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I am all for Ewen McKenzie being the coach of the Wallabies. While we are definitely struggling now, I believe there is a light at the end of the tunnel.
Unfortunately that light has moved significantly further away due to some early mistakes by the McKenzie team.
When McKenzie came into the top job earlier this year he had the opportunity to come out with a strong statement about the style of rugby he wanted to play and the ‘clean slate’ ethos he desired to promote.
That statement was comprehensively made and ethos clearly promoted with his first team selection against the All Blacks on August 17.
It was fantastic to see McKenzie reward the successes of the Brumbies by giving Mogg a start at 15 and Toomua at 10, even more so with the following match’s selection of Fardy at 6 – the best decision of McKenzie’s short Test coaching career.
This statement had to be made with a level of support for such players and a plan of consistency. Toomua did not set the world on fire in his first two starts as Australia’s No. 10, but he did what he had done all year for ACT – played reliable.
In his first game he was stoic in defence and distributed the ball across the backline, despite his over-distributing in the second half leading to the All Blacks moving up quickly on his centres and shutting down the ball.
Toomua corrected this error in his game in the second Test against the All Blacks in Wellington, having a fine game. He took the ball to the line more, distributed when needed and was a force in defence as expected.
He clearly outplayed Tom Taylor, a fact I believe was overlooked due to the end result.
On the downside, we did lose those two Tests. Still, scoring 45 points in the first two games as a starting No. 10 under a new coach against the best rugby team in the world is nothing to be scoffed at.
Then came McKenzie’s mistake.
Pushing Cooper to the starting role and demoting his two game rookie was a rushed decision to add ‘spark’ to a side that really wasn’t ‘sparkless’. If the definition of ‘spark’ in modern rugby is represented by the Wallabies’ last three performances then I find ‘spark’ hard to watch.
I am not blaming these three losses solely on Cooper, and I do think he is playing much better than his 2011 and 2012 seasons, but he adds nothing to the side that Toomua cannot provide.
Our forwards have been dreadful in our last two games against the Rugby Championship’s ‘heavyweights’, slow to the breakdown and outmuscled when they get there. Hooper hasn’t been able to play like a No. 7 because the tight five are not laying a dominant platform in previous rucks.
Ben Alexander is time and time again defying logic by getting selected as he has no competitive edge. He used to be able to get away with his shocking scrummaging ability because of his mobility around the park and effectiveness with ball in hand – attributes he now lacks.
A Slipper/Moore/Ryan or Robinson/Moore/Ryan would act as a much sturdier front row in the set piece and in general play. Robinson and Ryan are both excellent around the park, while Ryan brings the bit of mongrel that we desperately need against packs like the Boks and All Blacks.
Two other players that just seem to be along for the ride are Rob Simmons and Joe Tomane, as both lack any eminent talent or deliver performances that scream “select me!”
To cut them some slack, they are selections made in circumstances of extreme injury.
If Higginbotham was fit, Fardy would be moved to second row where he has played all year for the Brumbies. And if we had our full complement of wingers barring Ione (overseas) and O’Connor (suspended), then Cummins would be in for Tomane on a straight swap.
I would personally rather a big, good-finishing winger with a boot on him like the Waratahs’ Cam Crawford rather than Peter Betham in the squad as well. The latter’s inclusion really shows the extent of injuries and other selection issues the Wallabies have at the moment.
When fit, this Wallabies squad has the ability to become highly competitive with the All Blacks and Springboks – not this year, but next.
Higginbotham and Pocock’s inclusion will be massive, because as good as Hooper has been for us he is merely keeping the seat warm for Pocock’s return.
Their inclusion will add that lack of mongrel and dominance in the breakdown that Horwill, Moore and Fardy couldn’t provide by themselves despite trying admirably.
A Slipper, Moore, Ryan, Horwill, Fardy, Higginbotham, Pocock, Mowen forward pack is a world class one, but alas injury is our biggest enemy.
All we can do now is what we can control, and the inclusion of Toomua back at starting No. 10 will add a lot more control, structure, stability and reliability to our backline than Cooper does.
Players like Morne Steyn, Jonathan Sexton and Dan Carter don’t have to be unpredictable to be world class; they are world class because they do their jobs well.
In a nutshell, a five-eighth’s job is to distribute the ball to his backline, and defend the inside channel.
Cooper can distribute on occasion, but more often than not he holds onto the ball for too long resulting in the opposition backs moving up and limiting his options.
Alternatively, he runs so far across field that he physically blocks off the holes his backs could have potentially run through.
On top of that, his defence is hopeless. I don’t care that he is ‘improving’ or ‘showing promise’, if you watch Strauss’ try in the opening 10 minutes of the Boks/Wallabies game in Cape Town you will witness Cooper going for an intercept on the line instead of tackling man on man.
His man… have a guess? Strauss.
I don’t want applause every time Cooper makes a tackle that is a basic part of rugby that every Test player should have learnt by the time they were nine years old.
I am not claiming we would have won in Newlands with Toomua at No. 10, but he wouldn’t have let that try in so softly and that is good enough for me.
Maybe I am from the old school, or perhaps I am just sick of us playing under our potential because of this ridiculous media driven stigma of the need to play ‘the Australian way’.
If the Australian way is soft defence, structure-less attack and hit and miss in the set piece then I don’t want the Australian way. I want a winning way.
Matt Toomua is a stepping stone in that direction, but we have to be patient. It’s time to put the faith in him that other coaches have so doggedly put in Cooper.
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.