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Robbie Deans employs satellite technology to help straighten Matt Giteau's wobbly boot
- Wayne Smith
- From: The Australian
- September 13, 2010 12:00AM
WALLABIES coach Robbie Deans is planning to arrange some help from up above for wayward goal-kicker Matt Giteau.
No, it's not a prayer session he has in mind.
Much as Giteau and the Wallabies might appear to be in need of divine intervention, at least when it comes to contests against the All Blacks, what Deans has in mind is inspired more by science than religion - satellite coaching sessions with South Africa-based kicking coach Bramm van Stratten.
The former Springbok legend produced spectacular results when he worked with the Wallabies' goal-kickers in South Africa in recent weeks. Giteau landed 12 goals from 13 attempts on the highveld and Kurtley Beale kicked an 80th minute 55m penalty goal to win the Bloemfontein Test.
But it all unravelled for Giteau at ANZ Stadium on Saturday night when his four misses from seven shots cost the Wallabies dearly in their 23-22 loss to the All Blacks.
Deans intends bringing van Stratten to Australia next month to again work with his kickers but for one week only. There are no plans to take him away with the team on the five-Test spring tour but the Wallabies coach believes his physical presence is not required.
"In reality, he doesn't need to be there . . . he can actually support with the use of technology easily, even in real time," said Deans, pointing skywards.
Skills coach Richard Graham insisted yesterday Giteau would still be the team's first choice kicker - "and he's earned the right". But given that Saturday's Test was Graham's last in the Wallabies tracksuit before taking up his appointment as the new Western Force head coach, his opinion, though well-respected, no longer carries any particular weight.
Interestingly, Deans dead-batted the question of whether van Stratten's brief visit would be used to arrange a kick-off between the side's many kicking contenders, Giteau, Beale, Quade Cooper and the kicker Graham believes potentially could be the best of them all, James O'Connor.
But it would be a cruel outcome if Giteau was dumped from the role because of one bad night at the office considering he went into the Sydney Test having averaged 81.25 per cent (26 from 32) with the boot in this year's Tri-Nations - not as good perhaps as Morne Steyn's 91 per cent (31 from 34) for South Africa, but well above Dan Carter's 59 per cent (23 from 39) for New Zealand.
While it came as a shock to see Giteau's technique disintegrate like the swing of a 24-marker facing a 150m water carry, it was no real surprise that the Wallabies were also brought undone by the All Blacks' preparedness to infringe repeatedly inside their own territory rather than concede a try.
Rocky Elsom went public with these concerns before the match and clearly referee Mark Lawrence is an avid newspaper reader because when the Wallabies captain complained to him in the 58th minute that every time Australia got into NZ territory, the All Blacks gave away a penalty,
Lawrence had a prepared response.
Astonishingly, in the middle of the match, he used his two-way radio to ask for the penalty count inside the NZ half. Receiving his reply, he snapped to Elsom, "Two penalties against you, three penalties against them . . . get on with it!"
While those stats technically might have been correct, they did not reveal the number of times the All Blacks committed penalty offences that were never counted because the Wallabies made good use of advantage rulings. In the build-up to Lachie Turner's disallowed try, for instance, Lawrence signalled a penalty advantage to Australia four times.
"They're penalties," said Elsom. "He (the referee) might be playing advantage but they're still penalties."
Overall, Lawrence handled the match with aplomb but former Australia captain and IRB member Paul McLean expressed concern yesterday that the game is now being played at such speed that one pair of eyes is not enough.
McLean pointed out All Blacks captain Richie McCaw had illegally detached while the ball was still in the scrum to position himself to score his match-turning try - a charge a gently-grinning McCaw did not deny - yet Lawrence received no alert from the assistant referee barely 10m away.
"Rugby league may have it right with more "admin' on the field," said McLean.
"Maybe we need to allow the assistant refs to actually cross the white line and participate more actively."
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news...-1225919861582
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