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After watching the second Bledisloe Cup Test last Saturday I could not help but feel a pang of sympathy for Quade Cooper.
Undeniably a wasted talent, this year’s Rugby Championship is most likely his last opportunity to make an impact on the international stage.
There seems to be a divide in the rugby community on Quade’s performance on Saturday night.
Some say he should never touch the gold jersey again, others are more willing to see him have another chance. I am part of the latter group and in this article I hope I can show why he should be given another chance to prove his worth.
Going into the second Test, I was willing to bet my house – actually a rather shabby, poorly insulated Dunedin flat – that the All Blacks would annihilate the Wallabies.
However, the first ten minutes of the match I was beginning to doubt my initial sentiment. Not because of the Wallabies increased physicality, that would only get them so far. It was because of Cooper and his kicking game.
For the first time in about a year, I saw an Australian team effectively exit their 22. Cooper’s first touch was to smack the ball into touch five metres into the All Black half. He chased hard to stop a quick throw.
A few minutes later, he put up an accurate high ball for Israel Folau which resulted in a penalty and three points for the Wallabies. One could argue a perfect start.
I was still confident the All Blacks would win but it had the start of a tight, exciting game. Now, one would assume after this initial and effective success, the Wallabies would continue to use Cooper’s boot, both defensively and offensively in combination with Folau and Dane Haylett-Petty, who is more than competent under the high ball.
We all know they did not.
Cooper kicked seven times that game. He kicked five more times in the space 70 minutes after his first two involvements. Either the players around him didn’t want to use him or the coaching plan didn’t allow it. The second option is probably the most likely.
No amount of pontificating can discover why Cooper’s boot was not used more so I won’t bother. It only shows the inept nature of the Wallabies game plan.
So there was some initial positives coming out of Cooper’s start. Cooper’s most maligned aspect of his rugby is defence. Memories of 2011 and 2012 certainly support this notion and I don’t think anyone would disagree that Cooper’s tackling was atrocious. The point is however, that that is no longer the case.
Cooper’s defensive game took a remarkable leap in 2013. In the 2013 Rugby Championship, Cooper made 40/43 tackles, tackling at 93 per cent over 332 minutes of rugby, conceding only six turnovers over six games.
In Super Rugby, Cooper made 65/86 tackles at 76 per cent across 17 games of rugby. Aaron Cruden, the starting 10 for the All Blacks at the time, was tackling at 78 per cent to put it into some perspective.
Cooper’s tackling on the end of year tour went down a step with 27/40 tackles at 68 per cent. But on the positive side, with Cooper at 10, the Wallabies scored more tries, made more clean breaks and offloads than the All Blacks did.
The most important thing to note is that a vast majority of Cooper’s tackling occurred in the front defensive line, not at the back. During the last match, Cooper tackled at 70 per cent (7/10). Two of those misses I don’t think he should be particularly worried about.
The first was for Israel Dagg’s second try. If one is to look at the maul that the try started with, they will notice both Bernard Foley and Stephen Moore marking Savea. Two players marking one player with five metres to work with.
Why is a number 12 marking a winger on the wing which immediately formed an overlap? The inevitable try occurred and I’m not entirely sure what Copper was supposed to do.
Dagg could have gone on his inside and outside and for some reason, Reece Hodge who was also covering, ran behind Cooper instead of next to him which would have covered the inside step that Cooper, due to the angle he was running on, could not hope to defend.
The second missed tackle I believe was against Dane Coles. About half the players in Super Rugby have been stepped/run over by Coles, so hardly something Cooper should be chastised for. I think it is safe to assume now that Cooper’s defence is no longer a problem.
I don’t think I have to go into great depth to show how inept and underwhelming Cooper’s alternative is.
Foley is one of the more one dimensional first fives in rugby at the moment. Both his attack and defence leaves a lot to be desired. Despite Cooper’s somewhat erratic nature, he is clearly the one to lead Australia’s back line. But he can only do that if the game plan given to him allows that.
Cheika needs to let Cooper off his leash and let him just have a go. The worse outcome of this is still a lot better than the current state of the Wallabies. Steve Hansen has made a point over the Welsh series and this series that Barrett only needs to go out on the field, be himself and have a go. Cooper needs the same message.
So what are the long term plans for Cooper? Let him start every Test match for the rest of the year.
Get both Cooper and Genia back into Super Rugby, at the same team so they can rebuild their combination, and preferably at the Reds so Cooper can also have some exposure to Nick Frisby.
I really don’t think Australia has a better option, not that that is a particularly bad option.
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.