Cooper's comeback complete. So say Some but IMO let's see how he goes in RC

Wallaby flyhalf Quade Cooper capped a sensational comeback season with a sublime performance in Saturday’s 30-26 win over Wales in Cardiff.

Cooper, 12 months ago, was an international outcast, axed by then coach Robbie Deans after the playmaker labelled the environment in the Wallaby camp as “toxic.”

At the Millennium Stadium on Saturday, Cooper completed his amazing transformation with a man of the match performance to lead Australia to their fourth consecutive victory.

Thriving in his role as vice-captain, Cooper was at his bamboozling best in his 50th Test, pulling the strings and setting up tries with his playmaking prowess.

The 25-year-old admitted even he is surprised by his rise back to the top over the past year.  

"I'm fortunate to have finished the year off like this, it's something I've always worked towards," he told AAP.

"From where I was at a year ago it wouldn't have been possible to think where I would be today, but it proves that hard work and dedication, and sticking with something you love and giving it back to your teammates ... can lead to things."

Cooper was sinbinned for an early tackle with five minutes to go, which put the Wallabies under extreme pressure as Wales pushed for their first win over one of the SANZAR giants since 2008.

But Australia held on through committed defence, character Cooper praised.  

"I was sitting on the sideline so filthy with myself, I didn't want to let the team down," Cooper said.

"But it's a sign of a good team when ... everything is going against us, everybody pulled together and lifted a little bit more."

Similar to Cooper resurgence has been the way the Wallabies finished a tumultuous year that included a1-2 series loss to the British and Irish Lions.

The successful end-of-season tour, which could have been a Grand Slam if not for a second-half slump in the 13-20 tour-opening loss to England at Twickenham, saw Australia end the year with a 6-6 win-loss record.

Cooper felt they built a solid foundation on their European excursion and united as a squad after six players were stood down following an alcohol-fuelled late night in Dublin, which could lead the Wallabies back to the summit of Test rugby.

"I feel this tour has put us ahead of where we thought we would be," Cooper said.

"We've made a lot of things [happen] that we didn't think were possible as a team, in terms of culture.

"Everyone's pulled together tight and we've come out the other side a bigger and better team.

"I know that those things will put us in a position to be the best in the world."

Just-Win

I do not like the idea of assessing performances of players based on one match - least of all one incident in a match.   The people who shout and scream about one incident in a match I call one-incident jerks/junkies.

I look at players over a series and then determine how they perform in the longer run.   Copper now faces two challenges - the 2014 Super 15, the June tests and the RC.   If he passes in all the above - one can really say he is tops as a flyhalf.

There is one problem though - scrummies and flyhalfs struggle behind losing packs and their performances are affected by the quality of balls they get from the forwards.   After brilliant performances last year, the form of both Aaron Smith and Will Genia took a dip  this year.   Australia's forwards did not make the grade this year - and the All Blacks did not have it their way as well.   That effected the performances of the scrummies this year and also had an effect on the flyhalfs.    Cooper could not cope with that problem in the Super 15 series and RC this year and  only the real class of Dan Carter alleviated that problem insofar as the AB's is concerned.

Even though the AB's won all their tests this year - some very narrowly - I think it was more their loosies  that brought it on for them and they struggled with a backline performance that was way weaker than it used to be in the past.  That make it interesting for the future.       

Just_win

Neither Genia nor Smith was in 2013 on the level that that they performed in 2012.  Matter of fact Smith - with rare exceptions - was weak in the Super 15 series as well.

I agree about law interpretation differences by the NH referees - but the problem remains that the AB's play very much on the edge insofar as breakdown ball recovery is concerned and they get penalized more often as a result.

One of the main problem cases in that regard this year was McCaw.   He collected far more penalties this year than he did in the past and I am sure the referees - also the SH ones - watch him, far more than they used to do in the past.  Either that -  or because of some deterioration in performances - he tries to overcome those by illegalities that get penalized.   You probably will argue against that - but I can remember two games where he gave away 7 penalties all on his own.       

 Just_win

I had a look at the penalty count for New Zealand, Australia and South Africa in the recent NH matches (3 each) and used ESPN stats for the purpose.

