Kiwis turn on 'stupid' All Blacks

Kiwis turn on 'stupid' All Blacks

From Chris Foley in Wellington, New Zealand

July 27, 2008

NEW Zealand rugby fans turned on the All Blacks after the team's loss to Australia, with pundits labelling them "stupid" and beleagured coach Graham Henry under renewed attack.

The knives were out for Henry as the coach once hailed as the 'Great Redeemer' was outsmarted by Robbie Deans, the boss the New Zealand Rugby Union did not want and encouraged to move to Australia.

Saturday night's long-awaited Test, the first pitching Henry against Deans since Henry's reappointment despite last year's World Cup flop, turned into a one-sided affair as the Wallabies romped to a 34-19 victory.

"It wasn't just the margin, it was the fact that the off-field mastermind was a man we could have had for the asking that left you feeling sick by game's end,'' wrote columnist Phil Gifford in the Sunday Star-Times.

Deans is by far the most successful coach in the history of the Super rugby series, and he has moulded the Wallabies along the same lines that he used to take the Crusaders to five Super rugby titles.

Even All Blacks assistant coach Steve Hansen said there was an air of the Crusaders about the Wallabies, yet the All Blacks did not seem prepared for that.


Kiwis turn on 'stupid' All Blacks - Tri-Nations - Fox Sports