One more hurdle for Deans
May 30 2008
As everyone in Crusaders country feared, the New Zealand Rugby Union's decision to ignore Robbie Deans for the All Blacks job has resulted in him crossing over to Australia, but Deans faces one more hurdle before taking up his role coaching the Wallabies - the Super 14 Final.
Deans will fly out to Sydney early Monday morning, arriving several hours before naming his first Wallabies side of the year.
Part of the deal that allowed him to continue on as Crusaders coach although he had signed with the Australian Rugby Union (ARU) in December was that the six-time Super Rugby champs would remain his number one concentration.
If his team loses, you can bet his face will mask disappointment, maybe anger. It will not be how he wants to end his twelve-year career - three as manager, nine as coach - with the franchise.
As time quickly ticks down on his Crusaders tenure he said he was occasionally giving thought to what he had achieved to date with Super Rugby' most successful franchise.
They will be chasing their seventh Super Rugby title in Saturday's final - confirmation to Deans of how lucky he had been to be linked with such a star-studded franchise.
"I have been doing that for 12 years, pinching myself and thinking how lucky I am," said Deans.
"No regrets, absolutely not. Crikey, it has been fantastic (and) it is not done yet."
Deans said in some ways his emotions this season had been no different than in past years, knowing that he could have been replaced at the Crusaders at any stage.
"It is always your last game, it is always your last campaign," he said.
"There is just no certainty. You live life by the day and by the moment."
Deans, 48, was on the ball more than four months ago when he predicted his side would meet the Waratahs in Saturday's Super 14 Final.
It was a typical piece of Robbie Deans perception, or was he just buttering up his new friends and paymasters in Sydney?
The call was made at a function on the eve of the teams' annual pre-season match in Sydney on January 24.
"I made a comment at the time that I hoped we would meet them three times," Deans told NZPA.
"I was wishing them well for their year and they've obviously made that good, but the main reason I was saying it was I hoped we would be there."
Wallabies coach-in-waiting Deans is rarely wrong - a seventh appearance in a final is testimony to that - but he wasn't about to forecast the outcome of the final even though history and weight of emotion point to a farewell victory for his team at AMI Stadium.
The Waratahs are more than worthy challengers, he said, having generated the sort of momentum and team ethic his side prided themselves on entering the finals.
"There's no doubt the best two sides are in the final and it's going to be a good contest," said Deans.
"We've got a great respect for the fact that they're peaking at the right time. They've always been a physical confrontational team and they're adding some fluidity to that, some confidence to their attack.
"Their chemistry is very good."
Perhaps the biggest obstacle confronting the Waratahs is the home ground factor.
They are unbeaten in Sydney all year but have won just three from seven away and must counter a massive historical disadvantage for visiting teams in the history of Super Rugby play-offs.
Since 1999 the home sides have won 24 of the 26 semi-finals and finals.
However, there is some solace that one of those away wins was last year's final, a late try to Bryan Habana handing the Bulls a one-point win over the Sharks in Durban.
In a small triumph for the Crusaders, the 26,000-capacity ground was confirmed a sell-out, a week after just 18,000 watched the semi-final against the Hurricanes.
Many will be there to wish Deans well, along with departing veterans Reuben Thorne and (the non-playing) Caleb Ralph.
And it could yet be the last Crusaders appearance for the likes of fly-half Daniel Carter, number eight Mose Tuiali'i and prop Greg Somerville.
"It's an emotional day for them," Waratahs coach Ewen McKenzie observed.
"But the Crusaders are a pretty smart outfit. The papers are doing all the talking but I'm sure they're just focusing on getting the job done, as we will be.
"You don't want to get too much emotion involved because it will tire you out and distract you and you'll make poor decisions."
The Robbie Deans factfile:
Playing career:
Canterbury, 1979-90: 146 games, 1641 points.
* Only Fergie McCormick, Alex Wyllie and Lyn Davis have more Canterbury appearances.
* The 1641 points scored is a Canterbury record.
* Played in Canterbury's NPC- winning 1983 side and the then Ranfurly Shield defence-record equalling 1982-85 side.
* Still holds a number of Canterbury individual performance records, including most points in a season.
New Zealand 1983-85: 19 games, 5 Tests; 252 points (50 in Tests).
Coaching career:
Canterbury Country U21: 1991.
Canterbury Country: 1992-95.
Canterbury: 1997-2000.
* Canterbury won the NPC in his first year, in 1997, for the first time in 14 years (since 1983).
* Canterbury won the Ranfurly Shield in 2000 for the first time since 1994.
* Canterbury made the NPC final again in 2000.
* Canterbury played 41 matches, winning 29 and losing 12, a 71 per cent success rate.
Crusaders 2000-2008
* Super Rugby championship winners in 2000, 2002, 2005 and 2006.
* Super Rugby finalists in 2003, 2004, 2008.
* Super Rugby semi-finalists in 2007.
* The Crusaders went unbeaten through the 2002 Super 12 winning every match, the only team in 13 seasons of Super Rugby to achieve this feat.
* Between 2004 and 2007, the Crusaders went unbeaten in 26 home matches, easily a Super Rugby record.
* In 2007, Deans became the first coach to be in charge of a side through 100 Super Rugby games.
* When three years as the team manager (1997-99), is added (which included titles in 1998 and 1999), Deans has been directly associated with the Crusaders for 156 matches out of the 167 the team has played in its history. The Crusaders have won 112 of those matches. That figure, on its own, is greater than any other individual franchise team has won.
* As a head coach of the Crusaders, Deans has been in charge for 119 matches for 88 wins, 1 draw and 30 losses (a 74 per cent success rate) to May 28, 2008.
All Blacks coaching coordinator 2001-2003
* The team won 23 of 28 tests during his association, with one other drawn.
* This included back-to-back success in the 2002 and 2003 Tri-Nations, after New Zealand had failed to win that tournament in 2000 and 2001.
* The Bledisloe Cup series was also won 2-0 in 2003, returning the trophy to New Zealand after a six- year absence, with Australia having held it since 1997.