Deans in no danger of axe
Australian Rugby Union chief executive John O’Neill says that coach Robbie Deans’s job is safe despite a season of poor results.
The Wallabies were woeful in their 9-8 defeat to Scotland at Murrayfield on Saturday, and Deans has an ordinary record of just 14 victories and a draw from 27 Tests since taking over last year. Under his leadership they have won just two of their last 10 Tests, including winning just one match in the Tri-Nations.
O’Neill said he was ‘devastated’ by the loss, but he refuted the suggestion that Deans, who is contracted until after the 2011 World Cup, was in danger of losing his job.
‘We have every confidence in Robbie Deans being the right coach for us,’ O’Neill told the Sydney Morning Herald.
O’Neill explained that there would be a review of the season with Deans and leading officials from the ARU after their year-end tour, but stressed that it wouldn’t be an attack on the coach.
‘The results are clearly disappointing and not acceptable,” O’Neill said. ‘We have two more games to go on the tour and rest assured we will be reviewing every aspect of this tour. [High Performance manager] David Nucifora, myself, Robbie Deans and the ARU board will have a good, hard look at what is going wrong.
‘It will be an objective, balanced assessment of the pros and cons of this entire season. It will take in all of the Test matches starting from June and finish off with this tour. ‘It is crucial that we are really confrontational with every aspect of “Team Wallaby”.’
Defeat in the midweek fixture against Cardiff on Tuesday is sure to heap additional pressure on Deans. However, he has named a young but competent side to face the Blues.
Australia - 15 James O’Connor, 14 Lachie Turner, 13 Ryan Cross, 12 Tyrone Smith, 11 Kurtley Beale, 10 Matt Toomua, 9 Luke Burgess, 8 Richard Brown, 7 Matt Hodgson, 6 Mitchell Chapman, 5 Dean Mumm (c), 4 Dave Dennis, 3 Sekope Kepu, 2 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 1 Pek Cowan.
Subs: 16 Salesi Ma’afu, 17 Matt Dunning, 18 Mark Chisholm, 19 George Smith, 20 Richard Kingi, 21 Quade Cooper, 22 Luke Morahan.
November 23rd, 2009 at 9:40 pm
@justrugby:
matchplay or individual medal/stableford?
November 23rd, 2009 at 9:42 pm
@Kronung: i thought they were very dominant actually….but thats next years debate…lets see squads first i reckon….
November 23rd, 2009 at 9:44 pm
@charo:
Individual Stableford !!!
November 23rd, 2009 at 9:46 pm
@grant10: More so in the run up than at the beginning.
Young Crusaders to come good I believe.
Of course the one or two floor-crossers can make a difference so as you say lets wait and see. Till next year then……
November 23rd, 2009 at 9:49 pm
gonna spend some time with the blonde…cheers gents…
Justrugby you biscuit!!
Outta here
November 23rd, 2009 at 9:53 pm
@justrugby:
to me that is more difficult to win than matchplay.
last year i won a foursomes matchplay cup (36 holes) at our club. we had one or two bad holes but you can put that behind you because a bad score is only a hole.
in medal(mainly) or stableford you carry the bad holes right to the end.
November 23rd, 2009 at 9:55 pm
@charo:
We have 3 cometitions throughout the year…….One is the winner of our annual tour, we go on a tour to George /Knysna every year (my son won this for the 2nd time ), we have a league format , each month on our monthly outing all scores are accumalated and carried forward and addeed to the next month and then the individual who has the most points for the year is crowned the league champ. Then we play our club champs over 27 holes.
All competitions are played on the individual stableford format.
All winners receive trophies,etc at our year end function which takes place this friday
November 23rd, 2009 at 9:57 pm
@charo:
Well done boet……mtchpaly is a fantastic format……….mind games come into play big time , I really enjoy it !!
November 23rd, 2009 at 10:03 pm
I think I also wanna be a DOR where I can I sign up. Must be the most cushy job on the planet DOR. Not fussy anywhere will do, Boland SWD Border any old rugby team even False Bay Rugby Club. Think I’m gonna give them a call in the morning. I also wanna be a DOR. year sounds just groovy.
November 23rd, 2009 at 10:05 pm
@skopskiet:
LOl… I’m sure you will do a great job !!
November 23rd, 2009 at 10:14 pm
@skopskiet:HA HA HA.. these DOR gigs come with performance contracts skop, can you handle that?
November 23rd, 2009 at 10:21 pm
@justrugby:
yes and foursomes matchplay even more complicated – rule is never say sorry to your partner and don’t expect a “sorry” back
November 23rd, 2009 at 10:22 pm
@justrugby:
sounds like a really organised golf society.
tours are the biz
November 23rd, 2009 at 10:24 pm
@Transformation:
skoppie is bullet proof – he can handle anything or anybody.
