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Former All Black coach Alex Wyllie has weighed into New Zealand's failed World Cup effort, labelling Graham Henry's campaign as "a bloody disgrace" and calling for Robbie Deans to be appointed coach.
Wyllie has no doubts that Deans, a fullback from his Canterbury coaching days in the 80s,
should now take over as coach.
"To me, he's the only choice," Wyllie says.
Wyllie described what happened this year, not only at the World Cup but for the entire season, as a "bloody disgrace". The stand-down period for the Super 14, and putting players "in cotton wool" plainly had not worked. They were lacking game time, he said.
"To play test rugby, you can't afford to have missed the previous two or three weeks. You have to be match fit, which is totally different from other fitness. You can't blame the players. They wanted to play."
Wyllie said it was up to the NZRU to take responsibility.
"They put all the eggs in the one basket and they failed," he said. "They've let everyone down, clubs throughout the country who are struggling for money, and the provinces. If the New Zealand union doesn't do something drastic then people are just going to walk away from the game."
As coach, Wyllie had at least two All Black teams play in the alternative white jersey and he failed to understand why that wasn't used again when there were jersey clashes. He said it was symptomatic of commercial interests having too much power.
"Players used to love wearing that jersey and the black shorts. It still had the aura of the fern and had plenty of black trimmings. It became a collector's item."
Wyllie is also bemused by other contrasts between his side of 1991 and this year's. Whereas millions were spent this year, money which could have gone to struggling provinces and clubs, the 1991 team had a limited budget. And the 1991 preparation included an arduous tour of Argentina, two Bledisloe Cup tests and players being involved in provincial games right up until assembly. Unlike the 27 All Black management staff of this year, the 1991 side had a backup team of only six.
Wyllie also reflected sourly over another dissimilarity with previous All Black regimes - that of newly retired lock Keith Robinson being taken to the World Cup with two serious injuries.
Robinson bowed out of the game last week, with his retirement raising more questions than it answered, especially over the All Blacks planning.
For it is clear that Robinson went to the World Cup in France with only a slim chance of taking a full part in the tournament. But it wasn't just the calf injury he was carrying - it has been now confirmed he had a chronic knee problem and it was that which, on medical advice, ended his career.
Robinson, who fronted to the media on Tuesday to confirm his retirement then put himself off-limits, thus adds to the queries and anomalies swirling around the All Blacks and World Cup preparation.
The Robinson case raised memories of the Mike Brewer incident that affected the co-coaches of the 1991 campaign, Wyllie and John Hart.
At the 11th hour, they were denied the services of loose forward Brewer when he failed a medical test ordered by the New Zealand Rugby Union.
This angered both coaches, who had planned a major role for Brewer in 1991, in back-up leadership and as cover for Michael Jones when he was unavailable on Sundays.
"It just shows you how ridiculous that decision over Brewer was," Wyllie said. "The reason he was ruled out was because he would not be fit to play the first game. I personally was very disappointed, especially as he went on to play the next three games in the national championship for Otago."
While it was not the only factor involved in the All Blacks' 1991 failure (the loss to league in 1990 of first-choice fullbacks John Gallagher and Matthew Ridge being possibly even more crucial), it certainly didn't help the team's chances, said Wyllie.
Hart, not commenting on the fortunes of the 2007 All Blacks, said about Robinson: "I'd have liked the same rules which appear to apply now to have applied in 1991."
Both coaches said the squad size permitted the 2007 coaches more latitude. In 1991 they had had a squad of 26, whereas now there were 30, offering more scope to carry an injured player in the hope he'd come right.
