Deans' influence rubbing off
Sun, 29 Jun 2008 19:19
One last Crusade for Robbie Deans
The Robbie Deans all-for-one coaching ethos is rubbing off on the Wallabies with a committed defensive performance underpinning their 34-13 victory over France in Sydney at the weekend.
The Australians scored four tries to one, three of them in the second half to give New Zealander Deans a perfect two-from-two start to his Wallabies' coaching tenure.
Deans, who is the first foreigner to coach the Wallabies, forged an outstanding reputation with New Zealand's Crusaders, who won five of their seven Super Rugby crowns under him.
The Wallabies stepped up a notch from their hard-pressed 18-12 win over Ireland a fortnight ago, but it was their spirited defensive performance that impressed Deans as the Wallabies spent minutes camped on their own try-line repelling French attacks.
"It was progress from the Ireland match. The defensive effort was something the boys can be proud of, they took a lot of pressure and they hung tough, they hung together, when it would have been easier to let one in," Deans said Sunday.
"Sure, we let one in late, but for the greater part of the match they showed a lot of pride in their line and that will serve us well.
"You learn a lot about your people in a Test match. They showed against France what it meant to them, particularly in their defence, but also in their attack and the way they were patient and disciplined in the second half.
"They wanted to get home, they wanted to do well, you can clearly see they enjoy being out there and playing with and for each other and that's all a coach wants really."
The Wallabies made a combined 86 tackles to France's 78 and missed 12 tackles to the tourists' 30 with the French having the greater share of possession during the match.
"Yes, it was an improved performance," Deans said. "We sustained our attack for longer, we were a little inaccurate with our ballwork, but we showed more patience in the second half and built more pressure and were able to get in behind them and profit from that."
The Australians have another match with the French in Brisbane next Saturday, but the players are clearly relishing working under the much-respected Deans.
"The effort, determination and spirit in our defence was outstanding and time and time again our forwards kept getting up and doing their job, you can't ask for any more than that," skipper Stirling Mortlock said.
"I feel as though we have stepped up, but as you get used to what we're trying to achieve your expectations rise as well so we're very keen to keep on moving forward."
Mortlock's inside centre partner Berrick Barnes, who was conspicuous in the draining on-line defending, said the steely defence the Wallabies showed is what wins Test matches.
"We just fed off each other. We just have to aim up and everybody was enthusiastic about tackling," Barnes said.
"Defence is what it takes to win Test matches.. I thought it was pretty good in the second half."
AFP
