The resurrection of Quade Cooper

Quade Cooper. The mention of that name alone ignites passionate debate between rugby fans in Australia, New Zealand and around the globe.

It seems with Quade that you either love him, or you hate him and there is no in between.

While it is clear that Cooper is a talented rugby player, the way he has handled himself both on and off the field has turned him into a walking headline.

From the exiles to the Super Rugby titles and hatred in New Zealand, Quade has lived a turbulent life in the last three to four years.

However, something interesting has taken place in the last couple of months.

Under the guidance of new Wallaby coach, Ewen McKenzie, Quade has seemingly matured.

In fact, he has regularly been among the Wallabies’ best performers throughout the latter stages of the Rugby Championship and European Spring Tour.

When he was playing arguably the best rugby of his career, during the 2011 Super Rugby tournament, Cooper played very directly.

He challenged the defensive line to make a decision and then would react accordingly, an effective strategy due to the space he was given by the opposing defence.

He also showed excellent vision, regularly finding space on the outside with long cut-out passes and smart attacking kicks to unmarked outside centres and wingers.

This vision was most notable when the defence had dropped with a winger expecting a kick. Quade, recognising this, backed his team to pick up twenty to thirty metres to get out of trouble and retain possession.

Unfortunately Cooper’s superb Super Rugby form did not translate to Wallaby success.

It would be easy to blame this lack of form on coaching differences between McKenzie and Deans, however there are a number of other factors which are impacted upon Cooper’s decline in form.

It is evident that Cooper struggled to adapt to the increase in pace and intensity of Test match rugby.

Cooper had much less time and space to identify his best option and execute.

Additionally, the defence is stronger and more disciplined in Test matches, meaning there are fewer holes available for Quade to exploit.

While Deans did not promote a style of rugby which was as expansive as the one played by the Reds, in the opportunities Cooper had to play expansively, he still struggled.

One issue Quade encountered while playing for the Wallabies was that he didn’t have a key playmaker playing at inside centre.

Instead he had a ball-running inside centre, such as Pat McCabe.

With players such as Kurtley Beale and James O’Connor at fullback and on the wing, they took on the expansive running role while Quade was left with all the playmaking responsibilities.

This does not suit Cooper’s style as play as he likes to play with less structure. Thus, the makeup of the team during the 2011 World Cup did Cooper no favours in his performances.

While it is no secret that Cooper has played his best rugby under McKenzie, he continued to struggle at the international level in 2012.

This led to his exile from the Wallabies following his “Toxic” comments in an interview on Fox Sports.

Following the departure of Robbie Deans from the Wallabies, Quade was immediately selected in the squad to face the All Blacks by Ewen McKenzie, albeit on the bench behind a deserving Matt Toomua.

There was a disappointing start to the McKenzie era for both the Wallabies and Cooper.

Quade struggled to find his rhythm in the small number of minutes he played in the first two Bledisloe Cup matches, with the Wallabies lacking fluency and structure in attack when he was on the field. This made McKenzie’s decision that week to bench Toomua for Cooper for the Springboks match even more questionable.

The doubters were reinforced when, despite two weeks to prepare and a game in the Wallabies favourite venue, Suncorp Stadium, the team delivered a dreadful performance.

The Wallabies were dominated at the breakdown and Cooper struggled to get any front foot ball. As a result, Quade was constantly under pressure, and some of his earlier problems plagued him yet again, as his time to identify and make decisions was greatly reduced.

The journey to South Africa and Argentina may come to be considered Cooper’s turning point as a Wallaby in the years to come.

Whilst the Wallabies were producing a lethargic and terrible performance in Cape Town, Cooper was playing outstandingly.

Cooper was by far the Wallabies best player on that day and has continued to improve ever since.

A disappointing Argentinean side was carved to shreds a week later by the outstanding Israel Folau whilst Cooper’s combination with inside centre Christian Leali’ifano showed how far it had come over the past few months.

The Wallabies returned to take on New Zealand in a dead rubber in Dunedin which quickly turned into one of the Wallabies’ best performances of the year.

Cooper was again the best Wallaby on the field, he directed the Wallabies around the field, ensuring a fluent, well structured attack whilst also exhibiting improved decision making about whether to run, kick or pass.

Cooper, along with Will Genia, led a much straighter attack and utilised Israel Folau and Matt Toomua very effectively.

Additionally, any concerns regarding Cooper’s defence were put to bed following stats which revealed that Cooper’s missed tackle percentage was actually lower than All Black great Richie McCaw.

Heading into the Spring Tour, there were some hopes of a Quade Cooper led Grand Slam, victories over England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales, a feat not achieved by the Wallabies since 1984.

McKenzie then made two pivotal decisions prior to the first test against England at Twickenham. First he replaced James Horwill with Ben Mowen as captain; however it was his choice of vice-captain that raised the most eyebrows.

Many experts and fans alike expected Stephen Moore or Adam Ashley-Cooper to be selected as vice-captain; however McKenzie made the left-field choice of Quade Cooper as Australia’s new vice-captain.

What followed was a disappointing performance from the Wallabies against an emerging English side, with Cooper performing well in the first half before dropping off in the second half, along with the rest of the team.

Cooper also missed a number of key penalty attempts which had a large impact on the match.

Cooper and the Wallabies responded the following week with a resounding display over Italy.

Quade labelled this match one of his best in recent times and it is hard to disagree.

His combination with Matt Toomua showed continued improvement and enabled Cooper to pick and choose when to play his hands.

Having a play maker such as Toomua, or even Christian Leali’ifano, outside Cooper is beneficial as it takes a lot of pressure off Cooper, thus not making him feel that he has to direct the team around the park for the entire match.

Australia produced their four best performances of the year to finish off the 2013 season, notching four straight wins over Italy, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Cooper was instrumental in each of these matches.

Cooper has had much more time with the ball in hand to identify and make decisions before the defence gets to him.

This is partly due to the fact that the European sides’ defensive line speed is slower than the All Blacks and Springboks, but also due to a quicker recognition of what is in front of him.

A further improvement in Quade’s performance is his decision making.

Quade has struggled to adapt to this improved defence of Test rugby, however he has significantly improved this aspect of his game, and he can now recognise the best option in general play and when returning kicks.

This ability has been enhanced by Israel Folau’s ball running ability, which has led to more space being given to Cooper.

Cooper’s tactical kicking has also improved significantly, he is now recognising when opposing wingers are up in the line, when the Wallabies attack is struggling to make any metres and if this is the case, when to kick.

These kicks have been far better placed than in the past, he regularly hit the corners of the field in Europe, pinning the opposition in their own half.

Cooper has shown improved maturity and has continued to grow as he takes on extra responsibilities on and off the field.

Cooper has shown significantly improved play as the season has progressed and has been one of the best players on the Spring Tour, perhaps only behind Israel Folau.

He capped off the tour off with an outstanding performance in Cardiff.

This has been a result of improved decision making and defence, greater maturity and straighter running.

If Cooper continues to show significant improvement, the Wallabies could use 2014 as a year to springboard towards a tilt at the Rugby World Cup in 2015.

However one question must still be answered, how will Cooper perform in next year’s Super Rugby season when he isn’t playing under Ewen McKenzie.

If he performs poorly, will McKenzie continue to show faith in him even if Super Rugby form doesn’t warrant it?