Dumped McKenzie linked to Victoria

FORMER Waratahs coach Ewen McKenzie could come into the reckoning as chief executive -- not coach -- of Victoria's proposed Super 15 team after being given the pink slip by Stade Francais just five games into the 38-match French Top 14 season.

Even though Stade Francais, the Paris-based team dressed in shocking pink by its equally colourful private owner Max Guazzini, were sitting second last on the French championship ladder with only a win and a draw, McKenzie said he was disappointed he had not been given the chance to orchestrate a revival.

"It's ironic in a way," said McKenzie from Paris yesterday. "I've been categorised as a conservative coach but while Stade Francais was struggling in defence, we were leading the competition in attack.

"If you understand French sport, let alone rugby, it's not uncommon to be exiting the coach. It's part of the emotional process of trying to inspire the troops and keep the confidence of the fans up. It's part of the fabric of sport."

Although the VicSuper15 consortium is understood to have identified Heineken Cup-winning Leinster coach Michael Cheika as its preferred coach, with another Randwick great, Glen Ella as his offsider, the Victorian Rugby Union studiously has avoided making any firm plans on its coaching staff until it is awarded the Super 15 licence.

But McKenzie, educated at Melbourne's Scotch College, has always been the favourite son of Victorian rugby, having flown the flag for the state as a member of the 1991 World Cup-winning Wallabies.

Yet it is understood his name has been bounced around more as a potential chief executive of a Melbourne franchise than as head coach.

"I'd have a look at that sort of role," McKenzie said. "It doesn't have to be a coaching role. I know enough about the game now to head in a different direction.

"First, I would want to understand fully how the franchise would operate, but I'm a never-say-never sort of guy."

Meanwhile, the two players who suffered rib injuries in Australia's 21-6 victory over the Springboks in Brisbane on Saturday, hooker Tatafu Polota-Nau and winger Lachlan Turner will undergo medical assessments today.

The Springboks have reacted to their defeat by making only one change to their starting XV for Saturday's Hamilton Test against the All Blacks, recalling World Cup hero Francois Steyn for Ruan Pienaar at fullback.