AUSTRALIA LOOK SET to field a much-changed back line in their Rugby World Cup semi-final with New Zealand on Saturday, with coach Robbie Deans hinting that he’d even go so far as to consider moving Quade Cooper to full-back.
The likely failure of first-choice No15 Kurtley Beale to recover from the recurrence of a hamstring strain suffered during last weekend’s quarter-final clash with Tri-Nations rivals South Africa has complicated the Wallabies selection process.
The most logical option available to Deans would entail moving either Adam Ashley-Cooper or James O’Connor to full-back, but the struggles of Quade Cooper, when considered oppostite the consistency of Berrick Barnes, offer a less orthodox alternative.
Cooper looked particulary unsettled against the Springboks, making a number of handling errors in possession, but is used to defending from the full-back position. Asked if he’d consider allowing Cooper to replace Beale and moving Barnes to five-eighth, Deans told Fox Sports Australia that there were “a number of possibilities.”
The Kiwi didn’t shy away from noting Cooper’s failures, but claimed he was confident in the 23-year-old’s ability to bounce back.
“He’s a pretty resilient character. Clearly he wouldn’t have been happy with his performance, but everybody made mistakes…“Some of our best made mistakes, but collectively they worked their way through it.”
The Wallabies take to the field against the All Blacks at 9am on Sunday.
It wouldn’t be a huge surprise to see the Wallabies do something out of the ordinary in an effort to beat the All-Blacks on home soil and win for the first time at Eden Park since 1986. In fact, they may just have to. Given that Carter is out of the All Blacks set-up, and given that either Aaron Cruden or Stephen Donald is likely to be handed the no. 10 jersey, the game will be won and lost by two key inter-related factors:
1. The ability of the loose forwards to secure dirty ball. In this respect there are 3 key men: Richie McCaw, David Pocock and Craig Joubert. The latter will have to police carefully the breakdown and restrict the options for illegality and ball-slowing that both no. 7s bring to the table. McCaw is fractionally better in the those two aspects, while Pocock’s abilities are more in securing previously considered impossible ball.
2. Other loose forwards (and perhaps both inside centres) will have to put pressure on both half-backs. Neither Weepu nor Genia can be allowed any real latitude – especially the latter, given the frailties exposed in the All Black’s scramble defence by Argentina last Sunday.
In the end, it will probably come down to kicking. In that respect the battle between James O’Connor and Weepu/Donald (when he does make an appearance, and with the harrowing memories of Hong Kong 2009 in the back of his mind) will be fascinating.