Richard Loe: Too early for Deans verdict

It's been interesting talking to Australian rugby people this week about the pressure on Robbie Deans.

There's no question people are looking at Robbie's record and looking for more wins - and I don't think he has a lock on the coach's job for the 2011 World Cup. Which is as it should be, especially with reference to the current situation in New Zealand.

But I was at a dinner this week with former Wallaby greats Phil Kearns and Tim Horan and asked them whether Deans was coming under pressure. They felt Graham Henry was under more and that Deans had already improved the Wallaby team "immensely".

They said he'd got their hearts and heads in the right places; had lifted skill levels; had chosen the right personnel and was doing the right thing in bringing hard nuts like Rocky Elsom back. Still, what everyone wants is results.

So there's probably more noise being made about Deans being under pressure in New Zealand than there actually is in Australia - though I see people like former Wallaby captain Andrew Slack have been having a bit of a go.

One of the things he said was that Robbie's coaching was lacking, so far, in the ability of his players to "seize the critical moments" in a match and that the best coaches were able to teach players how to perform under the intense pressure of the critical moment - and that was true of this thriller of a test match too.

However, before this match we could equally have said the same of Graham Henry - and he's the most experienced international coach in world rugby.

Both he and Deans are building teams right now - and the ability to seize the critical moments is grown on the field, not taught.

It is experience, it's forged in the intensity of test matches and both teams have some young or inexperienced personnel who are still learning the trade.

Let me give you an example. Some of the young players - Isaac Ross comes to mind for the All Blacks and Richard Brown for the Wallabies - are finding out just how much faster test rugby is even over Super 14.

In the test against the Boks, Brown tackled the ball carrier, leapt up and tried to take the ball. It was a legitimate manoeuvre - in Super rugby. But the test was so fast that two Springboks had arrived there, and two Aussies, the tackle was called a ruck and Brown was pinged. It is as simple as that. Both teams are still learning their way and that test could have gone either way last night - it's just that Dan Carter was the difference in closing it out, that's all.

The other complaint I heard in the Australian media was that Deans is not choosing enough hard nuts. Well, I'd say the first priority is to be able to play test match rugby - you need the ability first and the hardness second. It's a bonus if you get both in the same player.

Rocky Elsom is such a player. But he's been injured and playing in Europe before that and Horan told me that there was no doubt that the rugby in the north is inferior to what is played down here. Elsom stayed the distance a lot more than I thought he would last night - impressive.

Al Baxter wasn't - subbed off after 30 minutes; Robbie must have woken up to him at last. I find his a strange selection as, when Ben Alexander and Benn Robinson were together against the Boks, they outscrummed them - far more than the All Blacks did.

My beef with the All Blacks coaches is that they are doing and saying some strange things and making some strange decisions which are not helping the team - and I thought Luke McAlister was only average again.

Deans is still building and is doing so with less depth. The Wallabies and the All Blacks are pretty evenly matched at the moment - as was evidenced by this match and how both made stupid, basic mistakes against the Springboks.

So, while it is no surprise to find the jury out on Deans now, it should be a lot longer before anyone tries to come back with any sort of verdict.