Wallabies Broaden Their Horizons In The North
Sydney Morning Herald
Saturday November 29, 2008
With a limited number of players to choose from, the Wallabies have used this northern hemisphere tour to try to broaden their talent base. Greg Growden gauges their success.
FULLBACK No, the Wallabies haven't yet found a Chris Latham, but there are reasonable alternatives. The Wallabies began the season with Cameron Shepherd, but he disappeared through injury. Adam Ashley-Cooper has performed well, but whether he is the long-term man for the position remains to be seen, because coach Robbie Deans continues to show interest in him at No.13. Drew Mitchell also played there, and despite some charged-down kicks against France, looked comfortable. No one has yet made that spot theirs. So, as Deans would say, it remains "a work in progress". WINGS Comfortably overcoming Lote Tuqiri's frequent unavailability shows the richness in wing stocks. Peter Hynes has been the find of the season. Deans saw something in Hynes, and the coach's vision has been rewarded. The Queensland speedster has been as expressive in defence as he has in attack. On the other wing, Mitchell and Digby Ioane have been comprehensive, while at all times the back three have shown excellent understanding. Tuqiri continues to hover. Deans has no worries. CENTRESThe midfield combination is far from set in stone, especially with Berrick Barnes departing the tour early. The Wallabies look best when they have two playmakers in Matt Giteau at No.10 and Barnes at No.12, with Stirling Mortlock outside them. Mortlock excelled when he moved into inside-centre, and that position could prolong his career because, as Deans put it, this tour has shown the Wallabies captain is just getting younger. He may even get to the next World Cup. Timana Tahu, Ryan Cross and Adam Ashley-Cooper were all used, and so there are no problems with quality in this area. Deans is also interested in the Waratahs' Rob Horne - and he could be the next youngster to be elevated to Wallabies squad status. FIVE-EIGHTH One of the most important developments of this tour was that Quade Cooper was given his chance, and took it, turning around the Test against Italy with an audacious midfield snipe that led to his solo match-winning try. Cooper is firmly set as one for the future. Over the past six weeks, Matt Giteau established himself as a premier pivot, being able to back up consistently with composure. Barnes is also hovering, while Kurtley Beale has another season with the Waratahs to show whether he is up to it. The Wallabies seem well placed. HALFBACK This spot remains a worry. While Deans has pledged his full support for Luke Burgess, despite some precarious moments on tour, he is mindful there is not much back at home putting pressure on. Brett Sheehan was selected for the tour as a standby, but is not in the frame. And Josh Holmes, whom Deans is interested in, has still to convince. Deans will give Burgess every chance of becoming a complete halfback - and the signs are there. But if Burgess gets injured, there's no bleedingly obvious alternative. NO.8 They found a good one in Richard Brown on this tour, and Wycliff Palu, despite his injury problems, continues to fire up when required. However, there is not a lot of depth back in Australia. This could become a problem, but in the interim Brown may well make the position his, as he has a touch of the mad dog in him, which many coaches - Deans in particular - love. This has had the desired effect of putting pressure on Palu, and not surprisingly his performances have improved. BREAKAWAYSAustralia continues to produce them in abundance. While George Smith and Phil Waugh are getting towards the end of their careers, David Pocock showed on tour he will play a crucial part in the next Wallabies generation. Pocock may well be the man the next World Cup campaign is shaped around. Like Mortlock, Smith is ageless, and excelled on tour, while Waugh was not so prominent. On the blindside it was not so concrete, with Dean Mumm and Hugh McMeniman doing enough to have roles next season. Having Rocky Elsom around would be spiffing, but they are getting on reasonably well without him. SECOND ROW Just a few months ago, receiving the threat that his Test career may have been at an end when he was overlooked for the South African leg of the Tri Nations, Nathan Sharpe has been a revelation on the European tour. His performance against England was probably his best in the green and gold, and he was similarly involved against the French. Whether he can make it to the next World Cup is debatable, which puts a lot of pressure on James Horwill getting back on the field after missing the tour because of injury. Mark Chisholm fluctuated, while McMeniman was up to the task when played in the second row, but he seems more interested in the back row. This area is not quite settled, and as the Waratahs have discovered in their recent recruitment campaign, there aren't exactly a lot of good second-rowers running around the backstreets of Sydney, or anywhere else. It could become a problem. FRONT ROWThey did quieten the English media critics by excelling at Twickenham. And there were Tests in which there was dramatic improvement, especially against the All Blacks and Italy. But there were disconcerting moments; none more so than when France fragmented them on the way to achieving a penalty try in Paris. So it remains two steps forward, one step back. The personnel is improving. Stephen Moore is now rated one of the best hookers in world rugby, while Benn Robinson has earned the respect of so many. Al Baxter powers on, while Ben Alexander and Sekope Kepu look good back-ups. Yet more props need to be found. The hooking department looks OK, although Tatafu Polota-Nau and Adam Freier, through injury, were under-utilised on the tour. The biggest concern is the departure of forwards coach Michael Foley to NSW after the tour. Foley's input into the Wallabies' forward work has been enormous, and if they don't either continue to get him involved, or don't replace him next season, so much good work will be wasted. If this tour proved anything, it was that Foley must continue to have some role with the Wallabies. Hint, hint, ARU.
© 2008 Sydney Morning Herald
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