'How do you defend that': Quade Cooper's plan to stop Beauden Barrett
Speculation has been brewing in recent weeks whether veteran playmaker Quade Cooper will make a long-awaited return to the test arena against the All Blacks in Perth this week.
It has been four years since the 33-year-old last pulled on the green and gold jersey of Australia, and after Wallabies boss Dave Rennie called Cooper into his Rugby Championship squad as cover for the injured James O’Connor, a return to international rugby is in sight for the experienced pivot.
Whether or not Cooper will actually take to the field at Optus Stadium this weekend remains to be seen, with the likelihood of his 71st test appearance made murky by the fact he could depart the Australian camp as early as next week.
By that point, O’Connor is expected to rejoin the squad when it relocates to Queensland, where he is currently based, for the rest of the Rugby Championship.
The idea of thrusting Cooper into Australia’s match day squad for the final Bledisloe Cup test of the year has been labelled by some as short-sighted, but, should he feature at all, it would make for a tantalising storyline.
Not only for the fact that it would complete one of the unlikeliest test rugby comeback in recent times, but it would also be highly likely – almost certain, in fact – that Cooper would be pitted against Beauden Barrett in a head-to-head battle at No 10.
Barrett has a clear run to the starting All Blacks lineup in his preferred position of first-five after New Zealand head coach Ian Foster left incumbent playmaker Richie Mo’unga at home to attend the arrival of his second child.
Barrett, a two-time World Rugby Player of the Year, is subsequently set for a prolonged spell in the No 10 jersey for the first time since 2018 after having featured predominantly at fullback for the All Blacks in recent seasons.
The 30-year-old has started just once at first-five this season, against Fiji in Dunedin, but has struggled to reclaim his place in New Zealand’s starting team due to Mo’unga’s mercurial rise in form.
However, with New Zealand and Australia’s border restrictions ruling Mo’unga out for an additional two weeks once he eventually travels across the Tasman to link back up with the All Blacks squad, Barrett will have a lengthy run of games to state his case for inclusion in future starting teams.
The first of those auditions begins this weekend, and that, Cooper said, presents a daunting task for the Wallabies, who have already felt the wrath of Mo’unga’s attacking prowess this year and now have ready themselves for an onslaught from Barrett.
“That’s the thing about the All Blacks. You’ve got Richie Mo’unga staying at home for the birth of one of his children, and you have Beaudy come in – two of the best players in the world,” Cooper told media on Tuesday.
Hard to disagree with Beaudy here ? #AllBlackshttps://t.co/zf8b9OCPxJ
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) September 1, 2021
“How do you defend that? It’s one of those things that you can only put so much emphasis on one person and stop them. It’s just more about slowing them down, and the ABs as a whole.
“They’ve been a phenomenal team over the past three games and we’re very much more focused on trying to nail down our stuff.”
Although the Wallabies were, among other things, guilty of poor decision-making and inaccurate at the set piece in their first two defeats to the All Blacks in Auckland last month, Cooper said his team’s focus on improvement is much broader than just fixing specific issues.
He said the development of Australia’s younger, less-experienced players – such as young pivot Noah Lolesio, who has started at No 10 in all of the Wallabies tests this year – is paramount for the overall improvement of Rennie’s side.
“We’ve got a lot of young players, as we spoke about, that have shown some great things over the past few games and the series against the French,” Cooper said.
“So, as long as those guys can continue to grow, everybody in the squad puts their hand up and tries to push each other, then hopefully we’ll be in a great spot.
“But, to answer your question, he [Barrett] is a difficult bloke to be able to contain, and we’ll be trying to slow him down as best we can.”
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The Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
3 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
3 Go to commentsBig 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
3 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 comments