IN A PARALLEL universe not too far from our own, Ewen McKenzie could have been in Carton House this afternoon fielding questions on the fitness of Chris Henry and Tommy Bowe.
Instead, the 48-year-old was in Stillorgan chatting about Australia’s win over Italy and highlighting the progress his side have made with their attacking ambitions.
The former Queensland Reds coach was amongst the favourites to take over from Declan Kidney when the Corkman’s reign came to an end, but the IRFU decided that Joe Schmidt was their man and McKenzie ended up as head coach of his native Australia instead.
McKenzie won 51 caps for the Wallabies in his playing days when he lined out as a prop. In a way, he is the perfect man to lead the Australian team, given his understanding of forwards play but also an appreciation of the importance of attacking flair too. Still, it could have all been so different if the IRFU had gone after him.
At that point in time, I was looking for a job. So you look at the options basically, that’s about it. I didn’t fly over here and case the joint. I had a look and made a few inquiries, but I did that on a number of fronts. That’s what you do when you’re looking for something to do.”
McKenzie never got to the stage of a job offer, but says he is aware of why Irish rugby has placed its trust in Schmidt. He says he didn’t dwell on the IRFU’s failure to pursue him more determinedly.
“They’ve got their own thoughts and I can understand why they made the decision they did. I wasn’t that close to the situation. I’m aware of the circumstances over here, it was a long time ago and I haven’t put a lot of thought into it to be honest. I’m very happy with the challenge I’ve got at the moment.”
Indeed he is, and ‘Link’ is clearly focused on overcoming that challenge too. His start to life as the Wallabies head coach has been far from plain sailing, with just three wins in eight games so far. There have been problems with consistency in performance, something the Melbourne native is working towards eradicating.
“When you play these games, none of them are easy. That’s part of the psychology of playing at this level. At the moment, our opponents every week are different, with different cultures and different ways of playing the game.
“So you’ve got to overcome that, which is the strategic side to it, and there’s an emotional element. There’s also your own internal contribution to that as well, which is getting the playing group to make sure we don’t enjoy our victories so much that we can’t concentrate on winning again.
Winning consistently is the only thing I’m interested in at the minute. We’re well aware of the fact that we’ve had some good wins, but we haven’t been consistent enough so that’s a focus.”
Australia were impressive in beating Italy 50-20 over the weekend, scoring seven tries in the process and showing signs that they are beginning to feel comfortable with the decision-making freedom McKenzie has given them in attack.
Next up is the clash with Schmidt’s Ireland side. Having coached Stade Français for the 2008/09 season, McKenzie has come up against the Kiwi before and says he is highly regarded within the world rugby community.
“I coached against Joe in France, he was at Clermont with Vern Cotter. That was the first time I met him. I’ve never heard a bad thing about him, I’ve heard only good things. I’ve seen him here and there, I think he’s a really good operator.
“He’s obviously had the opportunity at Leinster that suited his coaching style. From that, he’s jumped up to the next level, it all makes sense. I think that he excites the players and gets the best out of them, you only hear good things. It’s a good situation for him, a good situation for Ireland.”
