RWC RANT No.7

On Cooper

How many chances does QC get before the coaches accept what many Wallaby fans and pundits are seeing? In my opinion, Cooper’s game against Uruguay has all but cemented Foley as the starting fly half. Don’t get me wrong, Cooper certainly has talent but he just never seems to be able bring all his skills to the same party. Cooper’s trademark long-range rifle passes are probably better left to the touch game at training, because despite the fact they occasionally stick against inferior opponents, against more seasoned adversaries they are likely to result in an intercept or a hospital pass. While I think he was hard done by with his sinbin, the laws allow for that interpretation and the point is his judo-like throw was unnecessary, which is another example of his inherent poor discipline and ill-regard for the way his actions impact the team. His kicking was abominable, both in general play and for goal. Without any pressure, 5 from 11 simply isn’t good enough if your team and coach are relying on your necessary skills. Now is the time to start rotating Toomua, Beale and Giteau into 10 during training in the event of an injury.

On England

Have no fear I’m always ready to put the boot into England given the chance, just as they love giving anyone from the colony a good shoeing, and while a wry smile adorned my face as Wales put the Old Dart to the sword over the weekend, I will stand up for their captain Chris Robshaw for choosing to go for the try instead the usual boring English way of kicking themselves out of trouble. Robshaw is being unfairly criticised and is wearing the blame alone as Lancaster distanced himself from any blame saying it’s the players that make the decisions on the field. So Mr Lancaster, you didn’t select the players you had faith in to make those tough decisions on the field? Well, he’s certainly a coach I’d put my body on the line for – Not! If England move forward it wont be because of their coach. Robshaw may have made some ordinary decisions during the game but when the pressure is on and the game hangs in the balance and you have two choices – a draw or a win, you go for goal if you have no faith in your team mates however, if you do have faith in the blokes you’re in the trenches with you go for the try to win the game – just look at Japan. Securing the draw wouldn’t have relieved any pressure on England and they still must win next Sunday to keep their chances alive. It will definitely test the mettle of both sides but if the Wallabies arise victorious, the English are unlikely to come out of the pool of death intact.

On some of the others in the B Team

McMahon certainly showed why he should be part of the squad with a bucket load of line bending carries but I would have expected a lot more pilfering and he is still clearly miles behind Pocock and Hooper. McCalman played a lot better than I expected and should be on the bench in place of Palu and/or Skelton, both of who had very little impact against B-Grade opposition. Mumm certainly didn’t take control of the lineout and it only started to hum when Simmons re-entered the frame, which is a worry should he get injured. Toby Smith did enough to justify his place on tour but Holmes should have been given time to stretch his legs and neck. Despite Beale being out of favour with me after the Di Patston fiasco, he is actually looking way more agile than he has in a long time with some reasonable vision and justifies a place on the bench in the next game. This game also confirmed the failed experiment of Speight at 13. Tomane was unimpressive and nothwithstanding breaking a record by scoring a few tries, I wasn’t overly impressed with Mitchell. Granted, he showed glimpses of his old brilliance but he did make a host of schoolboy errors beforehand, which the Wallabies can ill-afford in a big game. The Wallabies achieved what was required on the scoreboard and it gave many of our top tier players a well-deserved rest in preparation for the next game, which is bound to be a cracker! Let’s line that chariot up with our bulbar and get ready to throw it into reserve afterwards!