Campese slates Deans
24 Nov 2011
David Campese believes Robbie Deans should be fired after a poor record as Wallabies head coach.
Deans was previously criticized by former Wallabies greats Nick Farr-Jones and Mark Ella, now former wing Campese has come out to slam the Kiwi coach. Campese said Deans has had a negative effect on the Wallabies’ backline play and believes Ewen McKenzie will be a stronger candidate to coach the Aussies.
‘Deans has the worst record of any Australian coach yet he’s still there,’ Campese told stuff.co.nz. ‘He shouldn’t be there. He was with the Kiwis in 2003 and the Wallabies in 2010 and he got nowhere both times. What’s wrong with McKenzie? He’s an Australian, he’s been through the system, he’s been overseas.
‘I can’t believe Deans hasn’t been asked to explain what happened to our backline,’ Campese continued. ‘His backline [selections] were disgusting. The Irish game [at the World Cup] was just brainless. We can’t even pass the ball. Digby Ioane gets the ball once and almost scores and then doesn’t see it for 80 minutes.
‘Doesn’t anybody realise we’re not getting the ball out to the wingers? We had guys in the centres in the World Cup who couldn’t even pass the ball and two finishers who never got the ball.’
Campese added that Deans’ job was safe because he was appointed by ARU CEO John O’Neill.
31 Comments
24 Nov 2011, 10:48 am
Called Deans bluff ages ago.
His so called greatness at Superrugby level was manufactured of the back of Wayne Smith’s structures,recruitment,Sader pattern which he built from scratch from when Saders finished last in 96′ S12,couple years later they proceeded to winning 3 titles in a row under Smith 98,99,2000.
Deans has had 4 years to prove his greatness in OZ,still has the worst record in Oz history. His only accolade is TriNations 2011-which he was the only coach to play the same starting XV for all the matches while SA-NZ rested their best players throughout tournament.
Wallabies were below par in WC 2011,deservedly lost to Ireland, vs Boks-they had Bryce Lawrence, in semi didnt even fire a shot really vs NZ. They played well for 1 half…vs Italy in 2nd half.Otherwise nothing enterprising.McCabe/Faingaa midfield….Never thought OZ would ever resort to such a midfield..
24 Nov 2011, 11:03 am
Campo throwing a shank in the direction of O’neil there at the end. Hahahahahaha.
24 Nov 2011, 11:32 am
Fair comment in some respects… but after what Campese did to DHS in KZN… literally robbing parents of their money and leaving the first team in a worse state than when he found them (70 point snottings) he should be the last to be casting stones…
There’s a reason why he’s the most shunned ‘journo’ (for lack of a better word) in Australian rugby media circles…
Deans’ record aside (and I don’t really rate his dourness-ship)… he’s got a better win rate than Eddie Jones, who inherited a team packed full of legends… and Deans took that ‘youngest average age in the history of the Wallaby’ team and is ranked number 2 in the world with a 3N title and some decent depth…
Perspective…
24 Nov 2011, 12:07 pm
Campese tells it as he sees it….he does not comment what deans did when he started and what deans is building to.
Potentially this is a young squad that got to the semis, now all the other sides have lost a fair share of the old blocks, that could go far.
24 Nov 2011, 12:11 pm
RSA also had Bryce lawrence mr Mshini…go and look at some of the penalties your old bustards got. You will see that Bryce was poor but fair to both sides.
What let the books down was there lack of build in attacking phases…very straightforward attack that a bunch of grandmas could defend against. Then they break though only to throw a forward pass…I would imagine a saffa ref would think it was backwards!!
24 Nov 2011, 12:20 pm
Not only is Deans useless but so is Plumtree.
Two Kiwi coaches that just can’t take their teams all the way.
Plumtree has simply got to draft in Sean Everitt to coach the midfield before he has another so so season of almost wins and just wins.
24 Nov 2011, 12:33 pm
@Great White Shark(Predawn)-6:
Now now don’t over-react just because ‘our’ Plum-for-brains is more dour and boorish than the worst of South African coach’s with a selection process Mystic Meg would be proud of… Deans is the most successful Super rugby coach of all time by a long shot…
24 Nov 2011, 12:36 pm
@bryce_in_oz(bryce_in_oz)-3: deflection, who cares what campo did in kzn?
deans has under-performed and been rewarded with a contract extension – them’s the facts.
reward for mediocrity!
