Good question, Barry. Ex players, managers and coaches seem to declare open season on the current crop whenever they are beaten. One of the worst offenders in Rugby Union here in the past has been David Campese, although I haven't seen any comments by him lately. Sports reporters are a particularly nasty lot, but no worse than the English sporting press. Perhaps we have become bad losers in sport, probably because we haven't had a lot of practice at it, until recently.
When New Zealand do lose, a national day of mourning is declared, newspapers are horrified and TV commentators are speechless - briefly, then the equivalent of the Spanish Inquisition is held. Fortunately for the Kiwis, none of this happens very often, although their World Cup record is inexplicably poor.
I agree with hopeitfloats regarding Robbie Deans; he was widely seen as the saviour of Australian Rugby, but this hasn't eventuated, perhaps because he does not have the material to work with. Rugby Union is very much a minority sport in Australia, not in terms of available finance, but in terms of a player base. Football (soccer) has by far the largest number of participants but, until recently, lacked good administration. This has been rectified, and with the establishment of the A-League we are now starting to see the results, with Australia about to participate in its second consecutive World Cup. Rugby League has a far bigger following than Union in NSW and Queensland, with big crowds at club games, but Australian Rules is vastly bigger than either Rugby code in most states, with crowds up to 75,000 not uncommon at a club game in Melbourne.
Peter.
