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Does anyone agree with me that Quade Copper is a mug lair with great skills but a headless chook at heart? Take the Reds vs Hurricanes game as an example.
With less than 3 minutes on the clock and after concerted Red forward pressure on their opposites in the Cane’s half, Cooper kicked to his left wing.
He attempted to repeat the try previously scored using the same tactic on the right wing. Canes took the mark and retained posession for the rest of the game culminating in the penalty goal winning the game for them.
Rabidly idiotic play. It took the pressure right off them. Why give the Hurricanes a chance to get the ball? Why not ensure possession stays with the Reds by not kicking?
Why not play for the corners and field position? Why not keep the ball in the forwards and slow play down in their half? Why not do a myriad of things which did not give the Canes a sniff of either the ball or field position?
Either none of these sensible options occurred to what Cooper is pleased to call his mind, or he thought of them and chose the high risk option instead. Either way it was flaky.
Cooper can do some wonderful things and is a talent rarely seen. There is little argument about that. He is a game breaker. The last time we saw anything like him in Australia was when Campese was in his prime.
That’s all very well in attack, but what about defence?
Last Saturday night he did not complete one tackle that I saw. He fell off players, he used his arms, he did not use his shoulders, he did not drive with his legs, without fail he went high and of course got bounced off when he did.
He did not bring anyone down by his own tackle without someone else also tackling with him. In short, he was Campese-like in his ability to wave a player through like a traffic cop at flashing lights. No matter where the Reds tried to hide him his true lack of defensive ability was there for all to see.
But it does not end there. He kicked to his wing when deep in defence in his own in-goal some weeks ago. The game was not in the bag and yet he took this high risk option.
After scoring a try against the Bulls he carried on like a Romanian gymnast. Why? Exuberance – fair enough. But how exuberant would he feel if he mistimed the backflip and ended up with a compound fracture of both legs for his troubles.
When I was at school people like him were penalised for ungentlemanly conduct in showing disrespect for the team against whom they had just scored. They were called show-offs and played in the seconds the next week to show them the error of their ways.
When he is on song he is positively glorious. When he isn’t, God help us. At the World Cup it concerns me the risks he takes will come back to haunt us.
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.