Colin Thomas Deans born on 3 May 1955 in Hawick in the Scottish borders is a former rugby union player with Hawick RFC and Scotland.^[1] His nickname was the Hawick Hooker.^[1]

He made his Scotland debut (at the age of 22) against France in 1978 when Scotland lost, 16 - 19.^[1] He was active on the national team between 1978, and 1987, with his high point being in Scotland's 1984 Grand Slam.^[1]

Richard Bath writes of him that he was

"The prototype for the faster hooker, acting as an extra flanker that has since emerged, Deans has few equals. Superb in the loose and a wonderfully quick striker of the ball in the scrum, the rugged Deans was also a pinpoint line-out thrower."^[1]

Allan Massie describes him as a hooker with back-row skills:

"He is the most remarkable loose forward of any hooker I have seen. There can have been few, if any, faster; indeed, his speed is such that from the broken play and the line-out he gives Scotland in effect a fourth back-row forward. This means that, like Carmichael, he is ideal for the modern game, capable of fulfilling his specialist role, but also of taking a full part in fifteen-man Rugby. He harries the defence tirelessly: in the great win at Cardiff in 1982 Deans had a big part in the build-up for two of the Scottish tries; he was also at Calder's shoulder to take a pass, had that been necessary, when the first try was scored."^[2]

He also says that Deans was, "with the possible exception of Peter Wheeler, the most accurate thrower-in of recent years."^[3]

Deans was selected for the 1983 British Lions tour to New Zealand, but surprisingly was kept on the bench for its entireity.^[1] New Zealand thrashed the British Lions on this tour.

He obtained 52 caps for his country.^[1] He is said to have been most effective when playing in combination with David Leslie.^[3]

Noted for his skills at the line-out, of the game against Wales in 1984, the first Scottish Grand Slam since 1925, Allan Massie says "we would have probably lost that game if the Deans-Leslie combination had been less effective".^[3]

With 52 caps he overtook Frank Laidlaw's previous record.^[3]

Deans attended the primary school in Hawick where Bill McLaren taught.^[1]

References[link]

• Bath, Richard (ed.) The Complete Book of Rugby (Seven Oaks Ltd, 1997 ISBN 1-86200-013-1)
• Massie, Allan A Portrait of Scottish Rugby (Polygon, Edinburgh; ISBN 0-904919-84-6)

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h} Bath, p133
2. ^ Massie, p172-3
3. ^ ^{a b c d} Massie, p173

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Robbie Deans

Full name	Robert Maxwell Deans
Date of birth	(1959-09-04) 4 September 1959 (age 52)
Place of birth	Cheviot, New Zealand
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Weight	79 kg (12 st 6 lb)
School	Christ's College
Notable relative(s)	Sophie Deans (daughter) Bruce Deans (brother) Bob Deans (great-uncle)
Rugby union career
Playing career
Position	Fullback
Provincial/State sides
Years	Club / team	Caps	(points)
1979–1990	Canterbury	146	(1641)
correct as of 2007-12-29.
National team(s)
Years	Club / team	Caps	(points)
1983–1985	New Zealand	5	(50)
correct as of 2007-12-29.
Coaching career
Years	Club / team
1997–2000 2001–2003 2000–2008 2008 – present	Canterbury New Zealand (assistant coach) Crusaders Australia
correct as of 2010-04-07.
Rugby union career

Robert Maxwell Deans (born 4 September 1959 in Cheviot, New Zealand) is the current coach of the Wallabies and former All Black. He is the former coach of the Crusaders. He also served as assistant to former All Blacks coach John Mitchell between late 2001 and 2003. As the coach of the Crusaders, Deans has won more Super rugby titles than any other (three Super 12 titles and two Super 14). He has also coached the Canterbury provincial team in the National Provincial Championship, winning the title in 1997. As a player, Deans represented Canterbury, first playing at fly half, and later fullback. He also played nineteen matches for the All Blacks, including five Tests.

