Lucky Sithole
Match after match, the Wallabies have bravely taken the game to the All Blacks, trying to beat them at their own game. This has been going on for years. They try to play the so-called expansive game that New Zealand have mastered – and match after match they have been humbled.
And they plan on playing that same game against the Springboks.
It is said that true faith is repeating the same action over and over and hoping for a different outcome.
The return of Quade Cooper at fly half is being hailed as an indication of Australia’s intent to “run the Boks ragged,” but everybody knows Cooper is not back in the team for strategic reasons. He is there because James O’Conner is not available and Noah Lolesio is injured.
Run ragged, hey?
And while Cooper is so unpredictable that the opponents often don’t know what he is going to do, most of the time his own team members don’t know either.
At best Cooper is a talented rugby player, not a miracle worker.
Firstly he will have to deal with Faf de Klerk’s ability to be in the face of any flyhalf. Then he will have to navigate Handre Pollard, whom we all know is no wimp when it comes to tackling and breaking the line.
And if Cooper can somehow overcome the two halfbacks, here’s the biggest question of all: how is he going to get the ball to his centres past Lukhanyo Am and Damian de Allende? You don’t know? Neither does Cooper. You want more? Here’s more. If he hesitates for one second, he will have Springbok loose forwards (such as Duane Vermeulen) swarming all over him.
And if these physical challenges are not enough, billing Cooper as the man who must provide the flair, is an error. As a young player, Cooper had the moves, until it became his job to dazzle the opposition (and the crowd) and then he failed. Quade Cooper, a man with unquestioned guts, is known to make mistakes when it matters most.
With clenched teeth, Lucky expects the Boks to win by about 12 points.
Image source: @worldrugby
