Former Wallabies coach Eddie Jones may have inadvertently robbed a generation of Australian rugby players of their attacking instincts, NSW Waratahs boss Daryl Gibson says.
Jones achieved much success as Test coach, guiding Australia to the 2001 Tri Nations title, Bledisloe Cup glory in 2002 and the 2003 Rugby World Cup final in Sydney.
But his Wallabies adopted a highly structured approach that Gibson said was now "very pervasive in the schooling system", resulting in a crop of players whose decision-making skills aren't the equal of their New Zealand counterparts.
It's a problem seemingly being felt across all of Australia's Super Rugby franchises but Gibson's Waratahs in particular.
NSW produced a dreadful handling performance in Sunday's Super Rugby loss to Melbourne Rebels, leaving the former All Blacks star exasperated by some of the "rubbish" they served up in the first half in particular.
Meanwhile, New Zealand's five franchises have largely been playing superb rugby - as alluded to by ESPN columnist Craig Dowd - with the Blues the only side not to own a positive win/loss record.
Speaking on Wednesday, Gibson admitted "there's definitely a different philosophy" of coaching juniors on either side of the Tasman and he suspected Jones, now a Grand Slam-winning coach with England, was partly to blame.
"And it's something that, here in NSW, we're wanting to investigate to make sure our pathways and our kids coming through are taught the skills that we think are necessary to play running rugby," Gibson said.
"It's a structural thing. The difficulty for us is, I think, the Eddie Jones era of playing ABC-certain type of rugby. That lack of decision making has had an effect on Australian rugby in the fact that it's very pervasive in the schooling system.
"And then so we tend to get our boys at 18 and probably their skills are very good but they're just missing that decision-making [skill] in an open environment."
Gibson, who spent this week hammering the Waratahs with fundamental ball-handling skills ahead of their derby with the Brumbies on Saturday week, conceded it was certainly a challenge being a Kiwi coaching an Australian Super Rugby side.
"But it's a good challenge," he said.
"And while I say we are not as good [in decision-making], there are other areas that Australian players are very good. And that's the thing; you've got to capitalise on the strengths and not necessarily [focus on] the weaknesses."