 Australia

I used the Ireland, Scotland and Wales tests for the relevant purpose.

Penalties against them       -      38

Penalties for them              -       25

Penalties Breakdown

Off-side,, illegal tackles, etc    -      18

Illegal scrumming                  -        3

Breakdown ball recovery        -       17

This was indeed surprising - their scrumming stood up better than either New Zealand or South Africa

New Zealand

I used the France, England and Ireland tests for the relevant purpose.

Penalties against them       -      31

Penalties for them              -      21

Penalties Breakdown

Off-side,, illegal tackles, etc    -        6

Illegal scrumming                  -       12

Breakdown ball recovery        -       13

South Africa

I used the France, Scotland and Wales tests for the relevant purpose.

Penalties against them       -      29

Penalties for them              -      27

Penalties Breakdown

Off-side,, illegal tackles, etc    -       12  

Illegal scrumming                  -       11

Breakdown ball recovery        -         8

I think that SA got less breakdown ball recovery penalties against them - because of the  inability of our loosies to participate in that component of the game.   The 8 penalties here were against Louw, Bismarck and Strauss.

SA have some penalty machines in the backline - the worst is Jacque Fourie with 4 penalties against him 

SUMMARY

The above was a quick summary -  - there may be minor errors in the penalty breakdowns - but I think it is a close call. 

Both the NZ and Australian teams had problems with breakdown ball recovery - hence the high number of penalties for that department of the game.   South Africa is not really competi tive in that component of the game - hence the lesser penalty count.                      

 Just_win

I think that SA got less breakdown ball recovery penalties against them - because of the  inability of our loosies to participate in that component of the game.   The 8 penalties here were against Louw, Bismarck and Strauss.

Ceradyne

You still do not get it - do you?   South Africa is heavily involved in carrying balls on traffic around tight phases of the game,   Another rug 2 meters or so away from the previous ruck and it is not surprising that they retain the ball under such conditions.   The stats provided by you is reflective of that - wit the result that the stats provided by you are misleading.  Whether this type of play really impact on the outcome of the game is also really questionable.

The fact of the matter is that SA is not competent in ball recovery wider out when either an SA player or an opposing player is tackled.  Bar for a very few cases where Bismarck, Strauss or Louw arrives in time to compete for the ball - the recovery is not made by SA loosies or other players and when they are slightly late they get penalized.

The other fact is that Vermeulen rarely makes a proper breakdown ball recovery and Sloth Alberts never gets involved in that component of the game.             

 Ceradyne

Balls as per normal - you poor dunce.    It has everything to do with the way the Springboks play.   You think that the Springboks did not carry the balls in traffic most times and retain possession in the succeeding ruck.  Go and watch the games again and I say that it happened all the times.   Ruck after ruck - with minimal territorial gain.  You take Sloth Alberts ball carries for instance - you will find that his average carry is 1,8 meters in other words tackled by the first opponent and another ruck ensued.   The same  applies to the carries of Bakkies Botha and most of the Springbok forwards.   Minimal territory gain followed by another ruck - ball recovery and same all over again.  

That leads to the scenario where the figures of ruck ball recovery is distorted.   It has nothing to do with turnovers in possess of which there were only a small  .number in the games.

Pine in Ireland

I will discuss the game of rugby with you once you have learnt something about the game itself.   Ignorance on your part leads to shit comments - so I would not discuss anything with you until you know  what is going on.  

Scottish coach Richie Gray will assist South Africa for the rest of the 2013 Test season, the Springboks having hired him as a "breakdown consultant" for The Rugby Championship and their end-of-year tour to Britain and France.

"Richie brings a lot of knowledge on breakdowns and I am confident he will add value," Springboks head coach Heyneke Meyer said. "I have known him for a decade and have always been impressed with his level of dedication when it comes to ruck play. There are between 120 and 160 rucks in every game and last year we saw that it is an area of the game where we can improve vastly. I do think there has been a step up in the way the Springboks played the breakdown this season, but we can definitely improve further."

Gray, 43, has coached at various levels in Scotland and abroad, and is widely regarded as a specialist in breakdown play.

South Africa face Argentina at Soccer City in Soweto on August 17 in the opening round of The Rugby Championship, which also includes New Zealand and Australia.

