Deans Wary Of French, 'redevelopment Stage' Or Not

The Age

Monday June 16, 2008

Greg Growden

WALLABIES coach Robbie Deans will rely on his old Crusaders contacts to get an insight into the touring French team before the first Test in Sydney on June 28.

While the calibre of the Ireland team, which the Wallabies defeated 18-12 at Telstra Dome on Saturday night, is well known, the French squad, which will be involved in a two-Test series, is more of a mystery. France is in a redevelopment stage and has included numerous lesser-known players.

But Deans will be ready, relying on his assistant coach Jim Williams, who through his recent work with Munster, knows the identity, strengths and frailties of the French players.

Deans will also be in contact with his former Crusaders assistant coach Vern Cotter, who is with the Clermont club in France.

But Deans is stressing that France will be no different to Ireland - another pugnacious opponent.

"There is no such thing as a bad French side," Deans said yesterday.

Despite the uncertainty of not knowing the calibre of the opposition, Deans will continue telling his players to follow the same philosophy instilled in them in the week leading up to the Ireland Test. They will be encouraged to trust their instincts.

The Wallabies coach made a special point in discussing Berrick Barnes' cross-field kick in the second half, which ended up in Brian O'Driscoll's hands rather than the intended target of Stirling Mortlock, and almost led to an Irish try.

"What I did like was the preparedness of the guys to play, even the wide kick such as Berrick's," Deans said.

"That's great . . . You just cannot play conservatively at Test level and hope to achieve what we want to achieve."

This philosophy has extended to Deans telling attacking players - including senior winger Lote Tuqiri - to go on roving commissions.

"I've given Lote licence to go looking," Deans said. "I want him to get as many touches as possible because he's a bloke who has an impact on the game."

Flair is one thing, but many Tests are won by the grit of defence. That was the case against Ireland, with the Wallabies' ability to cut off so much in midfield thwarting at least four or five opposition try chances.

It takes a lot to impress the high-achieving Deans, but he was certainly enthused with the Wallabies' resistance.

"That was gutsy stuff," Deans said. "It may not have been clear on the television, but it was very slippery out there and that actually sucked a lot of energy out of their legs. That probably took its toll more on us - because we haven't been playing Test rugby. We had a large number who hadn't played for a month, while Ireland were coming off a high intensity Heineken Cup competition and two Tests. They were well-conditioned, while our guys were clearly sucking air early. To get through that, there was some good defence. It did look tenuous at times, but that's the nature of Test rugby. It's never one-way traffic."

They were also able to adapt to Ireland being more expansive than usual. Ireland captain O'Driscoll explained there was a simple reason for that. Playing the All Blacks in miserable Wellington the previous weekend had convinced Ireland there was only one way to stay warm.

"It was a case of kick it, let the All Blacks have it, and we'll defend," O'Driscoll said. "But our mindset this week was different. We told ourselves we didn't want to play with any shackles. We wanted to finish the season off playing rugby."

The Irish did, often brilliantly, but it wasn't quite enough.

© 2008 The Age

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