Wallabies coach Michael Cheika needs to retain his job to see the Australia flagship rugby team all the way through to the Rugby World Cup in Japan next year. Photo/NZME
Wallabies coach Michael Cheika needs to retain his job to see the Australia flagship rugby team all the way through to the Rugby World Cup in Japan next year. Photo/NZME
It can come across quite patronising from Steve Hansen but in a world of accomplishments the well-intentioned words of the All Blacks coach, seemingly in defence of Wallabies counterpart Michael Cheika, speak volumes.
"I don't think you should put a coach under pressure just from losing to us," Hansen reportedly said amid lynch-mob talk in media and social media circles after Australia lost 40-12 at Eden Park, Auckland, in the second Bledisloe Cup encounter on Saturday night.
"It's a pretty special team down in that changing room," Hansen said of the Men in Black. "When the time comes in few years, we'll look back at a special group."
Enough said. You have the All Blacks and then a yawning crevasse before other teams come to mind in the international rugby arena.
That doesn't necessarily have to be a bad thing. With Los Pumas beating the Springboks 32-19 in Mendoza, Argentina, on Sunday it's fair to say the rest of the marquee nations are keeping each other honest.
It was no fluke because it was Argentina's third victory over South Africa in as many years — proof that if you give emerging nations a break against superior oppositions on the platform of patience then rugby will be the winner.
However, it must look quite seductive to the despondent Ockers to find substance in the Pumas' success which came in the first home test for coach Mario Ledesma, never mind the political turbulence in Australia.
Frankly, if every time a nation loses to the All Blacks and fires its coach it'll seldom prosper.
Having plunged to No 5 in the world pecking order, the Wallabies need to retain Cheika who knows what it's like to get the job nearly done after taking his country to the 2015 Rugby World Cup final.
His contract is valid until then so it makes sense to let it run its course before causing any upheavals, despite his mediocre 25 wins, 23 losses and two draws.
Juxtapose that with the New Zealanders' mind-boggling nine defeats only from 119 outings and you start getting a clearer picture of what any country is up against.
"Personally I think there's a lot of stuff he does that's good," Hansen, ever the diplomat, said of Cheika while casting aspersions on keyboard warriors. "And like all of us, probably there's some other stuff they'd like to do better."
Again, no one could have put it more eloquently and, no doubt, his adversary across the ditch would have appreciated the sentiments against the run of play, if there's any truth in such speculation.
When Ireland are world No 2, under the tutelage of former Napier Boys' High School mentor Joe Schmidt, and England as well as France look disinterested then there's little to perceive until the ABs' tour of the northern hemisphere later this year.
In some respects, Schmidt's tenure perhaps is fair indication the Aussies need to swallow their pride to appoint another adroit Kiwi coach even though the Green-and-Gold fan base will put up the exhibit of Robbie "Dingo" Deans as a failed experiment.
In fact, it's time coaches here accept few will find themselves at the helm of the ABs so why not venture out in the world to help bring other nations up to speed.
Despite the exodus of marquee players to lucrative contracts overseas, the ABs boast envious depth on their bench at a time when it's considered "bad luck" for Super Rugby upstarts to miss selection.
Coach Steve Hansen has broached the subject of government funds for the All Blacks brand and he may find some traction, if the America's Cup campaign is anything to go by. Photo/NZME
While the fiscal punch may not be there against the likes of England, Hansen has broached the subject of government funds. For what it's worth, this country took Lottery Grants Board money, traditionally allocated to the disabled, more than two decades ago to channel it towards the America's Cup campaign so the All Black brand may still be in for a windfall.
Talking of patronising, New Zealand women's rugby team have received all the hype and talk in their campaign but the turnout to their curtain-raiser match at Eden Park was a sad indictment of this country's female fan base despite efforts to find a modicum of pay parity between the genders in the code.
Conversely, Australia isn't a land of plenty when it comes to all of the above.
Rugby, at last check, had slipped outside the top-10 list of sports where Aussie rules, rugby league, soccer and, even netball, enjoy more of everything.
That Wallaby protagonists appear to avoid addressing the New Zealanders as All Blacks in interviews is perhaps indicative of how much they are in awe of their arch rivals in the face of little respite in the near future and the desire to remove any mystique surrounding the world's best.
That Australia can foot it for a half, albeit in putting up the shutters, is commendable. No doubt, they'll have to string two spells to do what may seem impossible now but you also can only defend for so long in a test, fit or not.
David Pocock, a victim of Owen Franks' neck roll that somehow missed a citing commissioner again despite hesitant TV replay footage, Will Genia, Kurtley Beale, Michael Hooper and Israel Folau are the cornerstone of the Wallabies foundation.
With Folau out, Beale came under intense pressure to be a Swiss knife and the frustration etched on the faces of players of his ilk on Saturday night was obvious. Ditto Hooper.
It's preposterous to suggest the Aussies can simply watch what the ABs are doing to duplicate them. Class is developed, not cloned.
Changing mentors isn't going to resolve anything. Australia need a sound structure to nurture talent.
It's obvious their backline is devoid of an X-factor player with Folau out and Beale dropped to fullback.
How much interest did a temperamental Quade Cooper bring to that equation?
If Cooper is still not appetising than start scouting and breeding successors.