24 Nov 2011, 12:38 pm
The aura of Kiwi coaches is really overcooked. There are excellent South African coaches around but they just don’t want to touch the Boks for fear of being treated like Jake White.
24 Nov 2011, 12:41 pm
@Transformation(Transformation)-8:
The Youngest Team at this years RWC were Australia.
“deans has under-performed …………..”
maybe not.
24 Nov 2011, 12:44 pm
@Great White Shark(Predawn)-9:
25% of all the Head Coaches at RWC 2011 were Kiwi’s.
24 Nov 2011, 12:48 pm
@Hakeem Ash Mukalla ,…..formly cane.(cane)-11:
…and now we have a South African coaching the Aussie cricketers and another South African coaching the Brumbies.
Much of a muchness really.
24 Nov 2011, 12:53 pm
@Great White Shark(Predawn)-12:
I’d say,
Amazing really.
8)
24 Nov 2011, 13:02 pm
@Hakeem Ash Mukalla ,…..formly cane.(cane)-10: who gives a sshit about how old the team is?
the Boks had arguably the most capped team in history and they lost, so what?
the guy has a 56% win ratio and ledger that includes 10 STRAIGHT losses to the All Blacks, 2 back to back losses to MARTIN JOHNSON’s Pom team in 2010, a LOSS to Samoa…
feck the age of the players!
24 Nov 2011, 13:08 pm
@Transformation(Transformation)-14:
Patience Transie, patience.
Dingo’s plan is a long one.
24 Nov 2011, 13:11 pm
@Hakeem Ash Mukalla ,…..formly cane.(cane)-15:
and you love that don’t you, as long as you can still scream 4 more years to the aussies.
24 Nov 2011, 14:27 pm
yes… campo… move o connor to flyhalf…
good to see you got my mail…
24 Nov 2011, 16:30 pm
@Transformation(Transformation)-8:
You’re the master of deflection…
As stated above… Eddie Jones inherited the most experienced Wallaby side of all time and achieved 57%…
Deans has taken the most inexperienced team in Wallaby history and they are the current 3N champions and ranked 2nd in the world with 59% and more importantly has built depth with those youngsters…
Perspective…
Mirror image of JW and PDV eh…
24 Nov 2011, 16:35 pm
Hahaha “youngest side in the rwc” excuse,seriously? Who gives a f*ck,he picked them to perform at the world cup,he picked them in 3N where he was only coach to pick starting xv for every test.
Any coach after 4 yrs who gets contract extension with a 56% win ratio…rich
25 Nov 2011, 04:14 am
@mshiniwami(mshiniwami)-19:
On Dean’s appointment the manifesto was simple… take a team ranked 5th in the world, losing a plethora of legends… and build a team that’s back to being world beaters and packed with depth…
Only in South Africa would they sack a coach and destroy the continuity of someone who has built an experienced squad despite their age out of nothing… has taken a 5th ranked team to a 2nd ranked team who took out the 3N… and whose last 3 years win % reads 42%, 60%, 68% consecutively…
I can guarantee you one thing… if a new coach was thrust into the position and this team continued the upward curve for the next 4 yrs you’d be the first one pulling the ludicrous “Mallet inherited Du Plessis Boks and tactics’” and “Deans inherited Smith’s Saders and tactics”…
But keep kidding yourself you have more perspective than the ARU…
(*FWIW I’m not one for getting all misty-eyed over Kiwi coach’s for every good one there’s a **** one… NZ’s success at the top level has more to do with their planing, continuity and structures from the bottom level on top of natural talent and strength of PI’lander heritage)
25 Nov 2011, 06:33 am
Campo is an idiot. Always has been. He has these rambles to the media every couple of years. There is a good reason nobody is interested in him as a coach. His head is too big.
Deans is a good coach. He’s built a very competitive team from easily the weakest conference in Super Rugby, and they’ll only move forward from here.
Made the same mistake they made with Carlos in throwing their weight behind an erratic flyhalf who can’t play percentages….
But if losing to the All Blacks in a WC semi-final should cost you your job… well that just proves how short-sighted that would be.
Deans is the best person to the the Wobblies forward. And David Campese & Ollie le Roux have been spending too much time together.
25 Nov 2011, 09:29 am
@bryce_in_oz(bryce_in_oz)-20:
You keep on saying a “plethora of legends”, in 2007 All those so called legends were below par anyway.The only way was up. Like of Gregan,Larkham,Finnegan,Tuqiri,Burke etc were never going to achieve anything further-they were kept on 2 yrs to long.
