Barnes must go if Wallabies want to win
Roar Guru By Andrew Marmont, 20 Aug 2012 Andrew Marmont is a Roar Guru
- Tagged:
- Australian rugby, Berrick Barnes, Quade Cooper, rugby, Rugby Championship, Rugby Union, wallabies
Author John C. Maxwell once wrote, “People buy into the leader before they buy into the vision.” In rugby terms, you would be talking about the number 10.
So Berrick Barnes, the Wallabies’ saviour in the June Test matches, must be replaced if the Wallabies want to win in the Rugby Championship.
Barnes is not a leader – he will be the first to admit circumstance has forced his hand to play as a first five-eighth. His play is characterised by quiet determination to play a solid and secure game.
He is a cog in the machine, rather than the one pulling the lever.
Great, but we aren’t talking about the English team. Or Ireland. Or any team who base their game around a no-frills five-eighth. We are talking about Australia, a team gifted with back-line flair. They need someone who can pull the rugby strings.
While Barnes is at the helm, Australia plays a predictable game. We saw it last night in their 19-27 defeat to the All Blacks. It’s not his fault. A regular number 12, Barnes has a sound kicking game and is a solid tactician.
If he wore the blue of Scotland or the green of Ireland, he would do well. But the Wallabies’ strength is their exciting backs and they need someone who can unleash them. It’s fine to have Digby Ioane and Kurtley Beale out wide, but at the moment Barnes is not giving them the space to work their magic.
Quade Cooper has dazzling rugby skills – the ability to throw flat 50 meter passes, vision to create opportunities and skill to unlock defenses – but his biggest attributes are confidence and inspiration.
It is no fluke that Australia’s most recent All Black defeats were when Cooper was at his incandescent best – a 25-20 win in Brisbane last year and a 26-24 victory in Hong Kong in 2010
When the Wallabies have all their key players back – including James O’Connor – their backline is on par with many others in terms of skill and pace. Cooper is just the man to re-ignite the Wallaby fire.
Cooper reminds me of former All Black five-eighth Carlos Spencer. The Aucklander had a bag of rugby tricks like few others – and his instinctive confidence inspired the All Blacks to a stellar attacking rugby year in 2003, including scoring more than 50 points over Australia and South Africa during the Tri-Nations.
The Wallabies could do better than watch how Spencer unlocked the exciting talents of Joe Rokocoko and Mils Muliaina that year.
If Australia hopes to win a game in the Rugby Championship, Cooper needs to play and channel his inner Carlos.
August 20th 2012 @ 12:43pm
M.O.C. said | August 20th 2012 @ 12:43pm | Report comment
Forget channeling Carlos, QC has too much of that in him already, he needs to channel a bit more of his inner Larkham as he needs to learn subtletyand a level-head to improve as a world-class 5/8.
August 20th 2012 @ 12:49pm
Harry said | August 20th 2012 @ 12:49pm | Report comment
Yes.
Would also like to see Harris at 12 and Faingaa to 13. Bit harsh on Barnes whose done all right but lets face it, he’s never going to threaten New Zealand, or SA for that matter.
As soon as the heat came on on Saturday Barnes started standing further and further back. Never going to trouble defences from there.
August 20th 2012 @ 12:54pm
formeropenside said | August 20th 2012 @ 12:54pm | Report comment
The Wallabies needed a long snapper, not a halfback. It looked like Barnes was trying to play fullback.
August 20th 2012 @ 10:41pm
Dr S said | August 20th 2012 @ 10:41pm | Report comment
He was! Deans requested Barnes and Beale swap early in the game. When this failed, they were told to return.
August 20th 2012 @ 12:56pm
Wazza said | August 20th 2012 @ 12:56pm | Report comment
11-15 were all disappointing, the team and Barnes needed bigger efforts from them to meet the Blacks’ in your face and repeatedly off-side defences
August 20th 2012 @ 1:01pm
Winston said | August 20th 2012 @ 1:01pm | Report comment
10 cooper x factor
12 Barnes dependability brains
13 AAC power
Huge improvement. All Harris has got is a good place kick. He’s not international class. Fainga is a good defender.
August 20th 2012 @ 1:15pm
Harry said | August 20th 2012 @ 1:15pm | Report comment
Harris goes OK outside of Cooper, but your combination would also be a big improvement to Saturday’s 10, 12 and 13.
August 20th 2012 @ 1:13pm
Jeff said | August 20th 2012 @ 1:13pm | Report comment
Re Carlos Spencer
And in the 2004 RWC semi final through the pass that was intercepted and gave us our entry into the finals.
