Who Should Lead the Wallabies?

Once again, Australian rugby is in the headlines for all the wrong reasons. Just when rugby fans in the lucky country thought that they had seen the last of the off-field indiscretions that have dogged Australian rugby in the last 8 years, the latest saga surrounding Kurtley Beale, coach Ewen McKenzie and former ARU Business Manager, Di Patston has once again put a struggling sport under public scrutiny.

It appears that Ewen McKenzie will be Wallabies coach for the foreseeable future but his position within Australian rugby is considerably weaker than it was when he was first appointed coach last year - a disastrous tour of South Africa and Argentina as well as yet another failed Bledisloe Cup campaign have blotted the former Reds coach's copybook.

Out of the current crop of Aussie coaches, Ewen McKenzie is still the man to lead the Wallabies - there have been calls for Waratahs coach, Michael Cheika to take over but really his credentials and background are too similar to Ewen McKenzie's and to a certain extent, Robbie Deans - success at Super Rugby level doesn't necessarily mean success at international level.

The problem is the current crop of Aussie coaches is not particularly great and Australian rugby probably blew a big opportunity by not picking Jake White when he was Brumbies coach and going for McKenzie - perhaps after the failure of Robbie Deans in the Lions series, the ARU were too afraid to pick another foreign coach and became too conservative.

That in itself is another problem - the ARU are still a conservative outfit that are lagging behind its Trans-Tasman rivals. Their efforts to try and boost the popularity of rugby union in the country should be lauded but the problem is that the Wallabies right now aren't the All Blacks - they are a top 5 team, not a top 2 team right now and in a country where sporting success is a very important selling point, the Wallabies don't hold many cards.

There remain some cultural issues as well as a lack of professionalism in the national body while the Super Rugby outfits continue to do well - a sign that there is really nothing wrong with the sport in Australia apart from at the top.

The quicker Australian rugby can get its act together, the better for world rugby and the better for the Bledisloe Cup - much as we love seeing the ABs win and win again.