Rugby: Deans must manage men

Robbie Deans has been accused of coaching in a New Zealand style. Photo / Getty Images

The one certainty accruing from the Wallabies' troubled tour of Europe is that Robbie Deans isn't going anywhere. Yet.

In circumstances where the first reaction is often to howl for the head of the coach, Australia's media and rugby fans have been strangely tolerant of the concept of Deans remaining in his job.

The fingers have been pointed far more often and vigorously at the players.

In some respects, they brought that on themselves. This is the bunch, remember, who wanted extra pay for a Probables-Possibles match organised by Deans as an extra selection trial before the now-debunked Grand Slam tour.

Understood to have been driven by senior Wallabies, the players wanted an extra A$2500 for the match - which was then cancelled.

That came after a poor Tri Nations campaign where the Wallabies lost all their matches against the All Blacks and most of the rest - although they did, once, beat the series-winning Springbok team.

Respected Australia rugby media like Greg Growden and Wayne Smith, among others, have written either scathing pieces about the players or deeply concerned articles unable to tell why the Wallaby malaise is happening.

One of the few to point the finger at Deans has been former Wallaby coach Eddie Jones.

He accused Deans of coaching in a New Zealand style, saying: "We have lost our distinctive Australian style of play, which is a bit of a problem. I think Robbie is going to have to change his ways a little bit and rethink the way the attack functions. This wide, deep, lateral attack doesn't suit Australian players."

Jones was the man Deans succeeded as coach after one of the worst prolonged spells of embarrassing losses in Australian rugby history, seven out of eight.

The loss against Scotland - when the Wallabies had towering superiority in possession and position - exposed the threadbare nature of Australian rugby stocks. It also showed that Southern Hemisphere sides (the All Blacks also aren't travelling so well on attack) are struggling with the way the sport's daft rules allow well-organised Northern Hemisphere defences to be heavily influential.

This is a list of world-class players not in the Wallabies for various reasons: No Nathan Sharpe, no Stirling Mortlock, no Lote Tuqiri, no Berrick Barnes, no Stephen Larkham, no George Gregan, no Chris Latham, no Phil Waugh, and, for large parts of this tour, no George Smith as his place has often gone to up-and-coming flanker David Pocock as part of the building process.