Australian win would cap stellar career for Macqueen

SYDNEY - Australian rugby says farewell to its greatest coach tonight as the Wallabies bid to send Rod Macqueen out with an historic first series win over the Lions.

Macqueen, a master tactician with a keen sense of timing on and off the rugby pitch, chose the post-match celebrations of Australia's series-levelling second test win over the Lions last week to announce he would be leaving earlier than had been expected.

The decision to make his team's biggest match his last could become another of the calculated gambles which have paid off handsomely during Macqueen's four years in charge.

Sadly, the Wallabies will be without Stephen Larkham, their chief playmaker and arguably Macqueen's biggest success story.

Macqueen took over in 1997 after Greg Smith's unhappy tenure. He soon put his stamp on the side by pushing for Larkham, then a promising youngster with the Brumbies, to switch from fullback to first five-eighths.

The Wallabies had failed to fill the void left by the retirement of the great Michael Lynagh and Macqueen's plan proved to be a masterstroke when Larkham quickly became the lynchpin of the Wallabies' formidable attacking array.

"Rod's helped me throughout my career, he gave me an opportunity with the Wallabies and was instrumental with me moving from fullback to five-eighth," Larkham said.

George Smith is another Macqueen success story. Earmarked as a player of the future, the dread-locked Brumbies flanker was rushed into the Wallabies team this year and will celebrate his 21st birthday today as the Wallabies take on the Lions.

Macqueen goes into the third test with a record of 33 wins, eight losses and a draw for an unrivalled success ratio of close to 80 per cent.

In 2000, Macqueen's Wallabies added their first Tri-Nations trophy to their World Cup victory of the year before.

They have also dominated the Bledisloe Cup encounters - one of the southern hemisphere's greatest rugby rivalries - against New Zealand.

They won the Bledisloe Cup 3-0 in 1998 and have held it since with 1-1 series results in each of the following two years.

But it has not all been plain sailing for Macqueen, who helped build a successful business consultancy firm before moving into rugby coaching full time.

Macqueen took over from Smith after guiding the Brumbies to the 1997 Super 12 final.

Australian rugby had reached a low ebb under Smith - they had crashed to a 61-22 defeat by South Africa and not long after Macqueen took over were beaten by Argentina.

Undeterred, he quietly set about deconstructing his team and then rebuilding it as if it were an underperforming company, adding a specialist defence coach and setting up a training base at a coastal resort where the Wallabies now gather each year.

The results began to come, beginning with the 1998 Bledisloe Cup whitewash, and rugby observers say Macqueen will leave behind an undeniable legacy.

"When Macqueen took over the Wallabies in 1997, they were not contenders with the Springboks or the All Blacks. But for the past two years Australia have been the best team in the world," rugby commentator Spiro Zavos wrote in The Sydney Morning Herald.

"... the system Macqueen has helped to put in place will ensure that in the 21st century the Wallabies will be, permanently, a first-tier team in the world rugby rankings."

Macqueen's long-serving captain John Eales agreed.

"There's no doubt Rod's given great service to Australian rugby ... he has played a huge part in getting our team to where it is today and we'd love to see him go out a winner," Eales said.

"He's been such a big part of the team over a number of years and obviously it'll be sad to see him go, but he's a guy who knows exactly what he wants and he's decided this is the time."

Macqueen had been expected to hand the reins to Brumbies coach Eddie Jones after the Tri-Nations title defence and has stressed he is not using his early retirement as a motivational tool for the third test.

But Lions rival Graham Henry is not so sure.

"I'm sure the Australians will use that as a positive and will want to farewell him on a positive note," Henry said.

- REUTERS