Bledisloe test takes a mauling from media

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Already under the microscope in the buildup, the Wallabies, their coach Robbie Deans and the game of rugby were feeling the heat in the Australian media yesterday.

Former Wallaby Peter Fitzsimons dramatically set the backdrop on match day by declaring the future of the game was on the line at ANZ Stadium, unless it was a brilliant spectacle.

How that equates with the fact that 80,288 people bothered to trek out to the former Olympic village is hard to fathom. But all the same it seems Fitzsimons' Sydney Morning Herald front pager was picked up on by his colleagues.

Sunday Telgraph columnist James Hooper ripped into the test, describing the game as "tiresome". "Now I know why they call rugby the game played in heaven. Because it bores you to death."

There was some sympathy among the more unbiased rugby media but also clear frustration. Sydney's Sun Herald screamed "Don't mention the rugby", urging readers to look inside "if you must".

Former Wallaby captain Andrew Slack called the Wallabies "dumb", suggesting the home side had the ear of referee Jonathan Kaplan but still managed to lose.

"Somebody has got to stop watering down their blinkered enthusiasm, Deans' frustration will come not from the effort, physicality or skills of his players but rather their inability to think clearly from minute one to 80."

Rugby writer Greg Growden called it "one of the most demoralising losses for the Wallabies" but praised "great courage" and "exceptional" defence.

Deans was adamant his side were "on the right track" and "making progress", but his record is not flash now 20 tests for 12 wins and eight losses.

There is clearly pressure on the Kiwi-turned-Wallaby coach after Australia's Bledisloe Cup drought reached seven years.

"I'm not going to go belly-up if that's what you are asking," he bit back when quizzed on his record. "But the expectations are just as high in Australia [as for the All Blacks]."

Just how long an Australian media obsessed with rugby league, AFL and cricket, and holding the belief that rugby is for private schoolboys, will wait remains to be seen.

- © Fairfax NZ News