KEY POINTS:
Australian rugby boss John O'Neill was not feeling too flash. It was bad enough trying to recover in hospital late last year from neck surgery but he had the accompanying headache about who was going to be the Wallaby coach.
His preferred candidate Robbie Deans looked to have slipped off the radar as he went about challenging Graham Henry for the All Blacks job. A month or so earlier O'Neill and Deans had conferred during the Rugby World Cup about the chances of the Cantabrian taking the job but Deans confessed he would be shooting for the All Black post first.
They shook hands and, privately, O'Neill confessed to his allies that it looked as though the Wallabies coaching search would continue. He went in to have his surgery and as he was recuperating he got a message from Deans inquiring if the Wallaby job was still available.
That query helped O'Neill's recovery, the process was reopened and not long after Deans was installed as the Wallaby coach through to the 2011 World Cup.
"He blew everyone away. We took - some would say - a brave decision to appoint the first non-Australian to coach the Wallabies but now no one talks about it," O'Neill said.
There was some opposition in Australia but an undefeated run this year with the Wallabies including victory in last week's Bledisloe Cup opener in Sydney, has removed the bulk of the opposition to "Dingo" Deans appointment.
"Our argument was that we got the best person," O'Neill recalled. "He was the standout total package, he has the on-field and off-field requirements in proper balance. Tactically, technically he is great, he understands the game and he is always thinking about the next move.
"He is not a coach who stays in any one spot with tactics and style but the stuff which has always impressed me with the Crusaders was their off-field culture.
"Some of the stuff he says sounds a bit rustic but he said I am not just interested in good players I am interested in good people.
"It is pretty simplistic but not a bad philosophy and I was of the view we needed some rejuvenation around the Wallabies, we needed to re-engage with the community and Deans understands that."
O'Neill is speaking at a Herald breakfast in Auckland today as one of the entrees to tomorrow's second Bledisloe Cup fixture at Eden Park. The ARU chief executive is back at rugby's helm across the Ditch after an interval of three years when he led Australia's soccer revival before being persuaded to return to the oval ball code.
He felt Deans' greatest impact had been getting the players to understand they would not be punished for trying things. The Wallabies had become too robotic, too predictable in their play because they were scared of making mistakes.
O'Neill describes Deans as a coach who collected an enormous amount of data and ideas but distilled them into simple messages.
"He is training young men whose ability to retain knowledge in what sometimes must be like a washing machine of action [is limited]. Just give them three or four things to think about not 14 or 15 because they get confused and it is not sensible - then they can go out there and execute."
Not missing the chance for one more dig at his rival transtasman officials, O'Neill said he still pinched himself when he thought about the New Zealand Rugby Union decision to ignore Deans for the All Black coaching role. His start with the Wallabies had been terrific, better than O'Neill had expected and they still had a long way to go. The full impact of his work would probably start to show through next season.
"The important thing is we don't get carried away because Robbie has only been with us since June," O'Neill said. "But we have seen some great rugby played so far in the Tri-Nations.
"We also have to be very careful we don't overplay the Deans factor because it will just build up crazy expectations," O'Neill said.
"The Deans-Henry rivalry was not nasty last week, it was a bit of fun and probably realistic because you can't avoid it. It's all on again this week in Auckland and my recollection is that our record there is not particularly flash."
