Robbie Deans admits hitting rock bottom

BY GREG GROWDEN

Last updated 07:51 23/11/2009

Reuters

AUSSIE ANGUISH: Matt Giteau reacts after missing his last minute conversion against Scotland.

Relevant offers

A distressed Robbie Deans described it as the worst moment of his Wallabies coaching career after his team suffered the indignity of becoming the first Australian side in 27 years and 17 encounters to lose to Scotland.

Australian rugby sank to a new low on Saturday when the Wallabies, who had a stranglehold on possession and territory, failed to capitalise on their many scoring opportunities against brave but limited opponents, including a final-minute conversion that would have won the game.

While Scotland celebrated a memorable 9-8 victory at Murrayfield, the bedraggled visitors were left stunned, their grand slam tour having degenerated into disaster.

To make matters worse, the Wallabies had been handed a get-out-of-jail-free card when centre Ryan Cross scored as the final siren sounded, but Matt Giteau - who was way off his game, especially with his kicking - missed the relatively straightforward conversion from about 25 metres out.

For much of the Test the Wallabies were substandard. They lacked the killer instinct and the know-how to finish off Scotland and their work in attack was repeatedly and inexcusably inaccurate. They didn't seem to be able to string together a proper attacking move. They relied on desperation rather than inspiration and did not seem to play as a team. Too often they took the wrong option under pressure or were lackadaisical, making it easier for the Scotland's blanket defence to cover them.

It is no wonder the Wallabies have won only two of their past 10 Tests, because under pressure they are repeatedly exposed as second rate.

Even Deans could not believe what he had just seen. At the press conference he was asked if he had ever been involved in a Test match in which his team had been so dominant and had so many try-scoring opportunities, and still lost.

For several seconds Deans kept shaking his head, before glumly saying: ''Nope.''

Deans was later asked by the Sydney Morning Herald if this was his lowest moment as Australian coach.

''Without a doubt,'' he replied. ''We came up short in terms of representing Australia. That's the bottom line. We now own a piece of history which we are not proud of, but we are the ones who had the opportunity and came up short.

''None of these blokes strap on boots to fail, but the reality is we failed today. And we contributed to our own demise to a large extent, with all the errors we made.''

Ad Feedback

When asked if the Wallabies are now getting accustomed to failure, to the extent that it had turned into a habit, Deans replied: ''That's without a doubt. An inability to put teams away when they are there to be put away is a concern.

''You would like to think that tonight was the bottom of the barrel in terms of finding ways of stymying ourselves. If it wasn't so sad it would be comical about the number of ways we found to pressure ourselves, and to deny ourselves momentum, and ultimately points.''

The Wallabies were their own worst enemies, but they also had some bad luck. A Rocky Elsom try in the 45th minute was disallowed by the video referee, who believed the Australian captain had been held up, although it appeared he had grounded the ball.

A Drew Mitchell try in the 65th minute was also disallowed because of a forward pass from Quade Cooper, while Stephen Moore finished just short of the line in the first half when he seemed destined to score.

But when a team's key player is so off his game, it is near impossible to win. Apart from missing several easy shots at goal, Giteau did not help himself by going for a field goal just before half-time when there was a good attacking opportunity on his left. Then, after Scotland went ahead 6-3 in the 55th minute, the chance to retaliate was lost when Giteau kicked the re-start straight out on the full. For Australia's supposed in-form player, the John Eales Medal winner and a nominee for the IRB's player of the year award, it was a bewildering display.

''We had the opportunity to steal the game at the end, but it was not to be,'' Giteau said. ''It was disappointing … there's not a real lot else to say.''

To add to the team's woes, No.8 Wycliff Palu, who has a pinched nerve in his neck, halfback Will Genia (knee) and prop Benn Robinson (shoulder) are in doubt for the final Test of the tour against Wales in Cardiff on Saturday.

Scotland 9 (Phil Godman 2 pens, Chris Paterson drop goal) beat Australia 8 (Ryan Cross try; Matt Giteau pen) at Murrayfield, Edinburgh.

- © Fairfax NZ News

Dominion Post Homepage

Sponsored links

Share this page

Email Facebook MySpace Digg StumbleUpon Delicious Reddit Linkedin Twitter

115 comments
Post a comment

Expand All

Oldest First

cam #115 08:04 am Nov 27 2009

If dreaming of RWC makes you feel better about your teams poor results Joseph then good luck. The rest of the Rugby world certainly isnt stupid enough to destroy thier domestic game for 1 off RWC glory.

Im also quite happy to say I support Henry. I also supported the reconditioning and rotation policy. It was these that allowed us to bounce back from the 2007 player exodus and defend our tri nations title. My only gripe with Henry is he never settled on a number 1 side come 2007 RWC..... a mistake Im sure he wont repeat.

As for EABF you need to seek some professional help for your Anti-Henry obession mate it looks to be consumiong your life.

Ex All Black Fan #114 09:04 pm Nov 25 2009

Joseph- well put. I am constantly bemused by the 'Cult of Henry'...his followers seem to believe in anything and everything this sickeningly smug character feeds them! Reconditioning, Rotation, flat backlines, 'it was the refs fault' etc etc

Joseph #113 03:05 pm Nov 25 2009

Cam, Michael and a few other" johnny come lately - Brian Tamaki sorry Henry fans (I always get confused as their disciples have the same stars in their eyes) need to read around a few posts - Hell even start in this one and scroll down a bit to discover I am not a Deans supporter!!! If your going to have a crack at my posts start with fact rather than assumption.

