The future of the wallabies/Robbie Deans

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sappy
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The future of the wallabies/Robbie Deans

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I recently wrote a blog after sitting back and thinking about the Wallabies 2012 season and how the 2013 international season should play out. Its a bit lengthy but worth a read. See what you think, cheers.


For the many supporters of Australian rugby, it was disconcerting to see how depleted the Australian rugby squad was and how inconsistent performances were over the 2012 rugby season. In terms of international competition, the Australians on paper show a decent record (12-5-1), however if you watched the games you will know that these performances were not at par with what we have come to expect from the Wallabies. Where one would usually expect a skilful display of well rehearsed passing and tactful kicking, we were all witness to poor decision making and immature play with the team playing as individuals rather than a clinical team.

Despite the wins, the Wallabies world ranking dropped one spot to 3rd and the teams performances were ridiculed openly in the media with doubt looming over the New Zealand born and trained coach, Robbie Deans. Despite the amounting pressure to reassign a new head coach, Deans contract ends in 2013, which left fans concerned with future Wallaby performances. The Chairman of the ARU, Michael Hawker, indicated that 2013 is a “make or break” year for Dean’s suggesting that if the Wallabies don’t find success his contract will not be renewed. Deans has also been criticized for his “boring” brand of rugby with the Wallabies only scoring 15 tries in 15 games. Off the back of this cracks were beginning to appear in the team when a fall out between coach Robbie Deans and high profile play maker Quade Cooper surfaced with Cooper claiming that Dean’s does not allow player creativity to flourish on the field.
Richie McCaw on Robbie Deans

This was something that Cooper was not used to as his success at the Reds was solely due to his freedom to be creative and often freakish with his attacking play. Cooper was open in saying that if the Wallabies were to beat the All Black’s, an open style of play must be promoted, a formula that had been adopted by the Reds. This was confirmed later in a book released by All Black Richie McCaw whom suggested that Dean’s would never have fit into the New Zealand All Blacks regime as his style of coaching didn’t allow open discussions regarding strategy with the team.

To compound the Wallabies problems, the team suffered an astonishing 15 injuries to players whom would usually be included in the starting team and 11 injuries to those usually selected to the bench. There is common belief that this is due to the increase in volume of games played through out the year in the new Super 15 competition schedule which then transitions into a busy international schedule. The injuries the Wallabies suffered left them depleted for the majority of the 2012 international season. The ARU has quickly identified this as a problem and implemented an injury management software tool to monitor all players injuries. This software monitors players training loads, player welfare and intensity through GPS tracking. This ensures the relevant data can be collected and analysed by sports medicine experts so that informed decisions can be made to ensure the players and the ARU are protected.

Despite this, the Wallabies still managed to string together wins which shows positive signs for the future. Even with a depleted team the Wallabies were able to win. Although not convincingly, they won. What we can look forward to this year, all things going well and a full selection is available is more consistent rugby with a polished finish. I believe people wouldn’t mind seeing the Wallabies lose, given their performance was to their potential. This year should see some of the younger players, whom now have several seasons under their belt, step up and take charge of the team. The likes of David Pocock and James O’Connor will be the corner stone of Australian rugby this year.

What can be said for Robbie Dean’s and his future? Like any good system, it takes a collective belief and time. To get rid of Dean’s two years before the next world cup may not be the smartest move for his strategies would now be maturing within the player group. Currently, I believe the playing group is still young and immature. The stars of the Wallabies in high pressure situations are trying to produce plays using individual skill when what is required is adhering to a strategy and apply relentless pressure. The international scene is different to Super Rugby and chip kicks, flick passes and flare often has no place leading to embarrassment. What is generally required is tactical kicking to apply pressure, tenacity at the break down, breaking the advantage line utilizing a good forward platform and converting opportunities into points, whether it be from penalties, field goals or tries. The formula is to hold the ball when necessary, make your opponent make the mistake, only kick to gain an advantage. Simple. I believe this is what Dean’s is trying to instil and he will get there eventually. If I was the ARU I would maintain Robbie as head coach until the next rugby world cup. By then the playing group will be well and truly matured and understand what it takes to be a champion team.

Hope you enjoyed the read! the actual article has pictures in it -> http://sappytips.com/2013/01/22/rugby-o ... iscussion/ for those of you bored with text.

Sappy
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www.sappytips.com
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