Analysis: Six blunders that may cost Quade Cooper a spot in the Wallabies
Quade Cooper last played for the Wallabies in June 2017.
He was dropped from the squad for the Rugby Championship and has yet to make a return for the national team. He was also omitted from Brad Thorn’s 2018 Reds squad, instead playing out his contract with the Brisbane City NRC side.
Prior to the Wallabies’ 2017 end of year tour, coach Michael Cheika was confident that the team was adequately covered in the crucial 10 position without Cooper’s inclusion.
“We feel like from a playmakers perspective, we’ve got … [Bernard] Foley first up, and then [Kurtley] Beale and [Reece] Hodge. I see Hodge playing in there at some stage eventually,” Cheika said at the time.
Given that Cooper was already on the outs with the national side and he played no role in Super Rugby in 2018, it wasn’t a surprise that he wasn’t selected in the Wallabies at all in 2018. Foley, Beale and Matt To’omua all received game time in the first five role.
2018 was a less than successful year for Australian rugby, to put it mildly. The team mustered a paltry 4 wins from 13 games played, with Ireland securing a first-ever series win in Australia.
Whilst there were a number of deficiencies in the Wallabies’ game, the lack of confidence and inspiration coming from the playmaker role was clear to everyone. Foley, once considered the ‘safe’ option to Cooper’s more maverick approach, was dropping balls and missing goals at a rate considerably higher than any international should be permitted to do. Beale and To’omua simply looked like midfielders that had been shifted into the first receiver role.
Rebel with a cause
The 2019 season has seen the return of Quade Cooper to Super Rugby – now at the Rebels – and calls were reignited for the New Zealand-born first five to be reinstated to the Wallabies after a stellar start to the season.
After little more than a month of competition, the halves duo of Will Genia and Cooper were the form combination, contributing to more try and line-break assists than any other pairing in Super Rugby. Wallabies supporters were sure that the Rebels were being treated to Australia’s halves combo which could lead the country to World Cup glory.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BvxjE–gZrB/
As has now become an annual tradition, the Rebels successes quickly started to dry up as the competition went on, with the Melbourne side losing seven of their last nine matches. In the final two games of the competition, the Rebels were pasted 66-0 and 59-8 by the Crusaders and the Chiefs.
It’s no coincidence that the lack of success in Melbourne has come at the same time as a drop in form for Cooper.
Some will still be calling for Cooper to make a return to the Wallabies on the back of his overall season with the Rebels, but it’s become painfully clear in recent weeks that the man simply doesn’t have the composure to guide the Wallabies to any great success.
If the early season showed what Cooper can do when his team is on the front foot, then this past weekend’s match with the Chiefs highlighted the kind of player that Cooper can be when his team is under pressure.
The Chiefs scored nine tries in Friday night’s match. Cooper played a part in six of them.
1 Sam Cane try
The Rebels were hard on attack but were struggling to compromise the Chiefs’ resolute defence and get past the 10m line in Chiefs territory.
Cooper received the ball and, with other options not working, opted to put a chip through behind the Chiefs defence. The ball found space but bounced away from the Rebels chasers – instead finding its way into the arms of Jack Debreczeni.
Whilst a chip wouldn’t always be a poor option, the Chiefs cover defence were already waiting back in anticipation of the move. Debreczeni, Solomon Alaimalo and Sean Wainui were all camped in the 22. The bounce of the ball did not help the Rebels’ cause.
Ex-Rebel Debreczeni sparked a counter attack and the Chiefs raced 80 metres to score under the posts. Halfback Brad Weber ran almost 20 metres on his own – easily stepping around a flailing Cooper in the process.
2 Shaun Stevenson try
Less than 10 minutes later, another Cooper kick went horribly awry.
This time, the Rebels were launching an attack from inside their half and Cooper opted for a grubber – not for the first time. Early in the match a wrap then grubber had gained the Rebels a solid 20 metres without losing possession – evidently Cooper thought the move could work again.
Cooper wrapped around Tom Banks and tried to slot a kick between Anton Lienert-Brown and Shaun Steveneson. His left footer, however, was easily blocked by Stevenson. The gangly wing chased and collected the rebound, then dashed away to score untouched.
3 Lachlan Boshier try
With the final play of the first half, the Rebels once again fell on their own sword.
A loose pass on the Rebels 10 metre line from another Wallaby, Reece Hodge, was scooped up by Stevenson. Stevenson raced away, stepping around the covering Cooper. To his credit, Cooper eventually brought Stevenson to ground – but it wasn’t enough to prevent a try, with Lachlan Boshier on hand to collect Stevenson’s offload.
The game was barely half complete and the Chiefs had three tries all stemming from Rebels errors.
4 Sean Wainui try
While the Chiefs had to play with a bit more structure to score their fourth try – only two minutes after the second half kicked off – the score still came on the back of a number of missed tackles from the Rebels.
From a scrum on the Rebels 22, the Chiefs managed to spread the ball out to Sean Wainui who was parked out on the left wing. Wainui proceeded to step off his left foot, bamboozling Cooper, and score in the tackles of Hodge and Campbell Magnay.
5 Jack Debreczeni try
Come the 57th minute of the match, the Rebels were already behind by six tries. Things were about to get worse.
From a scrum on halfway, Weber made mince meat of the Rebels defensive line. The tiny tyro ran sideways then straightened up to burst through the line – fending off Cooper in the process. Weber then passed inside to the supporting Debreczeni who scored untouched.
6 Marty McKenzie try
The Chiefs’ final try, courtesy of replacement first five, Marty McKenzie, was more a product of the lack of cohesion between Cooper and the recently returned Matt To’omua than any lack of skills.
The pair tried to launch an attack off a scrum on their 22m line, but the short pass from Too’mua to Cooper found only Cooper’s outstretched fingertips. The ball hit the turf and McKenzie kicked it through to dot down.
The six tries that Cooper played a role in were not all his doing; others were just at much as fault as he was. Unfortunately for the flyhalf, however, he was the common denominator.
Cooper also made a number of other errors, including an up-and-under attempt that finished up about 5 metres outside of play and two kick-offs that went out on the full.
No time for wild risks
Some of his errors show a lack of skill, but some are simply a sign of the impact that confidence (or lack thereof) can have on a player.
Cooper has been known to crack under pressure – and the 2019 World Cup would probably be the highest-pressure situation that the Rebel could ever find himself in, given how high the expectations would be.
If Cooper had maintained his form from earlier in the season then perhaps Cheika would be willing to take a shot on the man who can create something from nothing. As it stands now, however, Cooper would be required to learn all the various systems and gel with the new players that have been introduced since he last represented the side.
World Cup year is not the time to be taking a punt on an unknown quality. With Foley, Beale, To’omua and Hodge all likely to make the cut, Cooper could well find himself missing out on selection once again.
At his absolute best, Quade Cooper is one of the most talented first fives in world rugby. Unfortunately, Cooper’s best is something that we have rarely seen – even in a season that promised so much.
Comments on RugbyPass
Big difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
1 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
30 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
30 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to comments