Ignoring Deans bound to haunt NZRU

Fairfax Media

BACK IN BLACK? The groundswell of opinion seems to be for Robbie Deans to rejoin the All Blacks as head coach. But is the NZRU listening?

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Duncan Johnstone

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The biggest decision facing the New Zealand Rugby Union this week over the All Blacks coaching debate is not so much whether they want Robbie Deans but more a question of whether they can afford to let him go.

A few thoughts around the beloved Bledisloe Cup could help sway their thinking.

As Deans prepares to battle for the All Blacks position with incumbent Graham Henry and no-chances Ian Foster and Colin Cooper, the board in Wellington should peer into the NZRU's trophy cabinet as they make their way into the interview room.

The prime position that had been readied for the Webb Ellis Cup remains empty and Graham Henry's inability to bring home the World Cup when so much was invested in that cause would be enough to see him ousted under normal circumstances.

The massive Bledisloe Cup dominates the silverware on display and given New Zealand's inability to end a 20-year World Cup drought it's not unreasonable to suggest that the Bledisloe has become the most cherished cup in the minds of the fans who have become used to the absence of the golden goblet that represents global dominance.

If Deans is shunned by the NZRU he has more than a million reasons to pack his bags and cross the Tasman to take charge of the Wallabies and put the Bledisloe in his sights.

A massive contract is being touted as his bounty in Australia, with an annual salary reportedly three times greater than his rivals over there.

That's how highly the Australians regard Deans as they see him as the coach to change their slumping fortunes.

Henry will press his claims by pushing his fine overall record of 42 wins from 48 tests to overshadow the World Cup shambles. Included in that is the retention of the Bledisloe Cup for the past four years with sevens wins and two losses against the Wallabies.

But it's fair to say that Henry has operated against a Wallabies side on the slide. Closer inspection shows that four of the All Blacks wins have come by margins of 10 or less points. The Wallabies, despite their shortcomings have remained competitive against New Zealand.

Even with the need to shore up their scrum and find a new halves combination to replace legends George Gregan and Stephen Larkham the Wallabies will always loom as a tricky equation for the All Blacks because of the trans-Tasman rivalry and the hard-nosed Aussie mentality.

Throw Deans into the Wallabies mix and it could be a disaster waiting to happen for the All Blacks.

Coaching has remained Australian rugby's greatest weakness since 1999 World Cup-winning mentor Rod Macqueen stepped down and Eddie Jones' methods staled. That's why they have taken the unprecedented step of looking offshore and courted Deans.

They know he has the ability to provide the missing X-factor as they build towards another World Cup Down Under in New Zealand in 2011.

Surely the NZRU must realise something similar - that Deans, Super rugby's super coach with four titles to his name, has the ability to maintain the lofty standards demanded of the All Blacks but, more importantly, bring a fresh approach when the next World Cup pressures will be magnified even further by operating on home soil.

Opinion polls and bookmakers point to strong favouritism for Deans, an assistant to John Mitchell from 2001-03, to finally nail the All Blacks' top job.

But when politics is involved, anything can happen and Henry is a canny character. His decision to reapply for his job will have been based around a calculated decision rather than blind faith in the bosses to whom he delivered everything except the greatest prize of all.

Deans must be admired for the way he stuck with New Zealand in the wake of his own World Cup disappointment and continued to inspire the Crusaders year after year.

He has done everything asked of him. He is in his prime and deserves the chance to operate at the next level.

His greatest fear must be that this whole process is nothing more than a public charade, a PR exercise by the men in charge who granted Henry his every wish and would then need to question their own accountability if they axed him.

They could feel that to make Henry reapply, to call for nominations and go through the protracted interviewing and appointment procedure could be seen as doing the right thing and enough to justify a quick reappointment.

But one thing everyone at rugby headquarters must realise is that if the NZRU board reappoint Henry and the All Blacks ever lose the Bledisloe Cup to a Deans-led Australian side, it won't just be the coach's blood that the public will call for.

There have been suggestions that they face a massive decision this week. But in reality it is a simple one - the NZRU will ignore Deans at their own peril.

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