August 20th 2012 @ 1:27pm
Harry said | August 20th 2012 @ 1:27pm | Report comment
Semi was in 2003. Fashionable to slag off Carlos Spencer these days, yet he won far more games for Auckland and New Zealand than say Berrick Barnes ever has for NSW and Australia.
August 20th 2012 @ 1:44pm
Justin2 said | August 20th 2012 @ 1:44pm | Report comment
Agreed.
Funny how a player like Spencer cops it, yet a guy like Barnes he will kick the leather off the ball constantly turning it over is described as “secure” or “steady” or “he has a good head on his shoulders” … complete BS just his constandt mistakes dont make a highlight reel like an intercept. Irritates the crap out of me and I know who I would have playing for me.
August 20th 2012 @ 1:44pm
moaman said | August 20th 2012 @ 1:44pm | Report comment
Thankyou Harry—lot of revisionists like to put the boot in to Spencer but he played a lot of games for NZ so he can’t have been a complete flop. I loved the liberation he displayed in his game-and the joy.Kicking with his knee and other innovations.In a different era he might have been a super-star.Or maybe if he were Australian??
August 20th 2012 @ 2:13pm
Harry said | August 20th 2012 @ 2:13pm | Report comment
Always thought Carlos was a fantastic player and loved watching him play.
Re your comment on Australian, perhaps until recent years. But not now alas. The fact that we have Berrick Barnes and Rob Horne ahead of Quade Cooper and any number of candidates for 13 – Ben Tapui or Andrew Smith for example – in our starting XV, says it all. As Katipo and Sheek point out below, NZ are better than us in the forwards, its the absence of attacking ambition and cohesion in the backs that gives Australian supporters depression and no hope.
Lovely 1st try by NZ on Saturday from the set piece by the way.
August 20th 2012 @ 10:43pm
Dr S said | August 20th 2012 @ 10:43pm | Report comment
It’s easy to crank up the wins when you have a strong formidable forward pack on your side.
August 20th 2012 @ 3:37pm
winston said | August 20th 2012 @ 3:37pm | Report comment
If it hit the AB winger Carlos would be an All black Legend
August 21st 2012 @ 10:44am
Mantis said | August 21st 2012 @ 10:44am | Report comment
Cant believe people are slagging off King Carlos. Its not often I would say anything good about an AB player, but Carlos was the man
August 20th 2012 @ 1:16pm
Katipo said | August 20th 2012 @ 1:16pm | Report comment
Face facts – rugby test matches are won in the forwards. You could put Dan Carter at 10 for Australia but because NZ have the dominant forward pack the Wallabies would still lose.
August 20th 2012 @ 1:25pm
sheek said | August 20th 2012 @ 1:25pm | Report comment
Katipo – nailed it!
August 20th 2012 @ 10:40pm
Dr S said | August 20th 2012 @ 10:40pm | Report comment
Agreed in a big way
All this BS focusing on Barnes and lack of backline finess. This is all useless if you can’t match the ABs forward pack. Until this is done, and the scrum coach pulls his finger out, nothing will change for the Wallabies.
August 20th 2012 @ 1:45pm
Christo the Daddyo said | August 20th 2012 @ 1:45pm | Report comment
VERY poor passing by all of the Wallaby backline. Pretty much every pass was send directly to the player, not out in front so he could run on to it. Which is why the Wallabies lost ground virtually every time they had a set piece. This, together with the dropsies and poor tackling (yes, Kurtley, we’re all looking at you) was why we lost this game.
Lucky the ABs were rusty too, it really should have been a cricket score.
August 20th 2012 @ 2:59pm
The Other Steve - and All Black fan said | August 20th 2012 @ 2:59pm | Report comment
Two problems with this article:
Question: does Australia really have back-line flair? Or just a couple or three players who can run and jink if given time and space?
QC cannot throw the ball flat for 50 metres – or even 50 metres at all. The rugby pitch is a maximum of 70 metres wide – can QC really stand on the 15 metre line and reach the 5 metre line on the other side?
August 20th 2012 @ 3:28pm
Andrew Marmont said | August 20th 2012 @ 3:28pm | Report comment
Thanks for your thoughts The Other Steve.
They do have flair – how else would you describe Cooper, Beale and Digby?
Re Cooper – I think you might have taken the 50 metre pass comment literally – my point being he has excellent distribution skills and an ability to throw the big pass.
Do you understand the crux of the article? Australia need someone of Cooper’s skill to unlock their strength – which is their backline at the moment.
August 20th 2012 @ 10:49pm
Dr S said | August 20th 2012 @ 10:49pm | Report comment
Rubbish. More effort is needed in sorting out the severe lack of forward pack strength and ability in the scrum. Puting a primadonna on the park will gain nothing, as reflected in NZ’s targeting of QC last year, and his subsequent choking as a result.