Playing career[link]

Deans attended Christ's College in Christchurch as a boarder where he played rugby mainly at first five-eighth.^[1] He made his provincial debut for Canterbury in 1979 and played mainly at fullback, as the team already had future All Black coach Wayne Smith playing at first-five. Deans was the first-choice goal-kicker for the team and scored 1,641 points for his province. He was a member of the Canterbury team during the Ranfurly Shield era of the early 1980s. This included kicking eight of Canterbury's 16 points in its 16–12 Shield challenge win over Wellington in 1982.^[2] The shield reign ended in 1985 against Auckland in "the match of the century" where Deans also played.^[2][3] This reign is the longest in Canterbury rugby union history.^[4] He went on to represent Canterbury 146 times until 1990.

Deans also played for New Zealand's national rugby team, the All Blacks. His first game for the All Blacks was against Edinburgh on 26 October 1983. Deans played five tests for the All Blacks, scoring 50 points. He played an additional 14 games for the All Blacks scoring 202 points. His All Black career lasted less than two years, playing his last game against a Mar del Plata selection on 29 October 1985. He did however participate in the controversial Cavaliers tour of South Africa in 1986. Deans also played for Canterbury Country in the Hawke Cup.

Coaching career[link]

Canterbury and Crusaders[link]

Deans was appointed as coach of the Canterbury team for the 1997 National Provincial Championship (NPC) season.^[5] He was assisted by Steve Hansen (current All Blacks forwards coach). Deans' first season was a success, with Canterbury beating Auckland for the first time in 14 years, then going on to win the title.^[6] The following year he managed the Canterbury Crusaders (since renamed Crusaders) Super Rugby franchise who were coached by Wayne Smith. The Crusaders won the title, beating the Auckland Blues (since renamed the Blues) in the final at Eden Park.^[7] The Crusaders repeated this feat the following year, with Deans again manager.^[8]

In 2000 Deans took over as Crusaders coach after Wayne Smith became All Blacks coach. He coached the Crusaders to their third successive Super 12 title that year, beating the Brumbies in Canberra. He continued to coach the Canterbury team in the NPC in 2000 which lead to a Ranfurly Shield win over Waikato; the shield was held until 2003 (totalling 23 challenges). Canterbury's success in the 2000 season saw them host the NPC final at Jade Stadium against Wellington. A victory would have seen Deans coach teams to Super 12, Ranfurly Shield and NPC titles in the same year; however eventually Wellington won 34–29.^[9]

From 2001 Deans concentrated solely on the Crusaders. The 2001 Super 12 season was his least successful in charge – the Crusaders finish tenth. But the following season, the Crusaders went through the entire season undefeated and won their fourth title overall, and their second with Deans as coach. In the following two seasons the Crusaders finished runners-up to the Blues in 2003, and then the Brumbies in 2004. The Crusaders won their third title under Deans in 2005. The Crusaders won their sixth title (the first of the expanded Super 14) in 2006, and their fourth win with Deans in charge, making him the most successful coach in Super Rugby history so far. In 2008, Deans' last season in charge of the Crusaders, he coached them to a seventh super rugby title after they beat the NSW Waratahs at Jade Stadium. In honour of the Deans family, Jade Stadium (now AMI Stadium) erected a new stand called the "Deans Stand". Following the 22 February aftershock, there remains doubt as to whether AMI Stadium will ever be used again, after some of the ground, including parts of the Deans stand, suffered structural damage. Sadly as a result, the impressive new stand will not be showcased during the 2011 Rugby World Cup.

John Mitchell appointed Deans as his assistant when he became All Blacks coach in late 2001. Deans held the position until Mitchell was replaced after the 2003 Rugby World Cup. Under Mitchell and Deans, the All Blacks won the 2002 and 2003 Tri-Nations titles, as well as the Bledisloe Cup in 2003.

