On Rugby Heaven, Spiro Zavos dismisses Taine Randell’s claim that the Wallabies have become too like head coach Robbie Deans’ former side, the Crusaders, for their own good.
"So there was Taine Randell, the former All Blacks captain, putting the boot into Robbie Deans. According to Randell, the Wallabies under Deans are clones of the successful Canterbury Crusaders sides he coached to seven Super rugby titles. They kick a lot, have a slick back line that counter-attacks very well but lack mongrel in the pack. This playing style, Randell argued, works at the Super rugby level but not at the Test level.
“Deans was the assistant coach of the All Blacks in 2003. This side, Randall says, lost to England in a June Test because it was "bullied" by the England pack, and by the Wallabies in the Rugby World Cup semi-final. Now sides are bullying the Deans-coached Wallabies pack in a similar manner.
“When I studied history an eternity ago, we were always taught to look at the context of the document under review and look behind the words for possible motives for what was written.“
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