James O'Connor, Kurtley Beale party on at Kings Cross as Wallabies coach Robbie Deans is bounced WHILE Robbie Deans was coming to terms with the likelihood he had coached his final Test for Australia early on Sunday morning, troublesome pair James O'Connor and Kurtley Beale were at a Kings Cross nightclub mingling with revellers. It was telling. The two players he had entrusted with so much could not be reined in even on his final day. The duo were seen at nightspot Iguana Bar at 5.30am, eight hours after their humiliating 41-16 defeat to the British & Irish Lions, a result that sealed the fate of Deans as the Wallabies coach. This followed O'Connor and Beale missing the team bus for training last Thursday. They slept in and had to catch a taxi to Hunters Hill, further aggravating players who were already annoyed after the pair were photographed at 4am the week of the second Test at a fast food burger outlet. O'Connor's apology to the team for being out so late during preparations for the Melbourne Test also did not endear him to some players. He delivered a blase statement in the team meeting room, standing with one foot on a chair. Deans was left without a leg to stand on during his meeting with ARU chief executive Bill Pulver yesterday, and was swiftly given the boot after five-and-a-half years in charge. Players had become increasingly disgruntled with Deans's leniency towards O'Connor and Beale, who can win games with their brilliance but have put teammates offside with their numerous indiscretions. Deans was in an uncomfortable position. He knew his job was on the line, and he knew either O'Connor or Beale were capable of producing a play to win the decisive Test and possibly extending his term. James O'Connor with Robbie Deans after the Wallabies' loss to the British & Irish Lions in the third Test at ANZ Stadium. Picture: Scott Barbour Then his forwards were overwhelmed and aside from a try on the half-time siren, the impact of O'Connor and Beale was nullified. The effect Deans's continued support of them was to rankle others in the team, who would have preferred to see a statement on discipline. Deans's refusal to select Quade Cooper when most of the rugby world believed him to be the best playmaker in the country was also unpopular. And so Cooper's greatest backer, Ewen McKenzie, takes charge of the Wallabies and will return him to the No.10 Test jersey. This will also have ramifications for O'Connor and Beale, who were the main playmakers for Australia in the previous Test. But aside from where to play the pair, McKenzie must first establish guidelines for them, to appease the rest of the squad he is inheriting. McKenzie will be announced as the new coach today and there will be no easing in; his first Test in charge is against the All Blacks in six weeks. To have any chance of winning that game and the Bledisloe Cup for the first time in a decade, McKenzie must somehow control O'Connor and Beale and restore harmony within the ranks. It is no longer the concern of Deans, who learnt his fate in a meeting with Pulver yesterday morning, and sweated out his stress during a squash game at Moore Park last night. Deans is a likeable man, but his international record won't illicit much fondness from the Australian rugby public. So wary are clubs of the incumbent Wallabies five-eighth O'Connor that he is unwanted by four of Australia's five Super Rugby franchises. Only the lowly Western Force are pursuing a deal with the 23-year-old, but yesterday that came with a warning from their chief executive Mark Sinderberry. "It's quite a big decision (as to whether to sign O'Connor) and it's going to be on our terms," Sinderberry said. I think we will be very much guided by ensuring whoever we bring in is willing and wanting to be part of what we've started to build. That won't be compromised for anybody. James O'Connor and Kurtley Beale at a Wallabies training session. Waratahs coach Michael Cheika said a firm "no" at the mere mention of O'Connor being a free agent, but said his desire to poach Beale had not changed. It emerged yesterday that incoming Rebels coach Tony McGahan, the Wallabies assistant coach, had been asked about whether to retain O'Connor. The Rebels announced on Sunday that they would not offer him a new contract.