Cheika’s continued Cooper love unwarranted

I didn't think AAC was poor at all. I thought he was one of the better performers on the night (granted, I missed the last 10-12 minutes).

Based on rugby championship performance oz has issues at hooker, tight head, one lock/ line out jumper, eight, halfback, inside and both wings. Cheka is not the messiah just a naughty boy who is out of his depth and learning on the job. I say stick wth qc; he may be eractic and at times brillant but maybe that's what we need to get out of pool of depth.

As soon as Quade was selected I thought we were in trouble. Clearly Cooper is suspect under test match pressure. Select him at the coaches peril. The bloke is a coach killer.

In fairness last week was Foley's 2nd chance in the jersey.

AAC had his second poor game at Eden Park in a row? Does he have an Eden Park hoodoo too? Perhaps the All Blacks just play their best at home and make it hard for the opposition.

He will if he "has to". Not sure how it will possibly come to that though. That would mean a number of players would have to magically improve past Cooper without any games to play.

No he wont.

Why lie? Do you expect us to believe AAC landed on his head just because you say he did. Um, WE WATCHED THE GAME!

Um, wow. So Foleys outstanding performance with the boot in the UK means that he doesnt have the ability to cope with UK crowds? That is just ridiculous fabrication that is EXACTLY the opposite to reality. Do me a big favour and watch Aus vs Wales from 2014, see how excellent Foley was IN WALES before BS-ing your way to deflecting the heat off Quade by making up stuff. Foley isnt in great form with the boot but it has NOTHING to do with UK crowds considering his best performances with the boot have been in rugby finals and in the bl00dy UK! Cooper was bad but if the ruck before had been penalised and Cooper hadnt played badly then...Cooper coulda been awesome? Seriously? Well Cooper wasnt the hero, hardly ever is and in this game he was poor, FULL STOP. It wasnt McCabes fault, it wasnt R.Deans fault, it wasnt the gameplan, it wasnt the halfback, it wasnt because Poc0ck didnt get a penalty, it wasnt because of the forwards, it wasnt because the other backs were not up to speed, it WAS QCs fault and it always is. Come on Cooper fans!

Cooper will go to the WC. If he doesnt the Australian rugby media and public will destroy any chances the Wallaby team has. Why do I say that? Because thats what happens when Quade isnt selected. Every media conference becomes about Cooper, every questionable performance everyone is saying that Cooper should be there. Thats what happened when JOC was selected at 10. Even before he had played the rugby public and media were heaping pressure on him, saying he shouldnt be there and some (a lot) were hoping for his failure. He played, wasnt great for the first 2 but was quite good in the 3rd. However according to the Australian rugby public he was the worst, a disaster! Naturally he wasnt terrible and his game was picked to pieces. The truth is though, that Cooper often plays worse than JOC did against the Lions. Its quite normal for Quade to play worse and QC has this year. So you would think that people would be calling for JOCs return to 10 but no, they dont. However they do passionately call for QCs return despite his incosistency at 10 throughout his career. QC promises great things, amazing passes, tricky play and the "Australian style of play". However he just doesnt deliver very often at all and is usually quite ordinary. When will Australia stop chasing the mirage and build a team instead of trying to thinking they can use Cooper as a shortcut to greatness? It wont EVER work imo and the sooner they move on the better for the Wallabies imo. Cooper doest deserve to go to the WC on form and if history is anything to go by and Cooper is selected, he will fail to deliver in the biggest games 9/10 times.

The criticism of Cooper is in part a smoke screen for Skelton. He and Palu were pretty inept. They were taken off because they were both liabilities. Shame for Palu who I think very highly of. No matter how badly Skelton plays, he will be defended by some ardent Tah fans who have invested so heavily in the hype around him. It defies all logic. They've been doing it two seasons now. According to the hype, Skelton is and always has been a powerful scrummager, a line out taker, a hard worker, a powerful runner and dominant tackler. He's, according to the the hype, not a slow moving penalty magnet but a gifted footballer who draws defenders thereby liberating other runners. No actual incidence of this has ever been cited but that's not necessary. He has "potential" because he weighs more than other players. And he just keeps getting picked.

