Robbie Deans

For the first time, Robbie opens up on his career, from the triumphs of his formative years where he was nearly lost to a first-class cricketing career, through Canterbury’s glory days in the early 1980s and the experiences the shaped the man and the coach. With the same honesty that he brings to his coaching, Robbie reveals the old-fashioned values that have underpinned the Crusaders dynasty. He offers an insight into his All Black association with Mitchell and the background, as he saw it, in his failure to land the top job himself. He also breaks silence on his removal from the Wallabies coaching job, examining in depth five turbulent years where the systemic and cultural challenges off the field were every bit as daunting and unrelenting as confronting the best team on the planet.

Author Biography

Of all the people he has encountered throughout his extensive career, few have had the good fortune to observe Robbie Deans more closely than Matt McIlraith. A former editor of the national rugby weekly Rugby News and the author of three previous titles, McIlraith gained his introduction to the game as a child through the exploits of Robbie and his Canterbury team-mates during the province’s record-equalling Ranfurly Shield run in the early 1980s. He subsequently gained a unique insight into Deans the man and his methods during stints working alongside him as media manager for the All Blacks, the Crusaders and then the Wallabies. This has positioned him perfectly to help tell the story.