Great rugby players who turn to coaching can't always find the winning formula, writes KEVIN NORQUAY.
LONDON - To the list of brilliant rugby players who were unable to instil their skills and hard-nosed attitude into those they coached, add Zinzan Brooke .
As an All Black, 35-year-old Brooke was a No 8 who could do it all. Once labelled by coach John Hart the greatest player to don the Silver Fern, he was an immensely talented athlete who despised losing.
He could drop goals from near halfway, fire pinpoint passes under pressure to set outsides away and was uncompromising when it got tough up front.
But as a coach of the low-talent, high-profile, silver-spoon London side Harlequins, he learned that not everyone found rugby so simple. And he learned all about losing.
Brooke, who retired from test rugby in 1997, could not find the winning formula. He could not get the attitude of his professional players right. He was stunned by their lack of skill.
"This isn't rocket science we're talking about," the 58-test veteran once said. "It's a game of footie. There's no point the coaches doing all this work if the players don't have the same desire.
"You don't see that die-hard commitment to do that little bit extra, which in New Zealand is commonplace.
"Training finishes at 12 o'clock and they're already in their cars by quarter-past. Do they really want it?"
On Tuesday, the Aucklander fell on his sword, resigning midway through a season in which Harlequins have won only two premiership matches, to lie second to bottom.
"Although the side has turned in a number of fine performances this season, the results in the premiership have not been acceptable," Brooke said. "As head coach, I have to take responsibility for that.
"I feel the time has come for a new voice. At certain times in sport, a change is needed to break a team out of a pattern, and I think that is the situation we are in at Quins."
Harlequins are in this weekend's Tetley's Bitter Cup semifinals against topliners Leicester, but won their quarter-final over European champions Northampton when Brooke was in New Zealand.
Brooke's future in coaching was unclear yesterday. Calls to his cellphone went unanswered.
It was understood he would stay in England.
Brooke started promisingly enough as coach in March 1998. During his first full season, Harlequins finished fourth. A season later they were 10th.
Appointing fellow All Blacks John Gallagher and Bernie McCahill to his management team, and then dragging former England captain Will Carling out of retirement, have been pinpointed as the beginning of the end.
In the Times, David Hands said Harlequins "introduced a swath of Southern Hemisphere coaches in 1998, all of them first-class players but few of whom had proved themselves as organisers."
Carling was restricted by injury to a few 80-minute appearances as Harlequins crashed to third to bottom.
Brooke last February reportedly took a pay cut of more than £100,000 ($343,642) - bringing him back to an estimated salary of £80,000 - with his role redefined as "head coach."
After retiring as a player at the end of last season, Brooke rebuilt an ageing side under a new management regime. He knew this would be the season he would have to make an impact or face the consequences.
His resignation was accepted reluctantly, with chief executive Mark Evans taking over as coach as the club searches for a successor.
In resigning, Brooke did as a coach what he did so often as a player. Fronting up, taking the blame, when others would have ducked for cover.
- NZPA
Rugby: Brooke finally learns about losing
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