The ghosts of '07 are still hovering

By LINDSAY KNIGHT - RugbyHeaven | Tuesday, 03 June 2008

Much as Graham Henry, Wayne Smith and Steve Hansen would like to move forward to their next international challenges as if anything that happened in 2007 is irrelevant, last year's misfortunes are sure to haunt them for years to come.

Their selections for the upcoming tests against Ireland and England did little to remove any of the questions or scepticism which arose from a disastrous 2007. Admittedly, there were going to be some drastic changes from last year's squad, with so many players going overseas and others injured or retired like Joe Rokocoko and Keith Robinson.

But you would not have thought the cleanout would have been quite so sweeping, taking in its wake the likes of Chris Masoe and Isaia Toeava, as well as those who had confirmed their intention to join the overseas exodus such as Jerry Collins and Nick Evans.

The stance taken on the latter two contrasts starkly with the leniency shown Daniel Carter and the willingness to accommodate his "sabbatical".

Another casualty has been lock Jason Eaton, who suffered a severe leg injury in the 2007 Super 14 and missed the World Cup. He has been judged to need a provincial season to bring him back to form, which is a trifle ironic. When he was plucked from obscurity, along with Toeava, for the 2005 end-of-season tour, he had not played for the Hurricanes.

But of those punished for the 2007 World Cup fiasco, the biggest concern, which may cause some to wonder whether the Henry panel always acts with wisdom and judgement, is the treatment meted to Toeava.

You would hope this youngster has been taken aside and treated with some sensitivity, though that has to be questioned when some of those ousted like Evans and Masoe learned of their fate, apparently, through messages on their cellphones. Collins, too, received a curt dismissal for what has been a monumental contribution to New Zealand rugby, with Henry offering the viewpoint, when Collins had made himself unavailable, by saying he would not have been picked in any case.

So far Toeava has had the sort of bumpy, erratic career which must make him ideal fodder for the sports psychologists so beloved by some modern coaches. When he was picked as a 19-year old from the blue in 2005, when many even in Auckland knew little about him, he was seen as a five-eighths.

But in his spasmodic All Black career from 2005-07 in which he has appeared in 15 tests, a number of which have been from the bench, he has been used mainly at centre or fullback or even wing. And in those three seasons, quite apart from having a utility tag, he has never been sure of a regular starting place with either Auckland or the Blues. Indeed, in the 2006 Super 12, he was a draft player with the Hurricanes.

Toeava, beyond any question, is a young player with talent and potential. But clearly he was picked before he was ready for international rugby and before he had been given the chance of serving an apprenticeship at provincial and Super levels. The fact that he was rushed too soon has never been his fault, but that of the selectors.

Only a few teenaged prodigies, Bryan Williams in 1970 as one example, make it immediately. John Kirwan probably was better off in the long term when at 18 he was overlooked for the Scotland-England tour of 1983 and even Jonah Lomu floundered when pitched in at just 19 for tests against France in 1994.

The other reason, of course, why many of us will never forget how events were so mismanaged in 2007 comes in the form of Robbie Deans, and the extraordinary fact, having been spurned by his own national administration, he has taken himself off to Australia to coach the Wallabies.

It has been long accepted that his taking over from Henry for this year should have been a no-brainer. If there were any doubts left as to Deans' supreme coaching quality they were removed by his steering the Crusaders to yet another Super title. Of the seven the franchise has won, this was arguably the greatest achievement for, in terms of talent and depth, this was the most inexperienced squad the Crusaders have fielded.

Perhaps now the Halberg Awards voting academy will at last overcome its apparent bias against rugby and make the Crusaders the team of New Zealand sport for 2008, and give Deans the coaching award. There may be qualms about giving an award to a coach of an overseas side. But there is a precedent. In the early 1990s league's Graham Lowe was once coach of the year while based in Australia.