DAVID Campese has done it all.
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He represented his country more than 100 times, pulled on the Waratahs jersey on more than 50 occasions, and then coached South African side the Sharks.
The former Wallabies great continued to spread the rugby union word when he visited Port Macquarie on Wednesday.
As with many other sports, the 56-year-old feels grassroots level has been largely forgotten - and rugby was no different.
"I've been involved in rugby since 1979 and wherever I've gone in the world I've seen how the standard of rugby has decreased a bit," he said.
"One of the reasons is because the kids haven't been given the basic skills.
"What I try and coach are the basics.
"You can't coach flair ... it's impossible, but you can give (the kids) the basics and when they've got the basics and they are confident, then they can try the flair."
You can't coach flair ... it's impossible, but you can give (the kids) the basics and when they've got the basics and they are confident, then they can try the flair.
- David Campese
Campese admitted the current state of rugby was disappointing and the standard had decreased over the years as a result of what was being done at junior level.
It was now more structured than ever because coaches at the professional level were coaching to win and it came at the expense of playing an attractive style.
When the Wallabies were in their prime, it could be argued the results came because of their unpredictable style of play.
"We used to (play with) flair, were unpredictable, have players trying different things, playing with a lot of confidence and play a lot of attacking rugby," he said.
"Now that seems to have changed.
"It is really about seeing where the space is, having a go and it's important when we coach young kids that you've got to keep on trying and failing.
"The more you try and the more you fail the more you're going to keep on trying.
"I try to get players to think differently and at this (junior) age they've been untamed and they're still trying to learn things."
If you get a 16-year-old, at the moment he's set in the way he's been coached, but now we're trying to get them where they can try different things,
- David Campese
Campese said it was important for rugby to identify players from a younger age and coach them accordingly.
"If you get a 16-year-old, at the moment he's set in the way he's been coached, but now we're trying to get them where they can try different things," he said.
The man who was famous for his goose step was surprised sevens rugby wasn't more of a selling point for younger players.
"We're in a country where we have all these other sports, but what we've got that no other sport has got is the Commonwealth Games, Olympic Games and World Cups," he said.
"If you want to win a gold medal, you can play sevens for Australia.
"Rugby league and Aussie rules will never, ever do that so why don't we harp on that?
"You can go to France, South Africa, Argentina, America, Hong Kong, Singapore and that's why our game is so unique.
"We don't force that onto a lot of kids and I don't know why."
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