It was the 11th year since the advent of professionalism in Rugby Union and another year of high drama in the coaching department - which ended with England mentor Andy Robinson getting the boot.

This trend of hiring and firing has been part and parcel of the game since the start of professionalism in 1996 - with most countries having had as many as three and four coaches in the past decade, including the Kiwis.

The most consistent countries have been France and Argentina - with coaches Bernard Laporte (France) and Marcelo Loffreda (Argentina) having been in charge since 2000.

The only years, since the advent of professionalism, in which none of the top countries replaced their coaches were the World Cup years - 1999 and 2003.

The question is, were all those coaches really that bad? What were their track records? And have the changes brought improvements?

In some cases, like New Zealand, the changes brought improvement - from a 75 percent winning margin under John Hart (1996) to 89 percent under current mentor Graham Henry.

On the other end of the scale there are also a couple of coaches who failed to win a single match - Scott Johnson as Wales coach last year and Clive Woodward as Lions coach in 2005.

While change was good for New Zealand, it has had the opposite effect for countries like Australia, England and South Africa, where the winning percentages have been in a steady decline.

We will look at each of the major countries and how coaching changes have affected their performances since 1996!

New Zealand: John Hart (June 1996 to November 1999 - 75 percent winning margin); Wayne Smit (June 2000 to September 2001 - 70 percent); John Mitchell (November 2001 to November 2003 - 82 percent); Graham Henry June 2004 to present - 89 percent).

France: Jean-Claude Skrela (October 1995 to November 1999 - 65 percent); Bernard Laporte (February 2000 to present - 63 percent)

Australia: Greg Smith (June 1996 to August 1997 - 63 percent); Rod Macqueen (November 1997 to July 2001 - 79 percent); Eddie Jones (July 2001 to June 2006 - 57 percent); John Connolly (June 2006 to present - 54 percent)

South Africa: André Markgraaff (July 1996 to December 1996 - 62 percent); Carel du Plessis (June 1997 to August 1997 - 38 percent); Nick Mallett (November 1997 to August 2000 - 71 percent); Harry Viljoen (November 2000 to December 2001 - 53 percent); Rudolf Straeuli (June 2002 to November 2003 - 52 percent); Jake White (June 2004 to present - 60 percent)

Ireland: Brian Ashton (January 1997 to March 1998 - 22 percent); Warren Gatland (March 1998 to February 2002 - 47 percent); Eddie O'Sullivan (February 2002 to present - 68 percent)

Argentina: Jose Luis Imhoff (his record from 1996 to August 1999 - 38 percent); Alex Wyllie (at the 1999 RWC - 60 percent); Marcelo Loffreda (June 2000 to present - 53 percent)

England: Jack Rowell (January 1995 to July 1997 - 72 percent); Clive Woodward (November 1997 to June 2004 - 71 percent); Andy Robinson (November 2004 to November 2006 - 40 percent)

Wales: Kevin Bowring (January 1995 to June 1998 - 42 percent); Graham Henry (November 1998 to January 2002 - 61 percent); Steve Hansen (February 2002 to March 2004 - 35 percent); Mike Ruddock (June 2004 to February 2006 - 63 percent); Scott Johnson (February 2006 to March 2006 - 0 percent); Gareth Jenkins (June 2006 to present - 33 percent)

Scotland: Jim Telfer (his record from January 1996 to November 1999 - 40 percent); Ian McGeechan (February 2000 to November 2003 - 41 percent); Matt Williams (February 2004 to March 2005 - 18 percent); Frank Hadden (June 2005 to present - 50 percent)

All statistics courtesy of Pick and Go!

By Jan de Koning