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I know that we all want to put the Quade Cooper thing to bed, but I feel I have to get my two cents in before that occurs.
Also, I’ve been desperately trying to work out the makeup of our backline for the first Test and am still scratching my head. I’ll go even further and say the more I look at it the more I come to the conclusion that Cooper is absolutely perfect for the game plan that Deans wants to play.
I also feel that there is one issue that hasn’t been properly covered yet, and that is the fact that Cooper is actually really good at executing the conservative game; it’s just that nobody ever asks him to play it.
I can’t understand why nobody in this never-ending Cooper debate has talked about the system at the Reds that Cooper plays in.
People have talked about Cooper’s mistakes against the Lions (and at other times this year and throughout his career) but I really do feel that Cooper is suffering as a product of his environment.
The fact that people are bagging Cooper for his game on the weekend is ludicrous.
I’m going to go out on a limb and suggest that McKenzie told Cooper to play a very expansive game on the weekend. I have no proof of this, but I think the quick-taps five metres out from the Reds’ own line were a dead giveaway.
There is not a playmaker in the world who could play to that touch footy game-plan and not make mistakes. The idea that Cooper would throw the no-look pass to Beau Robinson on his own 22 metre line in a Test for the Wallabies after everything that has been said, and after Cooper has adapted his game this year, is simply ridiculous.
McKenzie’s Reds team plays a lot of rugby in this style, but he also has a history of playing conservative when the situation dictates it.
Anyone remember the game against the Stormers in Cape Town in 2011? Cooper produced a masterclass in conservative rugby, and the Reds out-bored the most successfully boring team in the competition.
They did this by pinning the Stormers back in their own half with clever kicks from Cooper, and executing a very tight forwards game. They had the Stormers convinced they were going to try and run them off their feet like they had done to every other team.
They have also played more conservatively at times during games this year against the Kiwi sides, and Cooper was brilliant at closing the games out by not overplaying his hand against the Chiefs and Highlanders after steering the Reds to a lead.
I think that Cooper has the ability to adapt very quickly to change, as he showed this year by stifling his offloads after Deans told him he needs to take more contact.
All Cooper needs is someone to tell him to do it, which he was never going to consistently get from McKenzie at the Reds.
As a matter of fact, I don’t know if anyone has ever told Cooper to play conservatively. It’s no secret that when Robbie Deans first picked him for the Wallabies it certainly wasn’t for his conservative side.
We know that Super Rugby is a lot quicker and more open than Test rugby, and we also know that McKenzie tells Cooper to play his natural game (most of the time) at the Reds.
It’s therefore not unreasonable to think that if McKenzie becomes Wallaby coach then Cooper will be his fly-half and that he will be playing a lot more conservatively than what he does for the Reds.
My fear with O’Connor, and the problem that all running fly-halves have, is that they tend to think they can play centre at the same time.
What often happens is that they instinctively want to take on the line, especially in Test footy when the opposition is slowing down the ruck and cutting down the fly-half’s time, something I’m sure the Lions will do.
In a tight game with the advantage line being fought over tooth and nail, this ‘one off the ruck’ business becomes very predictable and almost certainly fatal.
The Lions, upon hearing several weeks ago that O’Connor had the fly-half spot wrapped up (and maybe Deans is bluffing on this!), will be preparing to defend outside in, rushing the centres, and try to force O’Connor and his centres to step back inside into heavy traffic.
If O’Connor finds himself caught at the bottom of the ruck too often two things can happen. Firstly, The inside centre (or a forward) will find himself at first receiver a lot of the time which will compound the problem as you will still be plagued by a lack of creativity.
This can be countered by playing a ball-playing 12 (which I don’t believe will happen) or by a second option: bringing in the fullback (who I think has to be Beale if Deans plays O’Connor at 10 with a direct 12) to play first receiver when O’Connor is tackled.
The problem with this is that you are playing with one less outside back (the area that the Wallabies will want to exploit). It also becomes very predictable because with O’Connor or Beale at the bottom of the ruck you have only one of those two left standing who has the ability to use the width of the field.
This in turn will allow the Lions to compress their defence and make more impact in the tackle, in turn affecting advantage line gains, beginning the vicious ‘one-off’ cycle all over again.
Defending takes less of a physical toll as defenders don’t have to run so far. They know where the ball is going and they get there in numbers, sharing the tackling load between more players.
You effectively create a situation where the opposition prefers to defend and back themselves to win penalties or turnovers at the breakdown or hold players up in the tackle, one area that this huge Lions side will definitely fancy themselves.
Look at when we lost to Scotland last year. The Scots couldn’t have been happier defending most of the game because they barely had to move from where they were at the last ruck to repel the Wallaby’s unimaginative, one-off stuff in the wet.
If this becomes an issue and the Wallabies are conceding turnovers in their own half, the only way to get out of this situation is to kick, something that Australians do worse than any other seeded nation.
The reason why the South Africans made the one-off game an art form in 2007 is because they had the kicking genius of Morne Steyn and Fourie Du Preez.
So if the Aussies fall into the one-off trap, who will do the kicking? If Deans’ early selection indications are correct it will be Beale or O’Connor, neither of whom are a Steyn or Du Preez.
While Cooper is nowhere near what other nations offer in the kicking stakes I still think he is our best kicking option because of his variation. He is without a doubt our best kicker at finding touch when outside of our 22 metre zone, which is an important part of Test rugby.
Barnes might be a better all-round kicker but I think he probably kicks too often and he doesn’t ask enough questions of the defence with his running game. His kicks are expected and subsequently easier to defend.
I’m sure if McKenzie allowed Cooper to kick more often and/or Cooper adjusted his position to not stand so flat and wide when taking clearance kicks in his own 22 metre, he would be much more successful.
If Deans wants to play Horne or McCabe at inside then Cooper would be the perfect fly-half for exactly the reasons that Deans excluded him.
Cooper rarely gets caught in the tackle which means that he only has to worry about distributing, negating the need to take a second ball player or kicker at inside centre.
This also allows the fullback to stay wide or on the blind side to limit the predictability of where the ball could go.
Cooper could focus on not overplaying his hand and trying to create a line break every play, which he does at the Reds, but also throw the long pass when the situation arises. This would release our outside backs, which I think most would agree we have to do a lot of to win this series.
This straightening the line business that Deans also talked about would be irrelevant because McCabe, Horne and Ashley-Cooper are more than capable of doing that with the lines they run.
Cooper could be the perfect fly-half for Deans’ Wallaby vision. All that’s needed is for Deans to do something that he has never done: tell Cooper to play conservatively.
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.