Matt Williams: Australian and New Zealand Super Rugby coaches showing signs of productive engagement

When the great Wallaby revival of the 1980s challenged New Zealand’s rugby supremacy, the Kiwis reacted with a series of disastrous failures of leadership surrounding their coaches.

Laurie Mains, John Heart and Alex “Grizz” Wyllie were all high-quality coaches of the New Zealand national team but with vastly different approaches on how to climb the mountain towards success. The political machinations that undermined each of these fine coaches, was a chess board of moves and counter moves, conducted in an environment that blamed the coach for every failure and never focused on the responsibilities of the players.

This was the major underlying factor in New Zealand’s failures across four consecutive RWCs. When France despatched New Zealand at the quarter-finals of the 2007 RWC, the leadership of New Zealand Rugby finally found its voice.

The New Zealand media screamed for the dismissal of the coaches Graham Henry, Steve Hansen and their captain Richie McCaw. Those of us who loved the cyclical World Cup agony of the Kiwis smiled as we thought, “here they go again.”

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To the great credit of the NZRFU’s leadership at the time, they calmly commissioned an independent report on the performance of the national team. As I have said before in this column, that final report remains the most impressive evaluation document on elite rugby I have ever read.

Up until this season, the processes recommended in that report have been the foundation of New Zealand’s unprecedented successes

The report did note failures of leadership from the coaches but crucially it also placed responsibility on the New Zealand players for making several key errors. The report did not recommend changing the captaincy or the coaches. Instead, it suggested processes to enhance their leadership competencies.

Henry, with Hansen as his assistant, went on to win the 2011 RWC. Hansen then won the 2015 RWC, both with Richie McCaw as captain.

Up until this season, the processes recommended in that report have been the foundation of New Zealand’s unprecedented successes. In 2020 the NZRFU followed that successful model and appointed Ian Foster, the former assistant coach of Steve Hansen, as national coach.

In the Covid-hit Rugby Championship of 2021, Foster’s side won the trophy. However, in the excellent competitiveness of that championship, New Zealand lost to the Pumas and so broke the Kiwis’ most self-destructive law, which states: “Under no circumstances, even if the opposition play wonderful rugby, can a Kiwi coach ever lose a match. If they do the great ignorant and unwashed are coming after them.”

Since Ireland’s series victory over New Zealand, the local media and the rugby public have attacked Foster and his team with horrible and unacceptable words. In the ensuing chaos, the silence from the NZRFU was deafening.

The New Zealand team responded in the only way possible. In the lung-busting, oxygen-starved altitude of Ellis Park, against the World Champions Springboks, the Kiwis produced a sensationally courageous performance.

The NZRFU finally remembered the lessons of 2007 and, even if it was far too late, eventually stood up to the bullies attacking their coach and team, and confirmed that Ian Foster was staying as head coach. Added to that was Joe Schmidt, as their new attack coach, a role traditionally held by the future New Zealand coach.

With the Pumas in New Zealand across the next few weeks, Ian Foster must find it almost laughable that the Kiwis are now favourites to win the Rugby Championship.

Compare the NZRFU’s teabag weak leadership to that of the chief executive of Rugby Australia, Andy Marinos, who immediately turned the fire hose on to the sparks that suggested Wallaby coach Dave Rennie was in some way responsible for the long list of injuries that have handicapped the Australians. Ridiculous reports in the media suggested that Rennie was over-training his team and that was the cause of the injuries.

The Zimbabwean-born Marinos, who played internationally for Wales, correctly pointed out that some soft tissue injuries, along with collision accidents at training and in the warm-up, can not be labelled as coaching errors.

On Saturday the Wallabies will meet the Springboks in the beautiful city of Adelaide. In only the second international match in the City of Churches since Ireland played Argentina there during RWC 2003 when, in a world-class performance, the Irish supporters drank the city’s pubs dry.

Taking the Springboks fixture to Adelaide is a great promotion for rugby in south Australia as it is an Australian Rules heartland. However, an injury-ravaged Wallaby team with no Michael Hooper has the ticket sales struggling.

Confusingly, the Wallabies have remained at their Queensland training base all week, with not one Australian player out and about in the local community promoting the match.

The visiting Springboks have been free to roam Adelaide’s beautiful avenues for the past week without a single rugby fan around to annoy them.

This week the Wallabies rewarded the former Munster coach, the great Laurie Fisher, with a long overdue appointment to the Wallaby staff as their new defensive and breakdown coach. Both areas that Laurie has excelled at for many years with the Brumbies. His wisdom and leadership will be a great asset to the Wallaby staff.

How the Wallabies’ defence handles the power of the Springboks’ running game may determine the match.

In another excellent example of what combined leadership can achieve, the Australian and New Zealand Super Rugby coaches and chief executives met at a conference in Auckland last week. The atmosphere was described as “collegial,” which means no brawls broke out.

The final hurdle to securing the future of Trans-Tasman Super rugby is the Australians’ insistence on a decade-long agreement for the competition. Something that has shocked their Kiwi cousins

The meeting produced several long overdue proposals for law changes that have been all but fully endorsed for Super Rugby 2023.

A 60-second clock for the assembly of scrums will be introduced. The moronic issuing of yellow cards for knock-ons when attempted intercepts will be sent to the waste paper basket of history, where it should have been dumped three decades ago. While the TMO’s far too frequent interruptions into games will be greatly curtailed in all future Super Rugby matches. All topics that I and many others across the globe have been banging on about for years.

World Rugby legislators’ glaring failures of leadership to change these and many other “not fit for purpose” laws have been superseded by leadership from the south.

The final hurdle to securing the future of Trans-Tasman Super rugby is the Australians’ insistence on a decade-long agreement for the competition. Something that has shocked their Kiwi cousins.

Perhaps it is because the Australians trust the Kiwis’ leadership about as far as a Wallaby can hop.

It would be wise for the New Zealanders to consider the real alternatives of Australia going it alone, backed by the cash of the mining billionaire Andrew Forest, in creating their own “Super Rugby Australasia.”

Let us hope the Kiwi leadership reaches out across the “Ditch,” that is the Tasman Sea, and secures the long-term future of Super Rugby in the south.