Mental Midgets blow it again

In what has become, I'm sure, an infuriating trend for coach Robbie Deans, the Australians have managed to blow a comfortable second half lead and lose a third game on the trot. The calls for his head will begin in earnest now as his glossy sheen of infallibility tarnishes and cracks.

But is it Robbie Deans' fault? Australia are playing very well otherwise - they look organized, their players are skillful, tactically they're sound. But when the pressure's on - brain explosions all around. They had this game in the bag until Mitchell and Hynes decided to dink around near their own goal-line, passing it back and forth until the Kiwis swamped them, eventually conceding the penalty which sealed their demise. All they had to do was kick it out!

And then, once the All Blacks had gifted them possession after the final hooter, they had two opportunities to set up a drop goal right in front of the posts - surely a gimme for Matt Giteau - yet they kept spreading it wide until they knocked it on - game over.

These Australians lack what Aussies pride themselves on - mental toughness. I think of the Aussie cricket teams of the past - they would come back from anything, totally unflappable. Same with the great rugby teams of John Eales day. The current crop - fragile, fragile, fragile. Maybe they are lacking a hard-nosed leader. In pretty boys like Giteau and Barnes, they have immense talent, but these guys just aren't cut out to be team leaders. Had they been on Steve Waugh's undefeatable cricket team, he would have crushed them into bloody pulp for not killing off the Kiwis. They need a hard man to stand up and announce himself and destroy the care free attitudes that seem to exist - this notion that it's okay to lose as long as you play attractively. It's rubbish and should be treated as such.

Deans is succeeding as a tactician and coach, but not as a man manager. He has failed to instill the sense of believe and invincibility into his Aussies that his Crusaders always exhibited. I don't think the Crusaders ever lost a game when they took a lead into the second half - it was unacceptable to the players, the fans, and Robbie Deans. It needs to become unacceptable the the Aussies.

They've handed the Bledisloe to New Zealand for the 5th straight year, destroyed any remaining TriNations hopes they had, and now face two home games against the Springboks which they'll battle to win. It looks a bleak time indeed for Dingo Deans and his charges.