Tinker, Tailor etc...

question to my fellow posters.....What immediate effect would it have on the Bok backline if  hypothetically overnite Quade Cooper was supplanted as the Bok flyhalf?

We would all become poor men or maybe beggar men.....to fill in your etc. The Qualude could hardly function in our game plan. For one thing, we expect our flyhalf to tackle....we don't rotate him with a hard tackling fullback when 10 channel defence is crucial.

But to be fair, the backline game is so different it's hard to see a succesful backline player transplant from Oz to the Boks. Certainly going the other way, Rathbone, our best young back at the time, never was a fit.

It would be catastrophic. Having two halfbacks (Hougaard and Cooper) who like to run will be too much and too easy to counter. It's very true that the half-backs can attack the seam of the defence, which is it's weakest point, but you can't overdo it. There are a lot of seriously big hitters there that can turn you over very easily. Cooper likes to do too much on his own, and is far too one-dimensional. We would lose our territorial game (which is the platform for your backline!) and would offer little ability to punish opposition mistakes. We'd also have a serious defensive liability.

My thinking as well AristroKat,in a word ......catastrophic. And that is the point, apologies for taking the extreme, sure Paul O'Conner would have been the better or softer option, fact is our backs are not ready for such an enormous change and their thinking would have to be re-modelled if that's physically possible.

Possibly you underestimate wha tour backs may be capable of.

Last year an ordinary Cheetahs side scored some superb tries. Sarel was among the top try scorers in the Super 15.

Now how do you account for that?

This year of course Riaan Viljoen and Sarel are nol onger there and Ashley plays off the bench.  Surely talent laden backlines can do a lot better!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 I would be one happy happy supporter - the guy is pure class. 

In terms of what Cooper could bring to the side? Well, lets take a look at some of his strengths. He is used to a flat backline formation whereby the aim is to fix the opposition 10 and 12 and ensure that they cannot drift easily. That's a basic philosophy of Aussie rugby, it leaves the opposition 13 having to make a quick decision on who he is going to defend. In theory he could benefit having a combo like Habana, Frans and Fourie as well as Lambie/Kirchner playing outside of him. These are players that are much closer to the golden era of Australian rugby giving the required incision. As I say though, Cooper is a one trick pony, and sides like England, Wales, France, Samoa, New Zealand and Ireland have in fact found ways to nullify this game. His accuracy also leaves alot to be desired. His decision making and option taking is also hit-or-miss. He is at his very worst under pressure and becomes totally reckless. He cannot play the territorial battle, which has been a key area of dominance for New Zealand over Australia for many years! I can see why, in theory, Dave would want Cooper. But I also look at the picture as a whole. Nothing is as easy as it seems, the grass always greener on the other side. A more interesting question would be, "How much better would Australia be with Morne"! The answer being quite a lot. We must appreciate what we have whilst we stil have it.

 Ah yeah, I'd retain the ponderous plodder over the electrifying skills of Cooper - bwhaahaaahaaaa

Its like saying I have to have water over beer!!!!!!!!

Ah and Oz would never select Morne - they are not stupid

The problem for Cooper is that he exclusively plays the ball to the line. When you play flat like that you are inviting pressure. Opposition defences have been adept at closing Cooper down with a fast defensive line that not only denies time and space for him to operate, but they also cut off the outside channels thus corraling the inside backs for the slaughter. We saw how Fourie stuffed New Zealand when they operated under this system in their defeat to us last year! Cooper cannot operate under this pressure and lacks the tools to adjust his game. He becomes flustered and, as we saw against Ireland, takes his frustration out on his team-mates. When challenged by a strong New Zealand side willing to hand them the ball but playing them into the wrong areas of the field, Cooper has been exposed for his inability to provide a platform for his side to get back into the game. I noted in 2009 how Barnes guided an Aussie side down to 13 men back into a game they were being trounced in! he gave his side that platform and used every trick in the book to work our defence hard. Morne is that type of player. Never would I ever allow Cooper in my side.

Hahaha Dave you are a loyal fella....but I think this piece from the Guardian makes the necessary point:

"Amid all the gloom Cooper was the subject of good news for Kiwis if only because he had something approaching a shocker against South Africa, just a week before Australia play the All Blacks in the World Cup semi-finals.

His coach came close to admitting as much after the game in which Australia had their backs to the wall for so much of the match it was rarely possible to contemplate the win that sees coach Robbie Deans and Cooper, two New Zealanders, pitted against the country of their birth at Eden Park on Sunday.

"He'd probably concede that," said Deans when asked about his fly-half's flaky performance, which more often than not simply added to the pressure Australia were under."

That's the final nail! Great find there Moz.

 Thats the difference between you guys and I - you would select Morne and I would select Cooper - my side would be ranked in the top 2, your would be sitting at 4 - need I say anymore.

Cooper is pure class and given the way he plays it, mistakes will ensue - I can live with that. One certainty is that my side would never contain an unimaginative 10 who's first instict is to kick the damn ball, give me beer anyday.

"My side would be ranked in the top two" et "mistakes will ensure, I can live with that"

I think you seriously need to rethink that. Those mistakes that you can live with were an enormous liability to his team's cause! At test level, those so called tolerable mistakes are what separate the wheat from the chaff. Attributes I hold in high regard are accuracy, intelligence, composure, fitness and communication. My side would  not be loaded with the flavour of the day; rather a team made up of genuine and carefully selected talent. My side would not be reckless and I do not tolerate mistakes. My previous post on Cooper still stand as fact. If that is a player you would build your team around, then you will win very few serious tests.