Review proves where NZRUs head is
April 18th, 2008, 7:53 pm Hobbies News
The timing of the report is bizarre %26mdash; nah, incredibly stupid.
Just when you thought it was safe to get back into the water, the NZRU %26mdash; showing all the timing of a Luke McAllister drop goal %26mdash; reopens the festering six-month-old sore just as we were beginning to forget it.
At a time when many heartland provinces are struggling to balance the books, I would love to know the cost of a review that was more than four months in the making and five months overdue in delivery.
Why commission a report when youve already decided to maintain the status quo, effectively giving the incumbent regime the big tick? The review came up with nothing your average punter leaning on the local bar couldnt have deduced over a couple of cold ones.
You dont need to be a highly paid consultant to figure out reconditioning, rotation, lack of battle-hardness, lack of leadership on the field, poor team selection for the quarter-final, too many hangers-on in the support staff and plain old-fashioned arrogance were to the forefront of the failure.
And what if the reviews findings suggested Graham Henry had to go? Surely the sensible play would have been to fast-track the review and appoint the All Blacks coach as a result.
What peeves me most of all, though, is Henrys almost complete lack of contrition. It smacks of his smirking I-know-best-schoolteacher-addressing-errant-schoolboys demeanour.
His insistence of defending the indefensible is inexcusable and he would gain much more respect from the great unwashed if he just admitted culpability and took it on the chin.
No one would deny Henry has been a great coach in the past, but he had his chance and he blew it.
Rugby is at a crossroads in a rugby-mad country that is hopping-mad about the state of the game. A lot of the current angst could have been avoided if the NZRU had avoided the meaningless charade of a toothless, long-winded review and anointed the peoples choice, Robbie Deans, with Warren Gatland as his assistant.
The whole sorry saga reeks of stable doors and bolting horses.
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