SA has lost a “plethora” of legends now in Matfield,Smit,DuPreez,Rossouw,Bakkies,Guthro etc so now do you think a coach who takes over now if he stays for 4 years & achieves a 56% win ratio is acceptable & deserves a contract extension? While doing that he moves away from traditional strengths(as Deans has with midfield play) and loses 13 matches over a traditional rival in that time span? Thats accepting mediocrity, sad state of affairs.
Deans has a worse off record that Connolly who inherited an ageing squad with even LESS depth yet he still has a better record than 56%.
Fact of the matter is: Deans was hired by Lord John O’Neill thus is virtually untouchable.Add to that fact that the PR machine in ARU shields him from deserved criticism. A non experienced coach like Todd Blackadder is still maintaining high standards in Canterbury,last year didnt play at home all season long & won 85% of their matches-UNPRECEDENTED..I suppose he is a genius coach too…The next big thing, right… A fair bit of coaching acumen & competence along with support of community-even Mark Hammett could win a Superrugby title in Canterbury & he’s a ******.
Deans is a good coach but world’s best dont think so & with OZ he hasnt really done anything yet. McKenzie after 2 years in Stade Francais takes a perenial underachiever in Reds with only 3 stars in Cooper,Genia,Horwill & turns them into a championship in less than 6 months? After being the BACKBONE of OZ rugby with Tahs as well…
McKenzie should have gotten Oz job ages ago & now he wont. If Deans has an iffy year again itll be the “development speech” again.,,56%..to lose TWICE to Martin Johnson’s England in a 8 month period is an abomination.
25 Nov 2011, 14:34 pm
Deans seems to be a decent enough coach on the face of it, but I am getting a little tired of people pointing to the age of the squad as an excuse – if history is anything to go by, Dingo is predisposed towards young squads anyway. The man is largely “credited” (if you could call it that) as being the fellow who pulled the trigger on Cullen’s AB career at 26. His policy on age in super rugby wasn’t much different, and he practically ran all the experienced players (and I’m not referring to those who were due retirement anyway) out of town with the wobs.
So yes, they have a young squad, but it’s by choice.
What remains to be seen is if he sticks by his team and actually allows them to develop, as people insist he is doing, playing a “long-term” game. Thing is, in the past he hasn’t done that, and his teams have been stories of players shipped out a little too soon. Which is going to kill you at test level.
25 Nov 2011, 15:13 pm
@Tartan(Tartan)-23:
Exactly. There is no conveyor belt of the best talent in NZ(like Canterbury & its structures) as well as sprinkle of polynesia’s finest to add cut & thrust.
What he has now,is ALL he has.
25 Nov 2011, 16:44 pm
@bryce_in_oz(bryce_in_oz)-18: jake white this, jake white that, what was jake’s win ratio before the RWC 2007? i bet you it rubbish. nobody said deans must jettison experienced aussie players, that was his own doing. he gets no kudos from me for how young the team is and they certainly don’t allocate any points at the WC for the youngest team.
deans has 56%, lost SAMOA and chanced a WEAKENED tri-nations competition ina WC year…talk about perspective.
26 Nov 2011, 00:33 am
@wallabie.(wallabie.)-5: Are all Australians born with one eye like you? That game was a farce. Three tries disallowed. I don’t recall such favours being granted to the Boks. How about those multiple yellow card offences being ignored and literally several dozen penalty infringements in their 22 that were never called. It wasn’t even half way close to being fair in any way. And Australia’s winning penalty came mere minutes after two Aussies clotheslined a Bok and thus won the ball to get into our half. Your assessment speaks volumes about your character. We lost to Australia in 1999, and we were humble in defeat, as Australia won it fairly. I cannot sit back and do the same this year, it was an atrocious hack job, literally one of the worst and most biased games I have ever witnessed, which is saying much given some of the tripe that has been dealt to us over the years. No, had Australia simply been better, or if it was a fair fight, there would have been no inclination to question the officials. As I say, we’ve suffered terrible blows in the past where we were humble in defeat. Recall, as I say, 1999 and then 2003. This has nothing to do with us not being able to accept defeat and everything about us being sick of being cheated out of a fair fight. We aren’t asking very much, but as always, we draw the short straw. What a pleasure it would be to move North and thrive in an environment that respects the ethos of the game and the spirit of sport. We have outgrown SANZAR, the game has outgrown this dire obsession with making it New Zealand’s game to own, and a very bland immitation of Rugby League. The IRB is every bit as corrupt as SARU, perhaps even more so. It’s time we dealt with that problem too.
