The boat has started rocking....

[frontrow]

Picked this from Rugby Heaven...

http://www.rugbyheaven.smh.com.au/ar...648064996.html

It is a bit unsettling going into RWC, but probably necessary....

[travelling_gerry]

good pick FR.....

In Burgs absence you are the official rugby heaven spotter..

[Thequeerone]

The first one to mention to Burgs that Robbie Deans is widely tipped to be the next Wallaby coach might well score a pint from Burgs tonight - PS don't mention the source until the pint is in your hand

[Seldom]

deans is one of the better coaches going aroung and it might give the wallabies the chance to win the TRI -N and BLED CUPS in the near future

[shasta]

Just like I've got no problems with (Shut UP) Eddie coaching the Boks I've got no problems with Deans coaching the Wallabies, in principle. But I'd rather an Aussie if there's one good enough available, and he's not still in Auckland.

[The InnFORCEr]

Wallabies top job is wide open: O'Neill
Friday Aug 3 14:53 AEST
The race to succeed John Connolly as Wallabies coach is wide open, says Australian Rugby Union chief executive John O'Neill.

O'Neill has dismissed speculation that respected Canterbury Crusaders coach Robbie Deans is a shoo-in to replace Connolly next year.

He also described talk of divisions within the Wallabies coaching ranks as a "storm in a tea-cup" and didn't believe it would pose a distraction in the lead-up to the World Cup in France.

"It's absolutely wrong to think that Robbie Deans has got the job, he hasn't," O'Neill said in response to reports claiming it was a "done deal" that Deans would replace Connolly.




"The fact that Robbie Deans has been given some element of favouritism, you don't have to be Einstein to work out his credentials are pretty good.

"He's probably the most consistent, successful provincial coach in the world.

"When I left rugby the policy was you had to be an Australian to coach the Wallabies. That policy is no longer in place and therefore there is an opening for someone like Robbie Deans.

"It doesn't mean he's a shoo-in by any stretch of the imagination."

In his new autobiography It's Only a Game, O'Neill wrote that in early 2004 he was keen to replace Wallabies coach Eddie Jones with Deans.

But on Friday O'Neill said he didn't have a personal favourite for the top post and promised a transparent selection process.

"Now in 2007 it's an open and transparent race," he said at Robina Stadium, where the East Coast Aces will play in the new Australian Rugby Championship next week.

"I don't have a particular favourite. I want the best person for the job."

O'Neill said Super 14 mentors Laurie Fisher, Ewen McKenzie and David Nucifora and Wallabies assistant coaches Scott Johnson and John Muggleton were all "very good candidates" to supplant Connolly.

A selection panel of O'Neill, ARU board members Rod McCall, Mark Connors, new high-performance unit (HPU) director Pat Howard, and former HPU directors Brett Robinson and Jeff Miller will make a recommendation by the end of November.

Connolly is widely expected to end his two-year tenure following the World Cup but reports have claimed tensions among his three assistant coaches, also including Michael Foley, had the potential to undermine Australia's bid for the Webb Ellis Cup.

But O'Neill addressed the Australian players in Sydney on Thursday to assure them there was no disharmony.

"It is a storm in a tea-cup," he said.

"I wasn't around but I'm told there was some dissension last year but there is absolutely no dissension now."

O'Neill said the rumours were sparked following an incident at the recent John Eales Medal dinner in which Muggleton walked out after being snubbed by ARU president Paul McLean in a speech.

"It got a couple of days of publicity which expanded into division in the ranks," O'Neill said.

"There's no division. I went and spoke to the Wallabies and all the team management yesterday morning at Manly and they are a happy bunch.

"You always get a bit of friction and creative tension between coaches and you don't engage or employ them to be best mates.

"You employ them to do the best job for the team and they are doing that.

"It's over. We're just getting on with preparations now for France."

Meanwhile, O'Neill confirmed that the ARU would lose close to $6 million this year, despite budgeting to be in the red to the tune of only $2.4 million.

He blamed poor gate takings on Wales and South Africa sending second-string squads to Australia and the fact a large portion of the ARU's revenue revolved around broadcasting rights, negotiated in American dollars.

"The publicity this week about the ARU incurring a significant loss is true," he said.

"It's not enjoyable but it's bearable."

[no.8]

Another professional coach plies his trade worldwide - let's hope some of that Crusader (bloody Cantabrians!) magic rubs off on the Wallabies.

[prop53]

Its all in the game

[jargan83]

wll knuckles be re-appointed if he brings back the cup??? (if he chooses to seek re-appointment that is)

[Jehna]

I don't think he will Jargan. I'm sure I read somewhere that he wasn't going to seek re-appointment regardless of the world cup outcome.

I'd really like to see Scott Foley take up the job. I think he's awesome

[Burgs]

Knuckles is definitely a no for next season regardless of the outcome Jargan.
Still only one choice for mine...

[travelling_gerry]

I can tell you that in those famous words.....

"If nominated I will decline"

His words werre slightly different tho....