August 21st 2012 @ 9:02am
Andrew Marmont said | August 21st 2012 @ 9:02am | Report comment
Replace the forwards, beef up the defence, but once that is sorted, they need to put points on the board or it’s worthless…. don’t you agree Dr S? Let’s face it – the Wallabies have lots of problems across the park, but unless they have someone who can direct them around the park they are even further behind..
August 20th 2012 @ 3:46pm
PeterK said | August 20th 2012 @ 3:46pm | Report comment
I said it before the test, with Barnes the Wallabies CANNOT attack, they scored very few tries against Wales and the backs would struggle in attack against AB’s.
Very very true.
The forwards held their own in the set pieces.
The forwards gained 60% possession. They did their job.
The backs lost it for the Wallabies. Missed tackles etc. Barnes stood far too deep. He also threw the ball BEHIND the player let alone in front, a special was the one to Beale that passed behind him and went in goal.
Barnes had no idea when to use the grubber kick to keep the rushing (offside) defence back. Barnes stood so deep the forwards were running backwards trying to defend rucks.
Cooper before the test was an obvious choice even more so now.
Trouble is he dared to question Deans RWC tactics back in February which means Deans hung him out to dry.
August 20th 2012 @ 6:30pm
sheek said | August 20th 2012 @ 6:30pm | Report comment
PK,
The 59-60% possession can be a deceiving stat.
When the opportunity was “on”, or the breakdown needed to be dominated, the ABs prevailed. In other words, they won the breakdown when it counted, the quality collisions.
The Wallas may have won 59-60% of possession, but were often flat-footed (both forwards & backs), slow in delivery & passing of ball, & lacking intensity in attacking the advantage line (both forwards & backs again).
I thought the ABs only played as well as they needed to, in order to stay in front on the scoreboard.
August 21st 2012 @ 9:02am
Andrew Marmont said | August 21st 2012 @ 9:02am | Report comment
Agree there Sheek – the ABs were in 1st gear the whole way..
August 21st 2012 @ 6:25pm
Xiedazhou said | August 21st 2012 @ 6:25pm | Report comment
I really think you are giving them a bit too much credit there Andrew or perhaps too little credit. If the All Blacks stayed in first gear and let the game get that close that a try in the last 10 minutes might have snatched it for the Wallabies, then they would be idiots. I doubt very much that is the case. The AB performance was poor, it was just not as poor as that of the Wallabies.
My opinion is that the Wallabies had enough ball and territory to win the game, if they had chosen a half competent back line. The back line was caught well behind the advantage line too many times and that made it difficult for the forwards to hit the breakdowns with forward momentum. Barnes sitting 20m back and slowing the play didnt help the cause.
Its a team game, and one wonders what positive effects it might have on the forwards if they knew they had a back line that could make the most of the possession gained.
August 21st 2012 @ 9:55am
Andrew Marmont said | August 21st 2012 @ 9:55am | Report comment
Nice points there PeterK and good insight.. glad you are on the same pag too… interesting to see what unfolds with selection this week!
August 20th 2012 @ 6:51pm
ohtani's jacket said | August 20th 2012 @ 6:51pm | Report comment
The Springboks regularly beat the All Blacks and they don’t exactly have flair. There are a core group of veteran All Black forwards who know how to dominate the Wallabies forwards and they’ve taught the younger forwards how to dp the same. The two sides play each other too often and the All Blacks know the Wallabies too well. I thought the Wallabies would surpass the All Blacks once Carter and McCaw got too old, but they’re in danger of entering a long and prolonged slump if changes aren’t made. I usually get nervous before a Bledisloe game, but last week I barely gave it much thought and I’m not overly interested in this weekend’s game either. The constant losses are sucking the life out of this contest. Why can’t the Aussie forwards play like they did in Brisbane last year? I don’t think the Aussie forwards were terrible on Sat night but the All Black pack did what it wanted when it wanted and got a turnover every time they’d conceded the ball.
August 20th 2012 @ 10:53pm
Dr S said | August 20th 2012 @ 10:53pm | Report comment
Ohtani’s Jacket
Right on the money, there.
August 21st 2012 @ 10:05am
Sam Taulelei said | August 21st 2012 @ 10:05am | Report comment
Yeah likewise, I’m usually a bundle of nerves before a Bledisloe match played in Australia but I didn’t even watch the game live. This current Wallaby lineup is playing like when a friends father is the DJ at your school formal. The tunes are there and you can hear the music playing, but it’s all over the place, there’s no rhythm, no method and no connection with the crowd.
August 21st 2012 @ 11:44am
Cattledog said | August 21st 2012 @ 11:44am | Report comment