Changes likely for Wallabies and assistant coaches

A detailed review by four Australian Rugby Union (ARU) board members (Brett Robinson, Michael Hawker, John Eales and Mark Connors) could result in dramatic changes for Australian rugby.

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Key changes will be to the backroom team, where assistant coaches Jim Williams and Peter Harding have left the setup and will be replaced in the coming months.

Some sections of the Australian media have questioned the inexperience of the support team that Robbie Deans had relied on, in stark contrast to some coaching teams, notably the former ‘holy trinity’ of the All Blacks former team in Graham Henry, Steve Hansen and Wayne Smith.

The Sydney Morning Herald revealed that the ARU will discuss the report and potentially implement changes to the way the Wallabies operate.

Deans is understood to be under no pressure, with the board happy with a third placed World Cup finish, as well as the Investec Tri Nations and Super Rugby title, and the former Crusaders mentor will oversee the Wallabies until 2013.

There is also speculation that the report specifically compares the operation of the Australian test rugby setup in comparison to their World Cup winning counterparts, the All Blacks.

O’Neill said to the Herald that speculation regarding Super Rugby winning coach Ewen McKenzie and the Wallabies head coaching position were pointless.

'Robbie is the coach for the next two years, but there are clearly others who have ambitions, which is pretty normal,' O'Neill said.

'If you're a Super Rugby coach, and don't have ambitions to coach the Wallabies, it would be unusual.”

“But two years is a pretty long time in rugby. And it's not very useful to have a whole lot of speculation about what is going to happen sometime at the back end of 2013. Attaching odds on whether Robbie will stay on, versus Ewen McKenzie, Michael Foley or whoever taking over is just pointless.'