November 23rd, 2009 at 10:29 pm
DOR is a piece of cake man, where can I sign up, any old rugby club or franchise will do, hell I’ll even take the Bok DOR job, in fact I’d be just perfect for it, guide poor P. Div through all those rattle snake nests like a cake walk through the tulips.
November 23rd, 2009 at 10:29 pm
@charo: wassup charo? Man your nic, does it not have a derogatory connotation to indian people in this country?
So skoppie is die man van staal…
November 23rd, 2009 at 10:36 pm
@skopskiet: do you thinl you can stand up to those bulle balies when they forward a motion to relieve pdv of his duties prior to the 2011?
November 23rd, 2009 at 10:37 pm
howdy Charo matey how’s deepest darkest Africa treating you, sounds Ok to me. Golf on wednesdays and saturdays and all those groovy easy going people. Good thing I’m not over there cause you probably never get me back here again. Sommer land up eloping with a beautiful exquisite dark eyed beauty n disappear without a trace.
So much for my DOR aspirations huh?
November 23rd, 2009 at 10:41 pm
@Transformation:
actually i was asked that when i first appeared yonks ago.
truth is, i have hinnian mates who refer to me as witou and me to them as charo – durbs is a bit like that – people are relaxed with giving each other racial nicknames as long as you are comfortable with it.
i suppose if an indian oke came onto keo he might be upset initially but i figured not too many indians are into rugby anyway.
to me it identifies which team i support
November 23rd, 2009 at 10:42 pm
those bulletkie bal balletlies piece of putty in my hands man no sweat whatsoever, they crumble beneath the weight of my superior rationality. Ol Pdv would be safe as houses under my care. So where I sign up, c.mon Regan I’m officially putting my name in the hat for Bok DOR. just up my alley that cushy piece of cake job.
November 23rd, 2009 at 10:47 pm
@skopskiet:
skoppie, the people here are lovely and the ladies beautiful.
but, hell, are there frustrations.
i’m actually pretty pissed off at the moment (trying not to show it) because of the awful service delivery one has to put up with.
went to multichoice last week to get a pvr.
firstly they disconnected my existing decoder before the pvr was installed. next, they eventually install the pver 3 days late and now the f’cking thing doesn’t work!!!
talk about pulling one’s hair out.
but hey, if things worked perfectly here, they wouldn’t need expats like me.
look on the bright side of life.
November 23rd, 2009 at 11:01 pm
yeah Charo mate life wr never meant to be perfect if it were you can rest assured none of us would be here. Life is all about opposites every good there gotta be a bad. This is the way of life good n bad, hot n cold, rich n poor, pleasure n pain, light n dark, love n hate. Without all the opposites what would life on this planet be. Without gravity we all spin off into space. Right?
November 23rd, 2009 at 11:08 pm
@skopskiet:
the main saving grace is the ghanaian people that surround me – very caring and sympathetic.
problem is they experience more difficulties on a daily basis than i as an expat experience in a month.
they are great for bringing me back to earth.
November 23rd, 2009 at 11:17 pm
skoppie,
how is the property market in your end of the peninsular?
am thinking about taking early retirement and moving back there.
my preference is kommetjie – want to get a small boat and get into crayfishing again
November 23rd, 2009 at 11:19 pm
yes its always refreshing and sobering to see others with so much humility and forbearance in spite of their daily difficulties they have to bear and they somehow manage to smile through it all while we curse at the first sign of hardship. Wonder how many of us appreciate our lot really. Could be a whole lot worse.
November 23rd, 2009 at 11:26 pm
sounds good Charo prices been down for awhile I would reckon now not a bad time to invest though one can’t know for sure how future going to turn out. Still a buyers market out here Kommetjie is nice and quiet I guess anything between 1.5 bar up to maybe 5 bar going levels. Grant would be better equipped to inform you about the market trend but prices been under pressure for awhile so maybe now is good time to invest I reckon. You look around could even probably get a good bargain maybe some folks are desperate to sell.
November 23rd, 2009 at 11:30 pm
@charo:
I have worked in war torn countries for three years now and I can tell you, the have nots suddenly forget what a conscience is when they see dollar signs. We’re there to help them but they could not give a continental..money talks and the UN is just an obstacle to any get rich quick scheme.
Ghana like many other African countries could be so wealthy if their government ran the country correctly. I have vokol sympathy.
November 23rd, 2009 at 11:40 pm
@skopskiet:
cheers skoppie – looking at about 2 bar for a smallish cottage.
@Predawn:
graft and power are the driving forces in africa – but the ordinary people are left with nothing.
but things are changing. when i first started in west africa in the late 90’s, the people here didn’t question the ruling party – they blindly believed all the slogans.
now, they are more sceptical and question more.
a bit like good old rsa
November 23rd, 2009 at 11:44 pm
ok I keep an eye out for something round there. I got a daughter staying in Kommetjie she may know something or someone in the know.
November 23rd, 2009 at 11:57 pm
no rush skoppie, am stuck here so can’t do a lot about buying another property until i’m in the area.
might make a visit first half of next year to get a feel for the area.
am sure it’s grown since my days of surfing outers.
