Rugby: Deans set to re-sign with Wallabies

Australia rugby coach Robbie Deans will extend his contract witht he ARU. Photo / NZ Herald

Robbie Deans will re-sign with the ARU in a matter of weeks after revealing a burning desire to complete "unfinished business" with his exciting new-age Wallabies.

In a major coup for Australian rugby, ARU chief John O'Neill will open talks with Deans next week and is confident of securing him for at least another two years, taking in the British and Irish Lions' tour down under in 2013.

O'Neill is hopeful of securing Deans' signature before Australia's first test of the year, against Samoa in Sydney on July 17.

"Like player contracting, it's best to get these things out of the way so they don't become a distraction,"O'Neill told AAP on Saturday.

"I am a great fan of Robbie's and I'm publicly on the record that we've got unfinished business and, whilst we haven't had formal discussions yet, we've had informal deliberations and in the next couple of months we will get to a point of resolution.

"Robbie is certainly keen to stay on for the same reason - unfinished business.

"We've got a lot of players that we've re-signed and a lot of very positive announcements came out of their mouths that the best is yet to come.

"So I'm looking forward to the next several years of being a particularly successful period for the game (in Australia)."

Speaking for the first time this year about the possibility of remaining on deck beyond the World Cup in October, Deans said his first three years as the Wallabies' first-ever non-Australian coach had been everything he expected and more.

"It's had elements of everything, as this game tends to. It's been fantastic but it's far from done yet," he told AAP.

"I've really enjoyed my work here, really enjoyed the group. More importantly, it's great to see en masse the players recommitting beyond the World Cup.

"That's an indication that they're excited about the future and that they're prepared to stick around and work towards that.

"Personally, 2011 is a big priority and I'm not looking beyond that, but I have enjoyed what I've done and I believe I've got a lot more to offer yet.

"If John wants to sit down and talk about beyond the World Cup, I'd be prepared to do that."

The New Zealander's family are also loving life in Australia, with his children both continuing their education in Sydney and even the famously coy Deans admitted settling his future sooner rather than later would ``certainly be good for the family."

O'Neill said although Australia had won less than 60 per cent of tests since Deans' arrival in 2008, it was obvious the Wallabies had advanced significantly.

"The raw data is confronting. We don't escape that, but I think the underlying improvement is discerning," he said.

"We haven't won a Bledisloe Cup since 2002, we haven't won a Tri Nations since 2001 but, when he took over, we were ranked fifth or sixth in the world. We're now ranked two.

"We do play the All Blacks and the Springboks a lot and they're ranked one and three.

"And I'm not being overly optimistic but you can't escape the improvements in the depth and breadth of players that we have and the number of players we have who have emerged who have the X-factor and have really come along in leaps and bounds under Robbie's tutelage.

"So I think in 12 months' time the statistical data will look a lot better."

- AAP