On Friday, the ARU announced the hardly surprising news that Quade Cooper has been signed on to the 2016 Australian rugby sevens program, with an intention for him to be the playmaker for a side that is short on x-factor magic.
I am going to surprise many constant readers by endorsing this signing.
That is right. The ARU has done a good thing in signing Cooper up for three tournaments, starting in Sydney in a couple of weeks, before the Rio Olympics.
If Cooper performs well, he will be a starter in Rio. If he doesn’t he goes back to the grind of French rugby with Toulon and the regular criticism of Toulon’s president, loud-mouth Mourad Boudjellal.
I see the Cooper switch as a win-win for all the parties concerned.
The Australian sevens coaching staff get to trial a potential playmaker of genius. Cooper gets his chance to show he still has the genius with his passing, especially, and his stepping to ignite the ashes of the underperforming Australian sevens side. And Toulon have Cooper removed from their books for a month or so.
I know, I know, Cooper is not the most ardent of tacklers. As well, the blinding speed he had until injuries in 2011 slowed him down is no longer there.
And yes, as he has got older and slower (relatively) and more vulnerable to pressure from his opponents, the headless chook aspect of his play has become more of a constant feature rather than the occasional thunderbolt strike of madness.
But his instincts on the rugby field are still shaped by the touch-rugby game he excelled at as a youngster. He might not be as quick of feet as he has been but he is still quick between the ears, and this mental genius in seeing opportunities for running the ball could be inspirational for the current lacklustre Australian sevens side.
As for the tackling, or lack of it, this is something that needs obvious work from him. I expect Cooper to at least get some arms and shoulders into opposition runners. As the sweeper on defence, too, he might be able to avoid most of the front-on tackles that often find him wanting in technique.
The point is that this tackling deficiency is all about technique. It is not about a lack of ticker. Cooper has all the courage in the world, as he has proved in his boxing career.
Any man who willingly goes into the boxing ring as a participant should never be criticised for lacking ticker, in any situation.
I would see Cooper playing the role of playmaker on attack and sweeper on defence for the Australian sevens side. This should reduce the front-on tackling that he clearly does not relish. This is the role the wizard Pio Tuwai plays for Fiji, one of the favoured sides to win Olympic gold at Rio.
According to Andy Friend, the new coach (finally!) for the Australian sevens side, Cooper “brings with him an x-factor that I feel could add an extra dimension to our squad”. I agree.
With Tom Kingston in the current squad and Nick Cummins and Henry Speight to join him in due course, Cooper will have some runners with speed – admittedly a bit short of the blazing pace of the USA Eagles’ Carlin Isles – to put into the clear with his heady and adventurous passing game.
This injection of pace into the Australian sevens is as necessary as the Cooper playmaking game for the success of the side.
Australia have lacked the sort of speedsters that, say, the USA Eagles have. The pace of the USA Eagles allowed the sevens side to defeat the All Blacks three times in recent tournaments, an achievement that has been beyond Australia.
Friend should bring his own extra dimension to the Australian sevens side, as well. He has been a professional coach since rugby went professional in 1996 and he was assistant coach of the Australian sevens in 2005. He has subsequently been a head coach at Harlequins, Brumbies, Canon Eagles and Suntory Sungoliath.
Friend takes over for the Sydney Sevens on February 6-7, a week after the Wellington Sevens.
Sonny Bill Williams looks likely to be tested with the All Blacks sevens at the weekend in Wellington. In the squad are the brilliant youngster from Auckland, Arika Ioane (destined to be an All Black great loose forward), and Wellington’s Ardie Savea (another prodigiously talented young New Zealand loose forward).
All the talk, though, is about Sonny Bill Williams and how he will adjust to sevens rugby. Quade Cooper insists that SBW will be unstoppable: “Sonny is hard enough to stop in 15-a-side so how the hell are teams going to handle him in sevens?”
Good question.
SBW will obviously bring his smash-unload league game to sevens rugby, for this is the basis of his game. You can’t afford to gang tackle players in sevens rugby, especially someone as big and strong as SBW who can offload seemingly from any tackle situation.
There is talk that SBW has taken off four kilos to get aerobically fit for the extra running on attack and defence required in sevens rugby.
There is only one caveat regarding SBW and sevens rugby. He lacks the sort of zip in his running that very good centres have, if only over the first 10 metres. SBW takes time to get into his running groove and even when he is in it, he isn’t particularly quick.
Perhaps a lighter SBW will be a quicker SBW.
