New Zealander is favourite to take over as Australian Wallaby Rugby Team...

A New Zealander, Robbie Deans, from my home town of Christchurch in Canterbury, is now the favoured candidate to takeover as coach of the Australian Wallabies Rugby team, after being turned down by the NZRU.

Most American readers probably don't realise that a New Zealander coached the American Eagles Rugby team at the recent Rugby World Cup.

Rugby Union may not be that well known by North American readers, but it is more of a a world sport than American football which is primarily a North American sport like baseball. Only basketball can be considered a world sport.

So let me be the first to predict that Robbie Deans will be Wallabies coach by the end of the week; and with the losing New Zealand All Blacks coach, Graham Henry, inexplicably reappointed for another two years, will I have to change my allegiance to Australia to ensure I support a winning team.

The interesting question is how the Australian sporting public will take to a Kiwi coach? But Aussies are competitive and realistic sports supporters; they will probably consider they have had the thick end of the stick this time and the New Zealand Rugby Union have made a foolish decision to let the arguably premier world rugby coach go over to Australia. Who knows? Time will tell!

The Kiwi Riverman