Great dilemma over Wallaby Robbie

STACY SQUIRES/The Press

STICKY WICKET: Robbie Deans and his son Sam enjoy playing some cricket together in Loburn not long after his announcement as new Wallabies coach.

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Marc Hinton

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You know that T-shirt that used to do the rounds? It went something like "I support two teams – New Zealand, and anyone playing Australia". Maybe there might need to be a new one hitting the streets in Christchurch: "I support the All Blacks, except when they're playing Australia".

That's probably being a little flippant, for I'm sure New Zealanders aren't about to backflip on the one thing they hold dearest – their unconditional support for the All Blacks. But if the events of the past few weeks are anything to go by, I sense a growing resentment over the latest direction taken by New Zealand rugby.

And it's one that could have severe repercussions for the game in this country in general, and its national administration in particular.

In fact the whole Robbie Deans saga has been a double-edged sword that's cut deep for a healthy sector of the New Zealand rugby community: not only have the NZRU seemingly abandoned the concept of accountability, transparency and fair process in the reappointment of Graham Henry and his cohorts; but they've handed our best coach straight to the Wallabies to rebuild their fragile international presence.

Sitting back and watching these dual appointments play out, and then observing the coverage they generated, one thing has become abundantly clear.

Whereas Henry's reappointment as All Blacks coach divided the nation and resulted in as much negative coverage as it has positive; Deans' anointment as the next Wallabies supremo has been greeted with almost universal approval and optimism on both sides of the Tasman.

In fact, the only hint of controversy has come – fittingly – over the NZRU's rather odd decision to allow Deans to continue as Crusaders coach for next year's Super 14.

We're not privy to contractual details and the part they may have played in that call, but on the surface it strikes me as bizarre that they've allowed a guy who is soon to be plotting the downfall of the All Blacks to guide a team containing a hefty swag of that team's key performers in the Super 14.

That's not to cast any sort of aspersions on the integrity of Deans – far from it, as I'm sure that he'll be a true professional to the bitter end – but it just seems that it would have been in the best interests of New Zealand rugby to cut their losses and start the new era in Christchurch immediately.

They don't want the guy one week, then they do the next. Wish they'd make their minds up.

I don't know what it is about Deans, but it seems when it comes to this consummate Cantab the NZRU don't seem to be able to get it right. There's definitely some personality conflicts there and a whiff of something not too pleasant about the short shrift he was given through their interview process.

Anyway, I wouldn't be at all surprised if Deans ends up having the last laugh, on a number of fronts.

And if I'm a board member of the NZRU or, worse, if I'm Steve Tew suddenly I'm sleeping a little uneasily. What is it they say? What goes around comes around. Or, things have a way of coming back to bite you in the bum.

Having been treated shabbily by his own national union, and particularly certain people within it, he can now demonstrate palpably just how wrong the NZRU were.

I'm not suggesting his Wallabies will suddenly be favourites, or that he possesses a magical midas touch, but they're a reasonable sort of chance of lifting the Bledisloe Cup off New Zealand next year, given as how they'll play two of their three tests against the All Blacks at home.

So what happens if the unthinkable happens, and Deans, on the back of just a few short weeks in the Wallabies job, somehow guides them to two wins out of three over the All Blacks? Well, "cleanout at the top" would be the first four words that spring to my mind.

And deep down there will be more than a few New Zealanders who wish Deans all the best. I'm one of them.

While I don't flat out want him to defeat the All Blacks, something in me hopes he succeeds in his new job because he deserves it, because he's a hard-working coach who knows the right buttons to push and because he's been largely betrayed by his own people.

And when I hear All Blacks assistant Steve Hansen making comments like the ones I read over the weekend, I still wonder at the world being inhabited by our national coaching panel. I wonder what colour the sky is in this land.

"The important thing was not to lose self- belief, get back on the horse and kick it in the guts," Hansen told one media outlet. "I think certain sections of the media tried to force their opinions on the public and they were generally rejected. The support we have had has been amazing."

Sure, there has been some backing for Henry and his cronies. But in the circles I've mixed there has been far more unanimous support for Deans, both in his ill-fated tilt at the All Blacks and latterly for his venture across the ditch.

This is a fact that the NZRU don't want to acknowledge, but one they are going to have to come to terms with. At a time when rugby's place in the scheme of things in New Zealand society is hanging by a thread, I believe both the public and the grassroots of the game are becoming increasingly disenfranchised.

The final word should go to my old dad who's a bit of a pragmatist when it comes to his sporting allegiance. Being a betting man, he's not immune to having a punt against his "home" side should he sense a chance to take some hard-earned cash off the TAB.

We were having a chat about the Henry-Deans scenario the other night and he said to me: "Do you know what, son, I hope those Wallabies beat the All Blacks now. That would really teach ‘em."

That it would.

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