Whether slightly quicker or not, SBW is certain to attack defenders trying and tackle him. He is so strong he will resist the tackle and then unload to a runner.
This is the sort of play that turned the 2015 Rugby World Cup final just after half-time when Ma’a Nonu was sent on his way from a SBW unload to score a memorable try against the Wallabies.
On the defensive side of the ball, SBW will be in his element. Sevens rugby defence involves a lot of one-on-one, as league does. SBW in the middle of the field should force teams to go wide and be exposed to the touchline or kick away the ball to try and make some progress.
Sir Gordon Tietjens, the rugby sevens guru and All Blacks sevens coach, has described how he wants his side to play this year: “The style I am looking to play is a direct style and to be superb around the contact areas and that will come together even more so when you have new players like Ioane and Savea and SBW and Messam.
“If we can accelerate those areas then the number of defenders these guys will attack will have chances.”
If teams stop Sonny Bill Williams in the contact area from unloading, they will stop the All Black sevens.
But if SBW is unstoppable, as his history as a league and rugby player suggests, then the All Black sevens will be hard to defeat.
Bakkies
Guest
I thought Walker was average. Poor man's Tom Varndell at 7s.
eagleJack
Roar Guru
Muzzo said | January 25th 2016 @ 1:12pm | Edit | Report comment Well didn’t SBW refuse David Tua? So where does that, show not being afraid of contact? THAT is where you said you believed SBW was scared of contact. Please try and follow what you write. I am well aware of the rules around defending a Title. And have said as much multiple times. SBW chose not to accept any challengers. So was stripped. What part of that don't you understand???
Train Without A Station
Roar Guru
Muzzo you implied he was afraid, by saying that by not accepting, he failed to show he wasn't afraid.
Muzzo
Guest
Mate Geez you seem to having a problem of understanding of what I have been stating regarding the laws of boxing, so once again, he was obliged to accept the challenges,due to the laws regarding holding a title, which he had for close on two years. In this, he & his management failed to acknowledge. That's right close on two years, not one challenge accepted, & defended. Along with that mate can you please point out where I actually said that he was soft & scared of contact,? Obvious by making those claims, you haven't even taken any notice of what I have been referring too. My question to you, is how good is your knowledge of the boxing game? As why I am asking is that you don't seem to have much idea, as to what holding down a title requires, by the person that holds it, & his management.
Train Without A Station
Roar Guru
Barrett has the wheels to make a huge impact.
Train Without A Station
Roar Guru
So then no international 10 would be any good in 7s as their completion rate is similar...
eagleJack
Roar Guru
Geez Muzzo, he failed to accept challengers because after each fight he went back to playing football. That was his profession. It seems you have a problem with the process, rather than the person. You have gone from effectively calling SBW "soft" for not accepting challengers, to realising even the great David Tua fought nobodies, has beens and deadbeats for years as he raised his profile. So if it's the process that's the problem then that's fine. It's boxing after all. Tua shouldn't be surprised his sport is a farce. He was part of the problem with it for years. After beating Tillman III in 2012 SBW acquired the vacant NZPBA Heavyweight Title. After that he was busy winning a Super Rugby title with the Chiefs, playing for the ABs and flying to Japan to play for Panasonic. Not much time to defend a boxing title. So they allowed it to elapse. No sleep lost. In 2013 he fought Botha and acquired the vacant WBA Heavyweight title. Again afterwards he went to play for the Roosters and won the NRL premiership. Again no time to defend a boxing title. In fact it was actually the Roosters hierarchy who did not allow it. Thus he didn't fight again until 2015 when he returned to rugby union. The guy was a footballer first. Boxer second. But just like Tua and others before him he fought no-names to start out his career. Or a past it champion like Botha. The fact that some of his fights were for Heavyweight Titles is more of a reflection of the sport itself. Rather than your claim that SBW was "scared of contact". His goal wasn't to win Titles. Just win boxing bouts. And he achieved that.