November 24th, 2009 at 1:06 am
@Ratel Brussow (MSIUR): All Blacks have never lost to the Scots or the Irish I really wonder how the Boks or Wallabies felt when they lost those respective games to these countries shameful, it wont be long I guess when an All Black will suffer this lost boy I would hate to be that All Black.
November 24th, 2009 at 1:41 am
@charo:
you really do speak the most incredible amount of poop. Atleast FSJakes is trying to debate issues, you seem to struggle putting sentences together without including some teenage angst drivvel. I dunno, maybe you are.
@fsjakes:
The point was not about whether NZ should bow to whom but, of much more interest, the willingness with which to apply double-standards to suit your own purposes.
Last year all we heard was that the TriN ‘didnt matte’r because it was only what a team did at the RWC that mattered. How coincidental that this fitted perfectly with the Boks achievements at the time and diminished those of the TriN Champion and glossed over the TriN Wooden Spoon.
We also heard that World Rankings meant nothing. That was because ‘only Silverware counted’ with reference, again, back to RWC. Again, how coincidental that this suited the Boks status at the time and diminished those of the World no1.
Well suddenly in 2009 ALOT more interest and respect when the Boks take the TriN and then, momentarily, hold the no1 spot.
And yet then the all-conquering Boks hit a speedbump in the NH and suddenly, the goal posts are shifting again to suit your own purposes, the application of those same double-standards. The stubborn refusal to acknowledge the loss to France as anything other than ‘better on the day’ on 1 hand but desperate for the ABs to be recognised as the Boks inferiors on the other.
If youd actually been paying attention prior to today, you would already have seen my repeated praise of the Boks performance before and after every SA vs NZ match (ignore Charo, he’s an imbecile). Furthermore I have already advocated that France are potentially the best team in 2009 whether or not they have the silverware and/or the ranking to prove it. Certainly if they beat ABs in Marseille that would be enough for me.
But as has been proven here time and time again, this never seems to be enough for those not willing to see the woods for the trees on a landscape where the goalposts are always, always, shifting. Funnily enough, the outcome is always the same too.
November 24th, 2009 at 1:46 am
@grant10:
So, G10, do you admit that France are currently the Boks superiors ?
November 24th, 2009 at 2:16 am
@WakaNathan: Agapanthus. All that matters is we beat you 3 x this year.
I could give a fk about anything else.
And then we start again in 2010.
You are wrong about Charo. Good bloke.
November 24th, 2009 at 3:13 am
@WakaNathan:
So wakadoos, do you agree the AB’s are this season Boks *******?
November 24th, 2009 at 3:49 am
WAKA and FSJAKES….i’ll settle your argument for you. A team is judged as being the best because of sheer consistency. This year the most consistent team in terms of wins is South Africa….fullstop. Tiger Woods is the best golfer because of consistency, even if he loses a few random tournaments in Timbuktu, that doesn’t make the lucky amateur that beat him a better player. Rodger Federer is the best even if some no-name teenager may have his number a couple of games a year….CONSISTENCY IN WINNING AGAINST THE BEST…NZ have not had that this year and therefore have had a **** season regardless of if they think a few poor wins over england and italy paper over the cracks. We played the BEST of the grand slam teams and won, beat NZ 3-0, BEAT AUS 2-1…thats what the record books will say for 2009. Not, “failed to beat france in a one off while it took NZ 2 attempts to do it in their own backyard”
WAKA is desperate, and let him be…i would be if i had to support the drivel i saw from NZ this year. We should let go of our defensive attitude guys, it reeks of insecurity…this has been our year, so when guys like WAKA try play it down just laugh in their face and agree with them coz deep down they know what the score is.
November 24th, 2009 at 3:52 am
@WakaNathan: Head to Head France have been more superior to The Boks this year (1-0)….and so using that logic i’m sure you’ll happily agree that the boks have been FAR superior to NZ….3-0
November 24th, 2009 at 2:20 pm
@SodaJoe:
Fair enough. But I dont think thats ‘all that counts’, slightly disengenuous, Bok fans are prouder than that.
What I do find is this revolving policy of what really counts.
Last year when ABs beat Boks 2-1, all that ‘counted’ was the RWC.
The TriN didnt count. Apparently. But this year, it counts.
Last year and before, a World no1 Ranking didnt count. This year it counts.
Now the no1 Ranking goes, and all of a sudden its 3-0 ‘that counts’.
Im often accused of not giving the Boks any deserved credit. Which is wrong, I have after every single TriN match. But why I find that accusation so extraordinary, is that the afforementioned shifting-goalposts just confirms that it is Bok fans who simply cant bring themselves to give credit to the opposition.
November 24th, 2009 at 2:22 pm
@SodaJoe:
Im pleased for you and Charo. But I tend to show as much respect as I am shown. Which in his case is Zero.