely what John Connolly achieved in his two seasons as coach. The critics already have latched on to the fact that two of the tour wins, against Italy and France, were somewhat lucky, but it's also true that a couple of defeats were unlucky.

"Obviously Hong Kong (the Bledisloe Cup Test against the New Zealand) was there to be done, but you could argue that we did it," said Deans, this statement as close as he is likely to come to publicly criticising controversial referee Alan Lewis.

"But the fact we're putting ourselves in that position consistently now is the most satisfying thing."

On the plus side, the Wallabies broke eight-year losing droughts in South Africa and France, won at Twickenham for the first time since 2004 and were one of only two sides - the other being the world champions South Africa - to defeat the All Blacks in 2008. On the debit side of the ledger, they suffered their heaviest defeat ever, to South Africa in Johannesburg, twice faltered when in winning positions against New Zealand and were the only Tri-Nations team to lose to a Six Nations side.

In short, it has been an up-and-down year. The forwards went, well, forward while the backs retreated into their shells somewhat. They still scored 23 of Australia's 33 tries, but even captain Stirling Mortlock conceded the backline played more conservatively than normal this year.

That's not a trait associated with Deans-coached Crusaders sides of recent years but dig a little deeper into the Crusaders' past and there was a time when even they had to walk before they could run. But as each season went by and their skill levels improved, the team built a dynasty.

There is not a doubt that Deans has improved the skills of the Wallabies. Look no further than Digby Ioane's brilliant pick-up of an ankle-high pass while at full gallop for the Wallabies' last Test try of the season against Wales.

It was a sublime piece of athleticism from a player, who, barely a year ago, was regarded as having the worst hands in Australian rugby. Not all of that is Deans' doing, but it certainly was helped by the competitive exercises he sets his players at every training session.

"There has been a real cultural shift," said half-back Sam Cordingley, whose Wallabies career, spanning nine seasons, has just come to an end at the age of 32.

"We're far more competitive, not just on the field but among each other at training. You don't realise with Robbie's coaching that at the same time as you're getting match fit, you're also up-skilling yourself without actually drilling."

Even Mortlock, 31, realises his skills are wider and deeper after one season under Deans.

"This year the whole theme with Robbie is that everyone works to further their skills across the board," Mortlock said. "So we do that a lot. I've still got a lot of improvement left in me, but I feel I have made gains."

Mortlock threw the final passes for Adam Ashley-Cooper's try at Twickenham and Peter Hynes' try at Stade de France, both delivered under intense pressure and both demanding the slickest of hands. That's never been his strong suit, but as with Cordingley, the captain proved this year that old dogs really can be taught new tricks.

The Wallabies have had to master quite a few new tricks this season, none more difficult than a new defensive pattern. The old heavy drift defence taught by John Muggleton, a pattern that for years made the Wallabies the hardest side in world rugby to crack open, has been pensioned off. In its place a system built on faster line speed and more autonomy - "play what's in front of you" - has been installed.

Like the rest of the Wallabies' game, it's a work in progress, even if the Barbarians match did represent a huge leap in faith in the new system.

But had Ioane not scored in the 79th minute against Wales - and that's another thing, why did they wait until the game was lost before finally cutting loose?

The Wallabies' stats would have finished locked together at 32 tries apiece.

As the new system becomes more instinctive, the Wallabies' defensive line should become near-impregnable again, but one of the big disappointments of 2008 was the number of soft tries they conceded. Even Italy waltzed through untouched.

Although the clouds rolled in again somewhat in the French and Welsh Tests, the burst of sunlight over the Australia scrum at Twickenham was no false dawn.

Michael Foley has done an outstanding job in resurrecting the set pieces - the lineout is arguably the best in the world - and it will be nothing short of madness if he doesn't continue with the Wallabies scrum in some capacity next year once he finished his Super 14 work with the Waratahs forwards.

Deans has the makings of a champion team, quite possibly a World Cup champion team. But at present few Wallabies stand out as the best in their position. Matt Giteau had an outstanding year at five-eighth, good enough to earn an even split with New Zealand's Dan Carter in most polls for the best No10 in the game, but he is probably the only Wallaby who comes close.

Even then, it's debatable whether the Wallabies are best using their resources by playing him there. It may well be that the team would find more spark by returning him to inside centre, pushing Mortlock out to 13, where he is a contender for world's best, and using Berrick Barnes to run the plays from No.10.

In the forwards, Rocky Elsom strived mightily until he headed off to Leinster, leaving hooker Stephen Moore and openside flanker George Smith as the only Australia forwards who might get a look-in if a World pack was selected. Bench spots for them, most likely, with South Africa providing the hooker - John Smit or Bismarck du Plessis, take your pick - and Richie McCaw locking down the No.7 jersey.

But cast forward a couple of years and who knows. Five-eighth Quade Cooper has emerged as the find of the tour, not just because he pulled the Italy Test out of the fire, and if Deans can shape and discipline his talent, he could be capable of anything.

The same can be said of James O'Connor, 18, but former Australia coach Eddie Jones made a valid point when he warned that the Wallabies shouldn't mess him about by trying him in a variety of positions - even if he is, like Giteau, capable of being world-class in all of them.

Under Deans, virtually a team full of young players was capped for the first time this year. A handful of them - Hynes, Luke Burgess and Richard Brown - have entrenched themselves in the starting Test XV.

A string of others, from livewire prop Ben Alexander to O'Connor at full-back, should be bedded down in the Test side well in time for the next World Cup in 2011.

"You go back to where we started and we've come a long way, an awful long way," Deans said. The coach realised from the outset Australia had such a limited number of Test-standard players that he didn't even bother getting involved in selecting them, figuring they just about selected themselves.

Now, it's not so simple. Aside from half-back, which continues to be a worry, Australia have multiple back-ups in every position. The selection meetings are getting longer.

The improved depth is there for all to see.

For those who care to look carefully, the improved skill levels are also evident.
But it's with the intangibles, the self-belief within the squad, the harmony, the team dynamic, that Deans has made most progress.

Growth? It's everywhere.




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