By JIM KAYES - The Dominion Post | Wednesday, 23 July 2008
It took a while, but finally his name was mentioned, and then only once. Robbie Deans is coach of the Wallabies but it would be easier to get Winston Peters to admit to a $100,000 donation than entice the All Blacks coaches to say the words Robbie or Deans out loud.
During a 20-minute press conference on Tuesday, which confirmed Richie McCaw is on track to lead the All Blacks against Australia in Sydney on Saturday and pitched rookie Richard Kahui into the Bledisloe Cup fray, Deans was a name to be heard by the coaches, but never spoken.
Head coach Graham Henry talked about "the Australian coach" and referred to "the situation" – an oblique way of mentioning that he kept the All Blacks job ahead of Deans.
But Deans' former Crusaders partners, Steve Hansen and Wayne Smith, got through the press conference without mentioning his name at all.
It might have been a quirk, but it smacked of a deliberate policy that had shades of a strategy England and the British and Irish Lions have used when they refused to talk about 'the All Blacks'.
They were playing the New Zealand rugby team – a verbal tactic they hoped would dilute the aura attached to the All Blacks.
And so it was with the All Blacks coaches as they insisted having (you-know-who) in the other camp would not make winning on Saturday even more satisfying.
"What could be bigger than winning an All Black test if you're an All Black coach?" Smith asked. "There is nothing bigger for us. It's a team thing, man."
Henry was the only one who slipped in the no-name game when he admitted "Robbie" had an advantage having coached under the experimental laws during the Super 14.
That faux pas aside, he stuck to the script.
" I know there is a media interest and a public interest in the situation," Henry said. "It's obvious, and that's good. It gives it more edge. But from my point of view I've got to concentrate on what I have to do, so my mind doesn't deviate to think of things I can't control.
"From our point of view it's no different to preparing for another test match of this magnitude. It's a huge test match, it always is, and nothing has changed."
Yet, for the public, everything's changed.
The All Blacks coaches might be at pains to ignore him, but Deans' role as Wallabies coach is the key talking point this week.
It drowns any debate over whether Kahui should have been picked at centre ahead of Conrad Smith, who drops to the bench ahead of a "bruised and battered" Leon MacDonald.
Wayne Smith said the decision was tactical, but would not elaborate.
"We just feel for this game, this opposition, on this track, he is the right selection."
The Deans v Henry clash also overrides whether McCaw will make a miraculous return from the high ankle strain that was meant to sideline him for another two weeks.
McCaw trained with the All Blacks in a wet and windy Wellington on Tuesday but has been bracketed with Daniel Braid.
Henry said it was 50-50 whether McCaw would play and said it would be left to the skipper to decide whether he was ready to battle George Smith and Phil Waugh.
"He has to feel like he is going to be competitive. He is playing against two of the best sevens in the world, in Smith and Waugh, and he doesn't want to be disadvantaged in that competition.
"If he thinks he can be competitive, he will play."
Other changes see the return of lock Brad Thorn and prop Greg Somerville after Thorn was banned for the second Springboks test and Somerville strangely not wanted.
Anthony Tuitavake also replaces Rudi Wulf on the wing with Smith again suggesting it was tactical but not wanting to explain any further least it give the Wallabies - and you-know-who - a leg up.
The Australian team will be named Wednesday, but it will not include captain Stirling Mortlock, who has been ruled out because of concussion suffered during last Saturday's match against the Springboks.
NEW ZEALAND: 15 Mils Muliaina, 14 Anthony Tuitavake, 13 Richard Kahui, 12 Ma'a Nonu, 11 Sitiveni Sivivatu, 10 Daniel Carter, 9 Andy Ellis; 8 Jerome Kaino, 7 Daniel Braid, 6 Rodney So'oialo (c), 5 Ali Williams, 4 Brad Thorn, 3 Greg Somerville, 2 Andrew Hore, 1 Tony Woodcock: Reserves: 16 Keven Mealamu, 17 John Afoa, 18 Anthony Boric, 19 Sione Lauaki, 20 Jimmy Cowan, 21 Stephen Donald, 22 Conrad Smith.
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