Four 'orrible Quaalude blunders sink Oz in Vegas

Up three tries at the half, the Aussies made their usual mistake of relying on Quade Cooper. But four awful Cooper incidents blew their chances:
1 First he was simply gassed by the Fijian 10 despite having a good angle to make the tackle....is he really fast enough for sevens.
2 Next with the wind blowing the ball away from him, he makes an abortive fly kick at the ball....Fiji recover and score directly
3 Then with Oz deep in the Fijian 22, the Qualude, pink shoes and all, attempts to fake his way over the line....is stripped....Fiji go directly 100 metres to score

4 Finally with the ball on the Fijian 22 and plenty of time to work the ball in...Quaalude tries to throw a hero pass, which goes 2 metres forward....game over.
The fact that people on this Board still think Captain Calamity Quaalude is a star player is beyond belief.

           

 

Two critical Quade Cooper errors have helped Fiji to a 21-15 victory in the final of the Las Vegas World Series Sevens.

Australia started the match brilliantly, depriving Fiji of possession and racking up three unanswered tries in the first six minutes.

Fiji looked to respond immediately, making two threatening forays into Australian territory in the remainder of the first half. Some terrific, desperate defence from the Thunderbolts kept the Flying Fijians at bay, and at half-time Australia’s three unconverted tries were the only points of the match.

Those three missed conversions, made very difficult by a remarkably strong wind which blew for the entirety of the game, would come back to haunt Australia as the match wore on.

After forcing an Australian knock-on just shy of the tryline in the opening seconds of the second half, Fiji broke from the ensuing to open their account for the match, Kitione Taliga scoring under the posts with his first touch of the game.

Taliga was in the thick of it moments later, again breaking downfield after a number of long passes from Australia were blown off course by the wind to hand possession to Fiji.

With Fiji converting both of their tries it was just a one-point game, but Australia had an excellent chance to respond soon after. Some good work to get the ball upfield gave Cooper an opening, but he was stripped of the ball just metres short of the line. Fiji spread the ball wide, not caring for the danger posed by doing so inside their own in-goal area, allowing Savenaca Rawaca to go the length of the field to score the decisive try.

A penalty late in the game gave Australia the perfect position to claim a last-gasp win, but Cooper’s long pass went forward to hand possession back to Fiji with ten seconds left on the clock.

And there are still those on this site that think Cooper is a great player.....another Dave class act he just can't disavow.  

Cooper is a fantastic player......my kind of rugby player.....brimming with talent and free spirit  

 Now there is something we can agree on....he is your kind of player.....your kind of man.

Yep the winning kind unlike the kind of player you and the likes of Meyer would select to win you games.
Jaco Kriel for me....Louw for you and Meyer
Faf de Klerk for me.....du Preez or Pienaar for you and Meyer
Jantjies for me.....Morne for you and Meyer
Matfield aged 38 for you and Meyer.....Lood or PSDT for me
Jean for you and Meyer .....de Allende or Serf for me 

 For the RWC....absolutely. Of course these older players are not forever. Of your replacements I would say this:
1 Kriel is very dynamic in the CC and Super Rugby pool matches. Whether a 100 kg player can make it at test level is dubious.
2 Faf is a fabulous old style scrumhalf, who has to improve his tactical kicking. His service is urgent and accurate. He should be in the mix.
3 Its easy to assume Jantjies won't flop again, but chokers tend to choke again when pressure is applied. I believe his kicking against the Chiefs showed signs of that.
4 Lood has had good tests, but he is really a 4 and Eben is better. Stephanie will struggle against the tougher packs and his lineout is a work in progress.
5 Step is no test Centre....a precocious junior who doesn't have the weapons to succeed at senior level. Allende is hard to bring down....but he needs to do things at pace to be dangerous. That can probably be coached.

"Yep the winning kind...." Therein lies the problem....what ekzekerley has he won??