Steve
08-18-2009, 05:03 PM
Randell's rant tainted by skipper's unhappy ending under Deans
Spiro Zavos | August 18, 2009
SO THERE was Taine Randell, the former All Blacks captain, putting the boot into Robbie Deans. According to Randell, the Wallabies under Deans are clones of the successful Canterbury Crusaders sides he coached to seven Super rugby titles. They kick a lot, have a slick back line that counter-attacks very well but lack mongrel in the pack. This playing style, Randell argued, works at the Super rugby level but not at the Test level.
Deans was the assistant coach of the All Blacks in 2003. This side, Randall says, lost to England in a June Test because it was "bullied" by the England pack, and by the Wallabies in the Rugby World Cup semi-final. Now sides are bullying the Deans-coached Wallabies pack in a similar manner.
When I studied history an eternity ago, we were always taught to look at the context of the document under review and look behind the words for possible motives for what was written.
Randell was axed from the All Blacks by the new John Mitchell-Deans coaching team. The episode was unpleasant, and probably still rankles. There is also widespread antagonism towards the Crusaders in New Zealand, which is reflected in a divisive Auckland-Canterbury split. The Randell argument, too, fails to acknowledge that the 2003 All Blacks made the semi-finals of the World Cup and took third place in the tournament, defeating France in the play-off, while the 2007 All Blacks were famously, or infamously, put out in the quarter-finals by France.
There is some truth, though, in the argument that the Wallabies pack lacks mongrel. This is not a symptom of coaching, it is a personnel problem. The loss of Daniel Vickerman and the absence this season of Rocky Elsom are important factors. With these players in the pack, or even one of them, the sort of bully-boy intimidation that, say, Bakkies Botha provides so successfully for the Springboks, will be restored. Mongrel itself is not an answer, though. Phil Waugh tried this tactic unsuccessfully some years ago against Richie McCaw in a losing Test at Auckland.
To my mind, the reason the Wallabies have been unsuccessful in their two Tri Nations Tests this year is because they concede far too many penalties in big matches. The Crusaders under Deans, on the other hand, were far better disciplined. You could argue, therefore, that the Wallabies have not become enough like the Crusaders under Deans.
Rugby statistician Matthew Alvarez says the Wallabies have been outscored through penalty goals by 12 to three in this year's Tri Nations. This amounts to a differential of 27 points. The combined loss for the two matches was only 18 points. Against the Springboks, the Wallabies did not have one penalty goal attempt. They received only one penalty inside the Springboks half. The three Wallabies sin-binned was only the second time in the professional era this has happened to the team. This alarming concession of kickable penalties goes back to the coaching regime of Eddie Jones. The Wallabies have lost 26 Tests since 2004. In 18 of those, they have been outscored on penalty goals by an incredible 73 to 23 (150 points differential). In the same 18 Tests, the Wallabies have been outscored in tries 43 to 32 (55 points differential).
On Saturday night, the All Blacks will have Daniel Carter's kicking genius, and the referee is the South African Jonathan Kaplan. If the Wallabies lose the penalty count, you'd have to believe they will lose the Test.
spiro@theroar.com.au (http://www.thechiefbaboon.com/forums/"mailto:spiro@theroar.com.au")
Spiro Zavos | August 18, 2009
SO THERE was Taine Randell, the former All Blacks captain, putting the boot into Robbie Deans. According to Randell, the Wallabies under Deans are clones of the successful Canterbury Crusaders sides he coached to seven Super rugby titles. They kick a lot, have a slick back line that counter-attacks very well but lack mongrel in the pack. This playing style, Randell argued, works at the Super rugby level but not at the Test level.
Deans was the assistant coach of the All Blacks in 2003. This side, Randall says, lost to England in a June Test because it was "bullied" by the England pack, and by the Wallabies in the Rugby World Cup semi-final. Now sides are bullying the Deans-coached Wallabies pack in a similar manner.
When I studied history an eternity ago, we were always taught to look at the context of the document under review and look behind the words for possible motives for what was written.
Randell was axed from the All Blacks by the new John Mitchell-Deans coaching team. The episode was unpleasant, and probably still rankles. There is also widespread antagonism towards the Crusaders in New Zealand, which is reflected in a divisive Auckland-Canterbury split. The Randell argument, too, fails to acknowledge that the 2003 All Blacks made the semi-finals of the World Cup and took third place in the tournament, defeating France in the play-off, while the 2007 All Blacks were famously, or infamously, put out in the quarter-finals by France.
There is some truth, though, in the argument that the Wallabies pack lacks mongrel. This is not a symptom of coaching, it is a personnel problem. The loss of Daniel Vickerman and the absence this season of Rocky Elsom are important factors. With these players in the pack, or even one of them, the sort of bully-boy intimidation that, say, Bakkies Botha provides so successfully for the Springboks, will be restored. Mongrel itself is not an answer, though. Phil Waugh tried this tactic unsuccessfully some years ago against Richie McCaw in a losing Test at Auckland.
To my mind, the reason the Wallabies have been unsuccessful in their two Tri Nations Tests this year is because they concede far too many penalties in big matches. The Crusaders under Deans, on the other hand, were far better disciplined. You could argue, therefore, that the Wallabies have not become enough like the Crusaders under Deans.
Rugby statistician Matthew Alvarez says the Wallabies have been outscored through penalty goals by 12 to three in this year's Tri Nations. This amounts to a differential of 27 points. The combined loss for the two matches was only 18 points. Against the Springboks, the Wallabies did not have one penalty goal attempt. They received only one penalty inside the Springboks half. The three Wallabies sin-binned was only the second time in the professional era this has happened to the team. This alarming concession of kickable penalties goes back to the coaching regime of Eddie Jones. The Wallabies have lost 26 Tests since 2004. In 18 of those, they have been outscored on penalty goals by an incredible 73 to 23 (150 points differential). In the same 18 Tests, the Wallabies have been outscored in tries 43 to 32 (55 points differential).
On Saturday night, the All Blacks will have Daniel Carter's kicking genius, and the referee is the South African Jonathan Kaplan. If the Wallabies lose the penalty count, you'd have to believe they will lose the Test.
spiro@theroar.com.au (http://www.thechiefbaboon.com/forums/"mailto:spiro@theroar.com.au")