The Australian Rugby Union (ARU) cannot afford to waste any time as they attempt to recover their identity in the wake of head coach Ewen McKenzie’s decision to quit. Events of the past two weeks, and revelations about McKenzie’s relationship with Di Patston, had made his position untenable.
Suspicions surrounding exactly how much he knew about the text messages sent by Kurtley Beale had eroded whatever trust he had managed to build within the squad since taking the reins. Yet, that is not to say the current crisis is Patston’s fault.
Whatever her role within the squad she was merely trying to get on with a job she had been hired to do, and it is unfair that the demise of Australian rugby is being attributed to her. After all, the squad was not exactly a collection of choirboys before she and McKenzie arrived.
Moreover, Patston’s willingness to take on extra responsibility fitted perfectly with CEO Bill Pulver’s age of austerity at the ARU.
That approach has left the Wallabies without the sort of basic structures that most major nations take for granted. And having failed to fully back his coach, Pulver should carry his share of the blame for the current mess.
His negligence allowed the current malaise to develop beneath him but he will need to act swiftly and decisively if the image of Australian rugby is to improve quickly.
The squad depart for their tour of Europe on Friday, meaning time is a commodity in short supply as Pulver sets about identifying McKenzie’s successor. With such a tight timeframe in place, it would seem that Jake White, the man who led South Africa to the 2007 World Cup, is in pole position to land the role on a short-term basis.
Pulver could do a lot worse. White has a proven track record in international rugby, worked with several of the squad while at the Brumbies, and would be available having left Sharks last month.
New South Wales Waratahs coach Michael Cheika remains Pulver’s long-term first-choice it is thought, but time may well dictate that White comes in on an interim basis for the autumn at least.
Cheika would certainly be a popular appointment, providing some positive PR at a time when the Wallabies need their nation to get behind them. His Waratahs side provided Australia with a moment to be truly proud of this year, winning the Super Rugby title, and many of those players are integral to Wallabies hopes too.
Michael Hooper is one such example, and one of few people to come out of the last fortnight with his reputation enhanced. The young Australia skipper is the sort of talismanic talent that teams are built around, and his relationship with Cheika could prove central to a Wallabies revival.
Sadly for Pulver, while the former Leinster coach is keen on leading his country at some stage, he is believed to have reservations about the state of the current set-up. The problems go deeper than who is the head coach. There are funding issues, structural problems and a squad that still contains several players with a propensity to do stupid things away from the pitch.
Yet, there is also still plenty of quality. They highlighted as much as they ran the best team in the world extremely close on Saturday in a game they should have won.
The onus is now on Pulver to give Hooper and his players a coach they deserve.
