KEY POINTS:
It is a simple decision. Robbie Deans should be picked as the next All Black coach.
Strip away the emotion and pleas for reinstatement from Graham Henry and Co, ignore the strong record they had in the Lions series, the Grand Slam, Bledisloe Cup and Tri-Nations successes.
It
is time for the New Zealand Rugby Union to move on.
The makeup of the All Black coaching panel for 2008 hinged on this World Cup year. The judgment can only be that it was a flawed campaign to complete the most unfulfilling season of rugby in New Zealand since the game went professional.
There were stuttering efforts in the Tri-Nations, the quality of rugby was moderate and that pattern continued throughout the World Cup. Half a game of distinction against Italy was followed by modest returns against Portugal, Scotland, Romania and France.
Henry drove his strategies hard once the NZRU extended the selectors' initial two-year deal from the Lions series past the World Cup. His success and the NZRU obsession with the World Cup meant he could push the board towards his demands about rest, conditioning and player rotation.
There were glitches. The players insisted the coaches ease up on them, they were tired of the micro-management. That concession occurred and continued this year although in the week before the failure against the French in Cardiff, it seems there was a return to type with the players' deluged with information.
They in turn were left sluggish, lacked clarity and succumbed to the pressure.
That quarter-final loss against an average French side completed an uncertain season and should have spelled the end for Henry and Co.
But the decision, which is promised this week, on the All Black coach has become much more than a straight-out rugby choice because of the cosy arrangement the administration and board had with the panel.
Cardiff put the kybosh on the plan for Henry to step aside and Steve Hansen to take over. However Henry and Co were still able to liaise closely with the administrators and justify their roles as the interview and selection process lingered on.
They have banked on a one in, all in triple-pronged defence of their jobs against the solitary claims of Deans, who has fashioned a superb record with the Crusaders in the Super 14.
That is the only career path for rugby coaches in New Zealand and Deans has been consistently successful as a manager first and then a coach of that franchise.
The NZRU board has to acknowledge that pedigree. It should not be swayed by the sweet nothings they have been hearing from Henry and Co or the tense relationship Deans may have with some officials.
After the testy fallout from two years as John Mitchell's assistant, Deans knows he has to adjust, he has to be more inclusive, more aware of his wider responsibilities.
But he is a hands-on coach, he is in his prime, he is successful, he has proved to be an astute and innovative selector, a hard taskmaster and someone always seeking logical improvements.
Deans must be given two years to prove his credentials.
