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.
- came across Dave Farrar’s account of the 92 tale in The Blizzard #1 few hours after above piece, recommending that magazine highly (http://www.theblizzard.co.uk/product/issue-one-digital-download/)
Every fan and witness to the 84 and 86 campaigns are left wondering and regretting what might have been. Despite the so-called “folksy, light-hearted Danish attitude” they did beat England at Wembley, Eire at Landsdown, Italy, USSR, Germany but alas never Spain. Plenty of talent, national and UEFA cup champions in the squad and the 1977 EU footballer of the year Allan Simonsen. Hard to imagine Denmark will ever produce a better forward duo than Elkjær and Laudrup.
1992 was a freak summer in a competition with only 8 teams and before no-playback-to-keeper rule was added. Brian Laudrup was in the squad btw (Michael wasn’t, apparently he watched the final on TV at Jan Mølby’s wedding…).