KEY POINTS:
Robbie Deans set the tone when asked how he saw the ledger between himself and rugby coaching opposite Graham Henry.
"Nil-all. We haven't played each other," he said, quick as a flash.
Next question.
One of world rugby's most intriguing coaching jousts goes to a decider tomorrow night when the All Blacks and Wallabies square off for the Tri-Nations title. The Wallabies need to win to deny the All Blacks a fifth consecutive year of Bledisloe Cup defences.
It's less about the coaches now than it was in July when Deans' departure was still fresh in the minds. With people still rubbing their eyes at Deans wearing green and gold, singing Advance Australia Fair, he guided his young side to a dominant 34-19 win over an error-ridden All Blacks in the Sydney test.
As Henry said today: "We were out-thought, out-coached and out-played".
The ledger was squared emphatically 39-10 in Auckland when the All Blacks threw out their attack-at-all-costs attitude, muscled up in the forwards and used Dan Carter's boot to dominate field position.
It's been a long wait for this week's decider, and the buildup has offered precious few fireworks. Deans played his usual straight bat this week and Henry insisted the Wallabies' 53-8 hiding from the Springboks was an aberration.
Two years ago in Brisbane, Wallabies coach John Connolly offered a skyrocket when he said the All Blacks' Kapa O Pango haka was tantamount to inciting murder with its throat-slitting gesture. Henry's impassioned response ensured a fiery buildup and the test was an epic 13-9 win to the All Blacks.
The most controversy in this test week has been Wayne Smith's observation that he wouldn't have risked his old teammate Deans' selection of no specialist backup first five-eighth.
Not much gold for the headline writers.
The Johannesburg hiding and the All Blacks' revival has Deans under some pressure. It was a rare heavy defeat for the supercoach, and it would have hurt.
Deans has held the Bledisloe Cup as an All Black but many of his fresh-faced Wallabies - who debuted in 2003 or later - haven't.
It meant motivation wasn't an issue for Deans, who has another chance to defy the odds and cement his coaching genius.
"I just want to see them play to their potential. I don't think we've seen that yet. We've seen glimpses of it. This is a one-off encounter with everything at stake so I think you'll see more than just a glimpse.
"The key in this game is going to be doing things relentlessly. The All Blacks will be doing that, attacking relentlessly for 80 minutes. That's not something that daunts us, it's something that excites us."
So would this be Deans' greatest victory as a coach?
"I'll let you be the judge of that. It doesn't concern me, I just want to see these boys express themselves like I know they can."
- NZPA
