That a coach of one nationality would pull up stumps to coach the national side of an arch rival is just another manifestation of professionalism.

So you can't blame Robbie Deans, as a professional coach, to not take the best offer on the table, particularly as his first choice job - the All Blacks - went to someone else.

For what it's worth, the newspapers in Australia have been reporting for months that Deans' appointment as Wallabies coach was a done deal. Only his expression of interest in the AB coaching position threw a spanner in the works. Now that that opportunity has closed, he looks certain to walk into the Australian job.

The bigger question - and one that is not being asked - is to what extent Deans' success with The Crusaders will translate to Australian rugby. It's fair to say that a big part of the Crusaders' success in the Super rugby competition has been its strong, self-reinforcing internal culture, of which Deans was part.

Australian rugby, by contrast, is a nest of vipers, with nasty internal politics and dog-in-the-manger obstructionism a matter of course. Given the resentment brewing from the Ewen McKenzie camp in NSW about the impending cross-Tasman appointment, Deans will have to watch his back from day one. The outgoing Wallabies coach John Connolly had half a dozen knives quietly inserted into his shoulder blades as soon as his confirmation was confirmed.

Also, consider this: The Wallabies are in transition. The old Brumbies axis of Jones-Gregan-Larkham (so hated by many in the NSW and Queensland rugby establishments) has now finally been put out to stud, which means there's a power vacuum in Australian rugby. As nature abhors vacuums, watch out for formerly sidelined would-be movers and shakers making a grab for the levers. It's not an environment for neophytes.

The commercial environment on this side of the Tasman for rugby is also much more difficult. The ARU has dragged the miracle man John O'Neill back to the code to try and weave some of his old marketing magic. But given the recent uninspiring form of the Wallabies, the dismal and expensive failure of the experiment of of importing NRL stars and the growing profile of AFL in the union states of NSW and Queensland, the pressure will really be on Deans to save the code. 

You also have to consider that Deans is a backs coach. And say what you like about the Wallabies, but the backline has never really been their main problem. In fact, on reflection, it would have made more sense for Henry to retire, Hansen to take over the Wallabies and Deans to coach the All Blacks, with Warren Gatland looking after the forwards.

But as things are turning out, it now seems inevitable that it will be a Deans-coached Wallaby outfit facing up against a Henry-coached All Blacks in the Bledisloe Cups of 2008 and 2009.  Personally, I think Deans will find it hard to shine in the alien and inhospitable culture of the Wallabies. If he is not eaten up by the ARU politics, he may well come to grief the old-fashioned way - with his teams getting a whipping on the field.

Whatever happens, it will be fun to watch.