Australia[link]

On 14 December 2007, it was announced that Deans had been appointed the new Australia coach. The contract was for four years – leading into the 2011 Rugby World Cup – as Deans became the first ever foreigner to coach Australia. His contract with the Crusaders finished after the 2008 season and the New Zealand Rugby Union agreed to allow Deans to continue as Crusaders coach through the 2008 Super 14 season.^[10]

Shortly after the details were made official, Deans released a personal statement on the Crusader's official website^[11]:

[...] The decision to leave Christchurch after the end of the 2008 Crusaders season and coach overseas has undoubtedly been one of the most difficult of my professional sporting career. While the rugby marketplace has been global ever since rugby went professional 12 years ago, it is probably only now that I truly appreciate the thought process and the 'what ifs?' that so many others have gone through before reaching this point. To go (off shore) is a big decision. It is not one that is entered into lightly. [...] I am ready to coach internationally. After serving for eleven years as a Super rugby manager and coach here, I feel I can not afford to forgo the position offered to me in Australia. It is both flattering and humbling that the Australian Rugby Union has afforded me this opportunity. While it will no doubt be an interesting position to be in, coaching against New Zealand; it is not without precedent, and will add to my personal development as a coach – as it has done for others before me. I always aspired to leave the Crusaders in good shape when the time came. I believe I will be doing that. Not only do we have a good level of depth among our player base, there are some quality people in place around the team, and some highly promising coaches coming through. Their time is coming. It would not have been right to delay their potential development by hanging on for too long. I'm proud of my association with Canterbury rugby, the Crusaders, Christchurch and the wider Crusaders franchise community. [...] Although the move to Australia opens a new chapter in our lives, it's not a case of closing the book here. Our thoughts will always be with Canterbury and the Crusaders. [...]
Robbie Deans

Deans had mixed results in his debut year as Australia coach in 2008. In addition to losing three consecutive tests against arch-rival Graham Henry, Australia also lost by a record 53–8 to the Springboks. Australia was also pushed hard in a number of games against limited opposition. This included a narrow win against easy beats Italy and a weakened Irish team. Nevertheless, Australia under Deans secured its largest win over the All Blacks in nine years and home and away wins over the reigning Rugby World Cup champions, South Africa - Australia's win in South Africa was its first win there in eight years. Deans also became the first Wallabies coach to win on the South African highveldt in 47 years after the team won 41–39 in Bloemfontein in 2010, thanks to a penalty goal from Kurtley Beale with no time left. While coaching the Wallabies in 2011 they had a mixed year - losing to Samoa before another loss to the All Blacks in Auckland, and defeating South Africa both home and away. In the 2011 Rugby World Cup Australia suffered a surprise loss to Ireland in pool play, finishing second in their pool and going on to defeat South Africa 9-8 before another loss to the All Blacks (20-6) in the semi final.

During Deans' time as the coach of Australia, he became popular with the Australian media and public, earning the nicknames "Dingo Deans" and "Aussie Bob".

Awards[link]

Besides coaching the Crusaders to five Super Rugby titles, Deans has won numerous individual awards. He was the Sir Richard Hadlee Sports Trust's Canterbury Coach of the Year in 2001, 2003, 2005 and 2006, sharing the award in 2001 (with Steve Hansen) and 2006 (with Vern Cotter).^[12] He was nominated for Halberg Award Coach of the Year in 2002.^[13] He also won the New Zealand Rugby Coach of the Year Award in 2002.^[14]

Notable family members[link]

His great-uncle, Bob Deans, was an All Black and also captained the Canterbury rugby team. His brother, Bruce, was an All Black and member of the Canterbury team. His brother Colin Deans also played rugby, and his father Tony Deans played cricket.

Notes and references[link]

Bibliography and references[link]

• "Robbie Deans". TheRoar. http://www.theroar.com.au/2007/12/10/the-case-of-robbie-deans-steve-hansen-and-the-nzru/. Retrieved 11 December 2007. 
• Robbie Deans at AllBlacks.com
• Gifford, Phil (2004). The Passion – The Stories Behind 125 years of Canterbury Rugby. Wilson Scott Publishing. ISBN 0-9582535-1-X. 
• Howitt, Bob (2005). SANZAR Saga – Ten Years of Super 12 and Tri-Nations Rugby. Harper Collins Publishers. ISBN 1-86950-566-2. 
• McIlraith, Matt (2005). Ten Years of Super 12. Hodder Moa. ISBN 1-86971-025-8. 

External links[link]

• Crusaders profile
• Deans calls expansion
• Deans warned after close shave
• Deans interviewed about his french experience in : The Australian