Interview with the former Australian coach who doesn’t seem to too keen on Brian O’Driscoll:
Dwyer: O’Driscoll flawed, smug and lacking modesty
By Peter Bills
Sunday July 08 2007
THE location has changed; the surroundings are unfamiliar.
Here, amidst the magnificent rolling hills of Australia’s picturesque Southern Highlands, a comfortable two-hour drive south from Sydney, the man who masterminded the Wallabies’ first World Cup triumph, now focuses more on steers than scrums, on feed for animals rather than the feed into a scrum.
But that isn’t to say that Bob Dwyer has lost interest in the game that made him famous. For sure, he has moved on in his life, a gentleman farmer now rather than ambitious rugby coach. But then, having achieved most of what he sought, he was happy to pass the torch to others, to sit back and assess.
And Dwyer remains an intrigued observer of the world rugby scene. He regularly watches the world’s top teams. And his assessment of Eddie O’Sullivan’s Ireland, just nine weeks out from this year’s World Cup, are fascinating.
Irish captain Brian O’Driscoll, according to Dwyer, is smug and lacks modesty. What is more, his strengths as a world-class rugby player are his flaws. And, if that isn’t enough, he isn’t a player who reacts well to coaching and coaches.
Dwyer, a guru for coaches the world over, was in charge of the Barbarians a couple of years back when O’Driscoll was selected as part of their squad. The Australian admits he was disappointed with what he encountered.
“I didn’t get the impression he was the most coachable of players,” said the Australian last week. "Why did I think that? There was a smugness about him, a lack of modesty, too. Even the great players have to be willing to learn, but Brian didn’t seem too keen. I got the impression he thought he knew it all and didn’t need to listen to a coach.
"When I went on tour years ago with Tim Horan and Jason Little, the Australian centres who were two of the best we’ve ever known in this country, they told me at the end of that trip that no one had ever told them things I had been telling them. That wasn’t a position I suggested, it just came out.
“But I certainly didn’t get that reaction from Brian. In my view, Brian O’Driscoll is a great player, but he could be an even greater player if he was prepared to listen and learn. Even the best players can benefit from that.”
Yet Dwyer believes O’Sullivan’s men are perfectly capable of reaching this year’s World Cup final. However, he isn’t convinced they can win the tournament.
“Ireland are a very good side in my book. They are strong and a big part of their game is their centres. But O’Driscoll’s strengths are his flaws. His lightning acceleration and outside break is a very strong part of his game. But unless those qualities create the ultimate advantage they bring a strong disadvantage, which is that he gets tackled going sideways. What that also means is that he has used all the space those outside him need to play in.”
Dwyer acknowledges that Gordon D’Arcy is also a fine player, albeit not quite in the same class as O’Driscoll. But, revealingly, he says: “Unfortunately, D’Arcy has to live off the scraps O’Driscoll gives him.”
The Australian’s assessment of Ireland also focuses on some highly praiseworthy aspects. For example, he says of fly-half Ronan O’Gara: "He is almost certainly the most improved player in the world. I used to think he was dreadful but now he is terrific.
"He was always a great kicker but not a lot else. But now he is a great player overall. Maybe Alan Gaffney’s work at Munster has had an effect. Whatever the reason, O’Gara is now a really good player who controls a game the way you would want to see. And his half-back mate, Peter Stringer, is pretty good, too.
“Ireland have an excellent forward pack. They may lack a bit of height in the line-out but that’s only a small point.”
How far could Ireland go in the World Cup? “I don’t think they are good enough to win it. But they could be semi-finalists and maybe worthy finalists,” says Dwyer.
But if you are looking for potential World Cup winners, Bob Dwyer has a surprise nation in mind.
“I have to say that, for me, South Africa have absolutely improved out of sight in the last 12 months,” he says. "A year or more ago, their execution of almost everything was almost completely incorrect. Okay, their set plays were pretty good but not a lot else was.
“Their catch and pass skills, their running lines and support work at the breakdown were, in almost every instance, incorrect. It was just their phenomenal physical superiority that kept them in the hunt.”
But in 2007, according to Dwyer, South African rugby at Test level has undergone a stunning transformation. So much so that quite frankly, he is at a loss to explain it.
“This year there has been a big change in the Springboks’ game. I don’t know how it has happened. But take the Springboks’ support lines at the tackle contest. They used to be so flat that the guy trying to transfer the ball was forced to transfer it like it was coming from a cannon. But things like that and so many others have changed. They are playing a lot, lot better.”
So how does Bob Dwyer analyse the South Africans’ chances at the Rugby World Cup, starting in September in France? The crease of a smile plays at his lips.
“Mate, I think they could win the World Cup,” he says without drama. "But to do that, they need all their best players to be fit and firing. The big problem is, they are a bit short of a fly-half. Butch James is not the perfect answer but he is alright. But they have two very good centres in Jean de Villiers and Jacque Fourie.
"The key thing is not the individuals but the strategy. And they have somehow developed very good running lines. They are also good at maintaining what little depth you need. The disadvantage of being flat in a back line is that it’s very easy to become too flat. Now I see them playing tight off the edge of the maul and putting two or three passes together which is very good.
“And as for the defence of the opposition, when you have a gorilla coming at you that can run very fast, you have problems. I think they have several individuals with superhuman physical qualities, including speed.”
No prizes for guessing that Dwyer has in mind the likes of Schalk Burger, Victor Matfield and Pierre Spies. The latter, he suggests, runs like a wing; the other two, merely like big centres. And then there’s the likes of Os du Randt, that slip of a lad at 1.90m and 125kgs. Is the big ‘Os’ too old? “Doesn’t look like it to me,” says Dwyer.
Yet the Australian also has words of warning for Springbok coach Jake White, a man maybe in danger of believing that his heavyweights can do to the world what Heinz Guderian’s Panzers did to the Low Countries of Europe in 1940.
“South Africa cannot win the World Cup on physicality alone,” insists Dwyer. "But if they keep up the massive improvement in their skills and execution, they can win it. But relying purely on physicality won’t be enough.
"If the South Africans have the physical qualities for which they are renowned and they have also got the technical perfection, they can win the World Cup. For me, last Saturday night in Melbourne when the Wallabies beat the All Blacks continued to sow the seed of doubt in my mind about New Zealand.
“I believe the All Blacks have been steadily but minutely playing worse month by month for the last 18 months. They are clearly still the best side in the world, but they are clearly beatable. Whether they will still be the best at the World Cup, I don’t know”
There’s a load of nonsense in there:
[]He coached O’Driscoll for the Barbarians and he can judge his willingness to learn from that?
[]He’s clearly full of his own self-importance but Brian O’Driscoll is smug?
[]D’Arcy feeds off O’Driscoll’s scraps - at inside centre?
[]ROG’s improvement is down to Gaffney?
[]Does South Africa’s meteoric improvement over the last 12 months include their tour of the Northern Hemisphere?
[]He even laughably praises the South African backline despite their failure to execute a move of note in the tri-nations so far
Always hated Dwyer - that just justifies it for me
Post edited by: therock67, at: 2007/07/09 22:44