Scottish coach Richie Gray will assist South Africa for the rest of the 2013 Test season, the Springboks having hired him as a "breakdown consultant" for The Rugby Championship and their end-of-year tour to Britain and France.

"Richie brings a lot of knowledge on breakdowns and I am confident he will add value," Springboks head coach Heyneke Meyer said. "I have known him for a decade and have always been impressed with his level of dedication when it comes to ruck play. There are between 120 and 160 rucks in every game and last year we saw that it is an area of the game where we can improve vastly. I do think there has been a step up in the way the Springboks played the breakdown this season, but we can definitely improve further."

Gray, 43, has coached at various levels in Scotland and abroad, and is widely regarded as a specialist in breakdown play.

South Africa face Argentina at Soccer City in Soweto on August 17 in the opening round of The Rugby Championship, which also includes New Zealand and Australia.

Scottish coach Richie Gray will assist South Africa for the rest of the 2013 Test season, the Springboks having hired him as a "breakdown consultant" for The Rugby Championship and their end-of-year tour to Britain and France.

"Richie brings a lot of knowledge on breakdowns and I am confident he will add value," Springboks head coach Heyneke Meyer said. "I have known him for a decade and have always been impressed with his level of dedication when it comes to ruck play. There are between 120 and 160 rucks in every game and last year we saw that it is an area of the game where we can improve vastly. I do think there has been a step up in the way the Springboks played the breakdown this season, but we can definitely improve further."

Gray, 43, has coached at various levels in Scotland and abroad, and is widely regarded as a specialist in breakdown play.

South Africa face Argentina at Soccer City in Soweto on August 17 in the opening round of The Rugby Championship, which also includes New Zealand and Australia.

 Ceradyne

I checked the stats of the locks and the loosies - being responsible for most of the ball carries in traffic - and also what they did with the balls and how it ended up insofar as the carries are concerned:-

The following were the carries:-

Number of carries   -      111

Meters gained        -       159 meters

Average gain per carry -   1,43 meters

Since there were only a few losses in possession (5)  and a few penalties in that process (3) - the question is what happened to the other 103 carries?   They ended up in ruck situations and the balls were recovered by the Springboks.   And those rucks were virtually all the time - bar 2 - within 2 meters from where the previous ruck was.

Incidentally aside from the 111 ball carries - there were 22 cases where the said forwards did pass the ball.   Most of those were by Louw, Vermeulen and Du Toit - the latter despite very restrictive time on the park.   Sloth Alberts never ever passed ONE ball to another player.

Now look again at your stats that you quoted - they were miles out of reality and totally mixed up - like you n ormally are.     

Sun Tzu

Most of the carries were in the 22 of the opposition with very little to show for it.  In fact of the 6 tries scored during the EOYT none came from the 111 ball carries.   Two came  from driving mauls resulting from line-outs 5 meters out - not really individual carries  - the other 4 were scored by backline players.      

Sun Tzu

Most of the carries were in the 22 of the opposition with very little to show for it.  In fact of the 6 tries scored during the EOYT none came from the 111 ball carries.   Two came  from driving mauls resulting from line-outs 5 meters out - not really individual carries  - the other 4 were scored by backline players.     

Ceradyne

Problem is - I use my eyes - make notes of what happens on the field of play and do not use your methods.  Yours include being a bloody mindless stooge and a one-incident jerk with no idea about the game of rugby. 

Sure there were some improvements - much in the backline with bringing in Le Roux - for the rest there was minor improvement in the loosies - to which Alberts contributed nothing at all.

We played in the June tests against very low-rated teams - yet we struggled against Scotland.   We won - like last year easily at home against the Pumas - but struggle against them away.   The rest of the improvement consist better performances against a struggling Wallaby side which performed badly - and no progress whatsoever against the AB's.   I would say we did not struggle against the Scots in the EOYT.  The wins against France and Wales were not all that convincing . 

Call it overall a 5% improvement - but we are  nowhere near the world beaters we should be. 

Ceradyne

Problem is - I use my eyes - make notes of what happens on the field of play and do not use your methods.  Yours include being a bloody mindless stooge and a one-incident jerk with no idea about the game of rugby.