Muzzo
Guest
No Jack, what you are having trouble understanding, is what I have stated, SBW during his time holding the New Zealand Heavyweight title From Febuary 2012 to December 2013, did not have any fights to defend his title.Not a single one. Why you lambaste David Tua, from taking on all comers, seems a little ridiculous, as that was his profession to which he was totally committed. As you said about SBW, he was stripped because he was a part time boxer, was totally wrong & misleading. As in truth, he was stripped, as I've said previously, for failing to respond to challenges, as set down by laws covering any title holder. Why he even bothered to take up these titles, in the first place, knowing the conditions that are in place, makes one wonder. Perhaps it could be his manager, Nasser, who is at fault, but that's only an assumption.As you say he did achieve his goal of gaining a title or two, but in truth never fulfilled that achievement by failing to responding to challenges . So as I say WTF was the point of doing these things if you don't intend to carry them through. As was the case. As we have seen over the years New Zealand has had some pretty good heavyweights, all the way back to Bob Fitzsimmons, with the likes of All Black's like Kevin Skinner, & Kiwi star Kevin Tamati.
eagleJack
Roar Guru
Sorry Muzzo but you fail to understand the guy was a footballer first. And would arrange fights in the off-season. The Roosters had serious issues with him even contemplating fighting. As did the Chiefs, certainly during the season. But they ended up facilitating and helping organise some of the fights for him. It was a strong bargaining chip for them. He was actually stripped of 2 titles due to inactivity. This is common knowledge for those that follow him closely. No need to google it. If you paid attention you would have seen he only managed to fight twice in the one year in 2011. That's because he was a footballer, not a full-time professional boxer. So he was unable defend his titles. Commitment to football, be it league or union, prevented this. As I said earlier I don't think he lost any sleep losing the titles. He was simply happy to set a goal and achieve it. You lambast him for facing mugs in his 6th and 7th fight. Yet have no issue with Tua still facing deadbeats in his 17th fight. The double standards set by some boxing fans are pretty funny.
Ken Cathpole's Other Leg
Guest
Yes Cynical, it's amazing that not even the Roar write an article about where and when the trials are.
Muzzo
Guest
eagleJack , Mate one of the main points I was pointing out was, from Feb 2012 to Dec 2013, SBW, held the New Zealand, Heavyweght boxing title before being stripped of it by Lance Revill of the NZPBA, after he failed, more than once, to respond to challenges. As you might know that if a boxer is good enough to have a title, he's obliged, to accept challengers. He never once during that time, put his title on the line, hence the stripping of the title. I'm pretty sure you can Google it, mate. Cheers
soapit
Guest
or it may have never worked and would be debatable if it really ever even was a clock at all.
eagleJack
Roar Guru
Muzzo, but that is the entire point. Tua wheeled out plenty of easy beats throughout his career. Which is fine. That's boxing. So why should SBW be held to a different standard? That footage supplied by Darwin Stubbie shows a very average Cecil Coffee at the end of his career. He had been smoked leading up to the fight with Tua, losing his previous 2. And the fight went how it was expected. Over in the 1st Round. Now that was Tua's 17th professional bout. And he was still coming up against mugs. Nobody is doubting Tua's credentials. He was a top fighter. But please forgive SBW, who boxes once per year on a part time basis, for not fighting champions in his 7th bout!! Very few do.
thunderguts
Guest
your comment would suggest it is you that is "thicker than a short plank" and that you will be eating matchsticks after the Wellington games
Te Rangatira
Guest
I expect Sbw and Ioane to do the damage in the middle... like Buck and Zinny @Hong Kong 7s... Sbw needs to put in a high octane performance with straight running and offloads..It'll be good if he can get back and make those cover tackles but heavy tackdes that can lead to turnovers is what I'd like to see from him.
cuw
Guest
no jerry , i assume he is referring to a winding clock (wonder if u got one :) ) its an old saying from ages ago. when the winding mechanism is broken the clock will always strike once. am not sure if u have seen or got one , but there were old clocks that had 1/4 chimes (westminster bells it was called). so after striking the hour at the first 15 minutes it will go ding , at 30 ding dong , at 45 ding dong ding and at the next hour it will go ding dong ding dong and then the number relevent to the hour. a broken one will always strike one - thus it is correct twice a day :)
taylorman
Roar Guru
yep...get our excuses in now. I can see a lot of big NZ guys standing around a lot while the speedsters keep zipping in down the sidelines...
taylorman
Roar Guru
Blowing them off the park before they get to exert their authority and experience is one way though, perhaps the only way. Its obvious those new players are going to rely on heavy contact up the middle work then look for either offloads or the split wide when the defence try to clam up on the middle guys. No way this side will win the wide game which as you say, suits Fiji, USA and SA ideally.
Muzzo
Guest
Yep Kuruki, Stowers, Curry & Waka are all on the injured list.
Muzzo
Guest
You jest, I take it? Did you actually watch the two previous tournaments, in regards to the NZ squad? I can assure you that, they,NZ, will be pretty competitive with the return, of some of their stars, & the influx of new talent. Admittedly, the Bokke's do look good, especially after winning their home tournament , with at least 4 or 5 of their star players out.