I'm pretty sure that Folau did worse in Argentina and just got a chat. Smith was penalised so we got that advantage and made nothing of it. If you're relying on opponents getting carded to win you the game, you must be a long way off the pace.

Tahs fan...lucky your not a surgeon then...he landed on his backside...watch it again...unless your insulting AAC.

Good post Jereme ^.^ b

Coopers selection was based on hope to enact many on field possibilities for his team - However, hope is not a chance for a tactical battle plan for any team

If a body was a cynical type he may even think the AB's lost in Sydney so that the Eden Park crowd was jam packed for the send off of some of the greats, on NZ soil. There was just no comparison between the two games. In a nutshell, we kicked with our usual ineffectual aplomb and they scored. Not much of a game plan in hindsight. Had to laugh when Kafe said something to the effect that with Gits on the field we now had a left-right boot options. This was followed by Toomua's kick that saw Smith (the elder) scramble over. We had started to look like we wanted to play Rugby and assembled 12? phases just before that kick but it had to be given to the opposition so we could practise our broken-field defense. The tactical kick in Rugby for the Wallabies has to be the very last option and nobody should be willing to be the mug. When Ben or Aaron do it there is menace and opportunity, when Nanai does it it goes where it will do the most good. When we kick it very few know about it and the intent and skill are wasted. I would fine/fire/yank anyone who kicks outside the 22 and doesn't gain ground or possession. We blew that game, perhaps returning the favour, by being unwilling to play Rugby, tire them out with multiple phases, exploit momentary weaknesses, put the broken field runners into gaps, have fun deconstructing their game. They certainly did muscle up on attack but we relapsed into magical play, again. Good to see Bam Bam wearing headgear again. Nick White looked less like he wanted to make every decision and his feet stayed planted for the pass but his service was not good enough at this level. Phipps should come back. Horwill has no penetration, and hasn't had any for 2-3 years. Kane and Skelton, now that's the duo. If Quade then only off the bench and only if the opp. has been put through the ringer. The bloke's an emotional mess in NZ. We are aware that Cheika is concentrating on the RWC but it would have been nice to get some silverware. He did not prep that squad well enough, that is aside from the selections. Oh well, we know we have our share of Rugby players, it's letting them develop into a self-driven unit that reacts in an effectual manner that seems to be the hardest part. Like what you see every time we play the ABs.

Thanks, stillmatic1. Well said. There are multiple Mikes I think on the roar so you never know what you're going to get. A centaur with four heads? One who has a cousin who is a physio for the Samoan rugby team called Ether....and many more.

It sped up the inevitable.

Ahhhhhh as noted a thousand times, Cheika moves Foley and Giteau to wing and fullback in defence. So it's not because Cooper's defence is so bad. I think it's a terrible tactic, and lead to the all black's first try. Plus it also leaves players defending in positions that they aren't used to.

With you Redback. On the try Cooper should not have to have made a tackle in the first place. There was dreadful defence that led to that try and others. Yes it was high but Smith was low and going lower and Cooper was also lunging on a slippery ground. I'm afraid in a high speed contact sport players will mistime tackles and this was one. Cooper did not cost us the try. It would have been scored anyway. And the 14 points scored while he was off cannot be blamed wholly on Cooper. Last week we had two sin binnings and not only survived but scored points. The bottom line was that our defensive line was in disarray and we had some dreadful one on one misses. Coopers pass over the sideline was made with an anticipation that Ashley Cooper would stay on the outside. He came infield and as a result the ball kissed its mark. Because the mark had moved ! Coopers goal kicking was excellent. He struck the ball well. His defence, and this is not a popular view, I thought was fine. And his general play I thought behind a beaten pack was fine. He is a veryy talented footballer. He is not everyone's cup of tea but he offers much more in creativity than the alternatives. Give him a break.