McKenzie believes the rigours of The Rugby Championship will help his side. Source: AFP
Following the most controversial call of his coaching career this week, Wallabies coach EWEN MCKENZIE sat down with JAMIE PANDARAM in London to answer the big questions.
Pandaram: "Where, when and how did you tell James Horwill you were stripping him of the Wallabies' captaincy?"
McKenzie: "I try to communicate news, particularly if it's bad or disappointing, one-on-one.
"I've known James for a long time now, he's very emotionally connected to the game so I realised that wasn't going to be a conversation in the corridor, so I went and saw him and chatted in his hotel room early this week.
"Those conversations are always complicated, to be honest it's more about the follow-up, and I have encouraged him and will continue to have dialogue.
"His training on Tuesday was quite good. The decision is at a point in time, it's what happens after. You've got to turn that into something useful, not something that becomes distracting or makes the situation worse.
"If you do it the right way you'll get a response. But it's tough when you know people really well."
Pandaram: "When did you make the decision in your own mind?"
McKenzie: "Because we didn't play last week, I had numerous selection discussions with the other coaches, we probably had three or four selection meetings because we had a bunch of guys coming in and started to have depth in options.
"I've got to put performance first, and until we get the consistency of winning we've got to keep turning the stones over until we get an outcome.
"You can't sit there and be happy until you're winning every week."
Pandaram: "On the plane over to the United Kingdom, you had to have known you'd need that conversation with James, and it's a long flight. Did you think about it, or did you not?"
McKenzie: "Conveying the selection message is the hardest part of the week.
"Sometimes assistant coaches pass on the good news to guys getting in the team, but the really hard calls, there is never any doubt that I'm going to do it. There are different circumstances, sometimes it's about how you start the conversation, other times it's where you do it.
"Somebody told me once that it's easy to be liked, and harder to be respected.
"To get respect you've got to be prepared to make hard decisions."
Pandaram: "You have known James for a long time, do you worry this decision will affect your relationship?"
McKenzie: "No I don't, because I know him well and he knows me well.
"He knows I make decisions for the right reasons that will ultimately put the team first.
"It's an emotional decision but you've got to be objective.
"James has been taken off early the last two games. It's not just about someone not at the peak of their powers, it's also about what's the alternative, there's competition for places and someone else might be offering something else.
"If you ignore that, it's a double whammy, you're persisting with something that's not 100 per cent and ignoring the pressure coming.
"That's why I keep talking about competition for places, if someone is coming in hard you've got to give them a go."
Pandaram: "Have you shut the door on James regaining the captaincy?"
McKenzie: "I don't shut the door on anything, never say never on anything in rugby.
"I've been involved in seven games and there's been more leadership changes than I'm probably used to, captain and vice-captain.
"We've tried things. You could say we're still trying to get that part ordered.
"We're trying to find the best package for this team. It doesn't matter what I did at the Reds."
Pandaram: Which is surprising, because most people thought you'd be loyal to those you had at the Reds."
LONDON, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 28: Australia head coach Ewen McKenzie (C) speaks to an assistant coach in the warm-up during a training session at the Royal Garden Hotel in Kensington on October 28, 2013 in London, England (Photo by Charlie Crowhurst/Getty Images)
McKenzie: "This is a different team, it's a completely different environment and set of individuals.
"There is no point trying to extrapolate the Reds to here.
"I've got to be open-minded enough to look at the whole group and see what's on offer.
"Until the scoreboard is favourable, we're going to keep looking."
Pandaram: "Are any of the decisions you've made this week geared towards the World Cup which you will play here in two years?"
McKenzie: "Not really, the only thing that interests me about the World Cup right now is depth, you've got to crystal ball a little bit about who might be there and develop experience in some of the young guys.
"We're not in a position where we can just sit around waiting for the World Cup to come, you don't want to take your eye off what is happening now."
Pandaram: "While you were still coaching the Reds, you had coffee with England coach Stuart Lancaster in Australia during the Lions series. Could you have imagined you'd be here now coaching the Wallabies against him?"
McKenzie: "I'm trying to remember what he told me, if there was anything pertinent!
"[Wallabies attack coach] Jim McKay and strength and conditioner Ollie Richardson knew him from the England days, we had a coffee prior to the game, it's ironic we do battle four months later.
"I went to a lecture of his over here 12 months ago, he talked about cultural change, it was really interesting.
"I have a lot of respect for what he's done here, there is a lot of complexity with moving parts in English rugby."
Pandaram: "You've been coaching for a long time. Does it get an easier?"
McKenzie: "It gets easier in the sense that you're quicker to recognise the opportunities.
"The frustration is there are a thousand decisions you've got to get through, and you don't always make the right ones.
"The process of cultural change takes time, but at some point you'll see, and I've actually started to see a few little things that tells me we're going in the right direction."
Pandaram: "Finally, why will the Wallabies beat England this weekend?"
McKenzie: "We're coming off a pretty hardened match program, successful in pieces but not on the scoreboard.
"But we'll be hardened for that, we're hungry to improve, and we've got points of difference like the potency in the backline starting to work for us.
"We've been competitive in lineouts and scrums.
"They use a very fast line speed in defence, and they'll be passionate. It's about who will flinch first."
01 Nov, 2013
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Source: http://www.news.com.au/sport/rugby-gold/q-and-a-ewen-mckenzie-tells-jamie-pandaram-wallabies-are-hungry-for-success/story-fndptke0-1226751504345?from=public_rss
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