Mark my words ..... Jake White & Woodward will always be remembered throughout rugby history books for their WC success while Henrys 2 attempts will want to be forgotten as soon as DC or McCaw gets injured in the round-robin game against Cambodia..Hahahaha Sheesh for you guys to labour on about the WC not meaning anything only serves to confirm what the rest of the rugby world think of kiwi rugby fans - conceited!

cam #112 11:26 pm Nov 24 2009

Just to emphasis the point

Horan, who finished on the losing side just 20 times in 80 Tests, emphasised the next Rugby World Cup was still a long way away. "That's not the be all and end all, there's a lot of Test matches in between that are just as important as the Rugby World Cup," Horan said. "People are looking for results today, not in two years time.

cam #111 10:20 pm Nov 24 2009

Joseph

How about you ask an Aussie if theyre happy to lose consistantly for a future RWC? Ex Wallaby Adam Frier spoke out against this ridiculous attitude in Sydneys media today. The only people trotting this line are the Deans apologists, Is White really consider a great coach for his solitary achievment... No, and Eddie Jones is not even consider a good coach. Was Woodward great? No, persistant but not great. He merely happened to be at the helm at the right time. To be consider great you need consistant results over a long period of time and this only comes with a refusal to except failure regardless of timing or circumstance. As Frier stated it would be unthinkable of the the Australian Cricket team to expect such mediocrity regardless of how many world cups they won. Quite simply if you want to call yourself No 1 you have to be No 1 when ever you step onto the field, not just for a few weeks every 4 years. I'd suggest Robbie take this on board ASAP... or he might not be around to see if the sacrifice was worth the effort come 2011.

JGM #110 06:12 pm Nov 24 2009

EVERYONE KNOCKING DEANS AND HIS COACHING STYLE....

Shhhhhhh!!

for goodness sakes everyone be quiet! If you keep this up the Aussies might actually get someone in who knows what to do.

Long may your reign continue Robbie!! (he says knocking furiously on wood)

michael #109 05:35 pm Nov 24 2009

All Weather Supporter #104 - You are on the $. That is the funniest thing in all this. Graham Henry was never actually quoted as saying 'judge me on my world cup results'. This is at best a lazy extrapolation (or exercise in paraphrasing) based on a series of interviews where he was actually saying that he wouldn;t know if his strategies were successful until after the world cup. This is a COMPLETELY different message to 'judge me on my results' as he was essentially saying 'hey look, I hope these work, we are confident, but we won't really know till after world cup'.

All the Deans supporters seem intent on affording Deans as much rope as they can based on some romanticised legacy (Crusaders), yet Henry is afforded absolutely none. He was asked to focus on winning first and attractive rugby second, and now he is doing that he is chastised for boring rugby.

I'm embarrassed by NZ rugby fans. Fickle and so misinformed it is not funny. Joseph #103- you accuse me of accepting whatever Henry serves, yet you are prepared to accept whatever the media serves? Oh the irony.

Joseph #108 04:58 pm Nov 24 2009

All Weather Supporter!! You should sign up to the Destiny Church big fellah! You clearly seem to be in need of another messiah to give you guidance. Clutching at straws now demanding what date what minute "that" quote was put forward by Henry. Funny cause Henry has never demanded of the media to specify when he said "what" aye only his starry eyed dreamy followers ala All Weather Supporter! I guess the reason why he doesnt demand it of the media is he doesnt need reminding of it.

You know as well as I Henry's kpi's are all tagged toward 2011 Wondered why his coaching debacle dont talk of transition coaching or picking players for their ability beyond 2011? He eats and sleeps WC champ so give the "we dont care about the WC" rant a rest aye. Like it or not Jake White will always be remembered now by the entire rugby world because of his WC victory while only a handful of starry eyed kiwis like you will bother to remember Henry for his attempt. Oh thats right his TWO attempts.

yeahnahyeah #107 04:37 pm Nov 24 2009

Agree @All Weather Supporter #104

When England Won the WRC, we and othe teams else wasted them thereafter - bunch of muppets, actually the AB's are only team to stay undefeated for lengthy period post world cup glory.

The writing was on the wall before Deans took over. and its not that bad for him or ozzie wasn't like they got thrashed, they just missed their kicks.

rugby at the moment is not to disimilar to before the 87 rwc, it was tight rugby, we lost a few games and teams were close back then aswell. australia will bounce back and ab's will aswell hasn't been our greatest season either.

Ex All Black Fan #106 04:02 pm Nov 24 2009

So our old Graham Henry lovin' friend All Weather Supporter clearly thinks winning a World Cup means nothing...seemingly preferring to be in the top echelon of IRB 'World Rankings' (which are designed as a seeding for the actual World Cup tournament!) Tell that theory to the great '87 World Cup side...I was immensely proud of that team..just as The Boks can proudly call themselves World Champions now, and yes, even your hated England were World Champions from 2003-2007. (grow up and accept this FACT) By your own bizarre logic you won't be watching the World Cup in 2011 then?? As it clearly means so little??

Ad Feedback

Show 56-105 of 115 comments

Post comment

Name:	Required
Email:	Required. Will not be published.

Registration is not required to post a comment but if you , you will not have to enter your details each time you comment. Registered members also have access to extra features. Create an account now.

Maximum of 1750 characters (about 300 words)

I have read and accepted the terms and conditions
These comments are moderated. Your comment, if approved, may not appear immediately. Please direct any queries about comment moderation to the Opinion Editor at blogs@stuff.co.nz

Sport Headlines

RSS