Deans position must surely be untenable now. Five years is enough for any senior coach to implement their game plan and the results to vindicate it (or otherwise). I was happy for him to be given the job at the start (though I was unhappy about the process) and even up to RWC2011 comfortable that we were at least headed in the right direction. Not now though. We have not advanced and are at best going sideways. We could have and perhaps should have won this series, could have and perhaps should have won at least one Bledisloe "series" in the last few years, to say nothing of the disappointment of the world cup.
It's just not good enough now and if you look at it in terms of the kind of assessment you might make of a CEO's performance, you'd be left with the opinion that he's not the man to carry us forward. There can be no doubt about that now IMHO. Two years is more than long enough to get us back to the top of the tree. The playing group is talented enough, the results in Super rugby suggest that we are competitive enough. What remains is to install a coach who can instill a new culture in the team of continuous improvement and a commitment to excellence. Nothing less is acceptable, because you know all of our rivals are doing it.
I think Link is that man and he needs to be appointed to the job this year, preferably before TRC starts or at least during the EOYT.