Ok, the World Cup is now officially over for the Wallabies.
We came third. NOT SECOND. THIRD. I think it is poor form to cling onto the ridiculous IRB rankings during the World Cup. If we had made it into the final but the IRB ranking listed us as lower than second, we'd be calling ourselves at least second in the world. It is also a little disrespectful to France who will likely be second to New Zealand. We can make all the arguements in the world about how lucky France are to have made the final, but that would simply not address the issue of why we were not on that side of the draw. Last World Cup we were 5th, so for some that is a success.
I am very pleased with the effort and determination of the players. Even Quade Cooper. They really did try hard. Unfortunately, some were thrown into situations or positions they were not prepared for. They did not have sufficient guidance from their coaches, nor (because they were not selected!) the old experienced heads of Aussie rugby.
I was not in favour of sacking Deans before the World Cup. I was far from happy with his performance, but I felt he should be given the opportunity to take the team to the World Cup. I was also concerned that there might not be a better option available. It turns out that there probably were better options available, that Robbie is not a misunderstood genius (just misunderstood), that he did not have some cunning master plan that we were all missing, that he was not hiding his best backline moves until we met the All Blacks at the World Cup.
I was, and still am furious that he was reappointed for another 2 years before the World Cup - if he managed to get us into the final or even win it then I wouldn't have minded having to pay him more....but we all knew that wasn't going to happen.
Of course all of these issues have been raised before (examples below), and in some cases those who were critical of Deans' coaching were shouted down, ridiculed or treated with disdain.
http://www.greenandgoldrugby.com/forum/threads/5302-Robbie-Deans-Report-Card?highlight=Robbie+Deans
http://www.greenandgoldrugby.com/forum/threads/5459-LOCKED-Time-to-Sack-Deans?highlight=Time+sack
http://www.greenandgoldrugby.com/deans-to-date-the-case-for-and-against/
I think the Wallabies can do better, and a better (more suitable) coach is the first step.
One last thing:
If we have to have Robbie Deans and Co for another 2 years, could we at least chip in for them to attend one of Bob Dwyer's (fuck Super rugby titles, this guy has won a world cup) coaching clinics?