Rugby: Pressure on for Deans

Wallabies coach Robbie Deans. Photo / Getty Images

Even if the Bledisloe Cup rugby test venue does not live up to its description as an ice rink, coach Robbie Deans' downward trajectory will continue if his adopted Wallabies fail to finally gain traction against the All Blacks here tomorrow night.

The state of Etihad Stadium's pitch, Quade Cooper's suspension and a New Zealand photographer's release of the All Blacks gameplan dominated the build-up to the first of four trans-Tasman rugby tests in Australia's disinterested Australian Football League heartland.

But more realistic factors influencing the outcome were publicised before the teams arrived in Melbourne. Another Wallabies' fadeout after halftime and history suggests the Wallabies are on the brink of adding a negative footnote to Deans' illustrious coaching career.

Drop an eighth consecutive test against the All Blacks and Deans heads home to Christchurch next week with the Wallabies' worst Bledisloe Cup losing sequence since New Zealand locked down the trophy with nine wins between 1936-47.

The seven-match losing streak - despite leading five of the last six matches at halftime - already equals the woeful Wallabies of 1967-74 and 1995-97.

Deans' relief was evident in Brisbane last weekend when the Wallabies opened their Tri-Nations campaign with a 17-point victory over a weary and one-dimensional South Africa.

But the pressure will only truly be released if he can replicate his first Bledisloe Cup experience against All Blacks opposite Graham Henry - the 34-19 triumph in Sydney two years ago.

Deans was already on notice that the Wallabies win percentage had to improve to the 70 per cent before the competition started.

Australian Rugby Union boss John O'Neill amped his demands again when he described tomorrow's test as pivotal in reviving flagging interest in Australian rugby.

O'Neill last week confirmed rugby's share of the ultra-competitive Australian sporting marketplace had shrunk to 13.7 per cent, 0.3 per cent lower than in 1996, the year the game went professional.

The latest Market Share Index statistics document a dramatic fall from the heights of 2003 when rugby - on the back of the Wallabies winning the 1999 World Cup, the 2000 and 2001 Tri-Nations, the Bledisloe Cup from 2000-02 and the 2001 series against the British and Irish Lions - peaked at a 22 per cent market share.

In the glory days from 1998 to 2002, the Wallabies beat the All Blacks in eight of 11 tests, but since then they have won only four of 20 and rugby's support base has eroded.

"I can rarely recall two more important games in every respect, in the context of being a year out from the World Cup and in the context of where we are sitting as a game," O'Neill said before Australia beat South Africa last Saturday.

The All Blacks, meanwhile, have set their own goals for tomorrow night and captain Richie McCaw said their standards must not slip from the impressive start to the Tri-Nations at the Springboks expense.

Bonus-point wins in Auckland and Wellington give the All Blacks a maximum haul of 10 points, although McCaw remains a hard marker.

"The big thing is it would be a shame to undo the good work that's gone on in the last few weeks if we don't put another good performance together," he said.

"It's easier to get up when there's a few doubts about what's going to happen but when you've had two good performances I guess the sign of a good team is to be able to do that again."

Not only would success compound the woes of Deans, his former coach at Canterbury, the Crusaders and All Blacks, but McCaw acknowledged it would set the team up nicely for the remainder of the competition with matches in Christchurch, Johannesburg and Sydney to follow.

"Another win under the belt sets us up well and for the Bledisloe, it gets one hand back on it," he said.

Eight Wallabies will experience their first Bledisloe Cup test while one of the old hands, five-eighth Berrick Barnes, admitted it would be timely to provide Deans with some breathing space before he returns to Christchurch's AMI Stadium and the new stand that bears the family name.

"We'd like to help Robbie because there is that history behind it, him coming over to help us," he said.

- NZPA