26 Nov 2011, 00:43 am
@Transformation(Transformation)-25:
I take no responsibility for your inferiority complex…
@mshiniwami(mshiniwami)-22:
Who is talking about RSA? I enjoy your knowledge on NZAR rugby… most on here don’t even watch the game when their team isn’t playing… but with your Gen Y exuberance comes an equal dose of naivety… fortunately you’ll grow out of it…
26 Nov 2011, 04:03 am
@Alucard(Alucard)-26:
lol
Yeah right NZs game to own.
NH dont want you. And if we decided we didnt want you, wtf would you do?
Waste of time having a crack at NZ when in the same paragraph you calling the IRB and SARU corrupt.
Is there anyone out there that lives upto your great standard?
So in the NH it respects the spirit of the game? Have you read the papers about the English team?
Every thing about the team is against the spirit of the game. Keep blabbering on about moving north cos in reality, your damn lucky to be playing anywhere
26 Nov 2011, 04:14 am
@Hurricane(Hurricane)-28: I call it as it is, nothing more, nothing less. The Northern Hemisphere not wanting the Boks? Well, unfortunately for you you are not the voice of the NH and such discussions have been on the cards before and still keep coming up, so you are quite wrong. Unlike New Zealand South Africa has many options. It’s New Zealand that would be stuffed without the Boks, not the other way round. We fill stadiums, Australia and New Zealand cannot compete with our turnouts and without the Boks New Zealand and Australia would die a very quick death. You are very lucky that SARU hasn’t had the balls to move North, we are very much unfortunate to have been party to SANZAR. It’s offerec us very little and no longer serves South African rugby. A move North is considerably the best option that we have. Don’t try act like we should be grateful for the Tri Nations or Super Rugby. Both competitions are dull and have been ruined by greed. The law changes that were made have destroyed the game and were put in place CONTRARY to the wishes on the ENTIRE NH! Why? Because New Zealand and their little lap dog Australia said it was the way to go. So much for the good of the game. No, we need to move North. Our Unions will profit from it, our rugby will be better served there and you can enjoy your TNs with Argentina to take our place and perhaps in time they will wake-up and realise the folly of the SH. I can’t see them taking the rubbish we have for as long. You are very lucky to have had the Boks, but now it’s time for the sour, arrogant and ungrateful New Zealanders to learn the hard way that without the Boks they will suffer.
26 Nov 2011, 07:22 am
@Alucard(Alucard)-29: here, have this rather large box of tissues please..
run away to the northern hemisphere, when you get your @rses handed to you up there as well then what?
instead of a conspiracy only being two countries against you, you will have 6 countries to blame…
this is hilarious, Saffas wanting to run up north because they know they simply arent good enough to compete with the worlds top teams..
ag shampies
26 Nov 2011, 07:41 am
@mshiniwami(mshiniwami)-22: what a load of twaddle… how did Mackenzie do when he was in charge of the Waratahs? his so called coaching expertise is also over-rated… what was his record like with Stade Francais?
Deans has secured Aussies first win in the republic in ages, he has won something like 5 out of the last 6 games against you japies, and Aussie have always struggled versus Eng so the two losses arent any special blemish…
He was susequently appointed coach to the Paris club Stade Français. McKenzie was named to the position after Fabien Galthié resigned following the 2007-08 season. However, after a disastrous start to the Parisians’ 2009–10 season placed them in relegation danger, he was sacked on 8 September 2009.
On Friday 9 October 2009 it was announced that McKenzie would be taking over the coaching job of the Queensland Reds in the Super 14. He became the club’s 7th coach in 11 years.[2]
The Reds had had several poor seasons and had not won back to back matches for several seasons but were transformed under McKenzie, playing an entertaining, expansive style which led them to a 5th place finish in 2010, narrowly missing out on playoff qualification, before making and then winning the Super Rugby Grand Final in 2011
so perhaps Mackenzie benefited from the two years work from 07 to 09 that Deans had put into the players? nah of course not, it was all just Ewen’s magnificence
what a laugh..
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