Chris Rattue: Wallabies drown in shallow talent pool

Photo / Rod Emmerson

World Cup-winning coach Bob Dwyer, the self-anointed slayer of Robbie Deans, sounded like an angry man as he asked how long Wallaby supporters had to endure test defeats.

The simple answer, Bob old bean, is that the end is not in sight, no matter who the coach is.

One answer to Australian rugby woes lies abroad. The Ockers could lure tough forwards from other countries, players who have sufficient Australian heritage or are still capable of meeting residency rules, into their teams.

Apart from that, though ...

The game across the Ditch needs to act quickly, because their public and sponsors are not going to endure continued failure at test and Super 15 level.

The power game is in, and the guile that Australia relied on, quite brilliantly at times, has been overrun like a shopping trolley under a freight train. Their pack is fragile enough, and a couple of key injuries render it borderline useless.

This sad state of affairs, not just for the Ockers but for rugby in general, existed long before Deans took up his post - it is the reason John Connolly was brought in for a stunningly unsuccessful attempted rescue act at the last World Cup.

Dwyer himself is among the many Australian rugby honchos who failed to take their game past a point where a steady trickle of genius players - mainly backs - enabled the Wallabies to rule the rugby world.

What lay underneath was always a problem, now exposed as New Zealand and South Africa harness their muscle power, even if South Africa are still hamfisted under the outrageously bad coaching of Peter de Villiers.

Rugby is a posh game in Aussie. In competition with other extremely strong codes, it can't supply its top echelons with enough quality players, especially in the engine room.

Australian packs survived, and even flourished, on their smarts, but the game has gone past the point where packs can survive without some brute force.

There is a lot to admire in the Australian rugby DNA, because skill has always been held in high regard.

But if someone as erudite as Dwyer fishes for red herrings rather than address the real issues, then the Aussie game has also lost its intellect.

Yes, the Deans era has been disappointing. And yes, many of us - including his staunchest supporters - may feel he is making errors. But you only have to look at the quality of players being produced to know the problem is way deeper than that.

Dwyer blathered on about Deans' decision to play Saia Faingaa instead of Stephen Moore at hooker, as if Moore - a very average test hooker anyway - was a panacea for the ills of Aussie rugby.

If Dwyer believes that the second best Aussie hooker is so inferior to what he believes is the No 1 choice, then that should be his concern and not the fact that Deans is getting the initial selection wrong.

In contrast, when the All Blacks lost Andrew Hore, they had Keven Mealamu to rely on, with Corey Flynn waiting in the wings. They could turn to Jason Rutledge or Hika Elliot, who are not of Mealamu class, but better than Stephen Moore.

Australian rugby doesn't have access to the majority of the best football talent, misses out on the toughness that a working class core brings to any sport, and the only players worth snaring from league are backs. They also suffer because their players are not brought up in the school of hard knocks.

Once a byword for rugby's smartest coaches, Australia can't even claim that any more.

*Roll up, roll up, and enjoy all the fun of the circus.

Over here we've got the bearded lady, over there the strong man and, oh yes, way over there is a game of cricket. Roll up, roll up ...

Cricket is getting dangerously close to that fake sport involving large men in tights and enough fake blood to last the Harlequins rugby club a couple of seasons.

Credibility wise, the game was shot well before the Pakistani no-ball scandal.

The ICC should have cringed during the last World Cup, when the world was so easily convinced that evil gamblers did poor Bob Woolmer in.

Cricket administrators have not been ruthless enough in dealing with match-fixers. Yet how do you detect and stop match-fixing, if players themselves are so prepared to be involved?

Administrators can't follow every player and monitor every phone call.

Divisions within cricket make the job of stamping out cheating even harder. The establishment has been overrun by the power of Indian money.

Those in the East don't trust those who administer the game in the West, and those in the West don't trust those who play the game in the East.

What a disaster.

Test cricket, the only form of the game some of us are interested in, is on its death bed in New Zealand. None of the world's top teams act as if they actually want to come here. Test cricket isn't even played in Auckland any more and few people have time to indulge in its charms.

The ODI World Cup is a dud and I'd suggest that test cricket won't survive another 50 years. Twenty/20 will take over, and millions around the world will love the quick-hit game the same way that millions around the world love staged wrestling.

No matter. Life moves on. I've already switched to following American baseball, a fabulous, fascinating and sufficiently legitimate game, give or take a steroid or two. And a four-hour game is often a better fit into life than one which can take up to five days.

There is even something quite invigorating in being able to abandon an old friend gone wrong, and start learning something new.

And hey, I've already seen enough cricket games to last a lifetime. Wonderful memories of what was a magnificent sport - and especially the great days of the Richard Hadlee era - will have to suffice.

*Treat him mean, keep him keen.

As ridiculous as it is for an Aucklander to give any sort of rugby advice to a Cantabrian, that's this column's suggestion to the red-and- blacks coach Rob Penney in dealing with Sonny Bill Williams.

Don't give him an even break. Make him sweat for every opportunity. Put him in the reserves against Bay of Plenty on Friday night, and only give him the final three minutes. Don't bow to any pressure.

Sonny Boy has had too many people sucking up to his talents for too long - that's why he acts like a spoiled brat.

Be loyal to your real team, Rob Penney, and in the process you'll do Williams a favour. He'll either knuckle down to the hard slog, or he'll be off to try yak racing or barbecue throwing or whatever else he has in mind for his smorgasbord career.

Williams' entry into New Zealand rugby is being greeted with a mixture of high anticipation, scepticism and criticism.

If he turns out to be a rugby star, all will be forgiven and forgotten by the masses.