THE AUSTRALIAN headlines have concerned those missing from their squad for the Tests against Scotland and Wales, despite Robbie Deans including 14 uncapped players in his 39-man squad. That is almost de rigueur in Wallaby rugby circles.
Australia have talent that dazzles, but that pool of talent lacks depth. Every year new names emerge as Australia work their next generation of talent into the current crop of seasoned regulars. A 6ft 8in former elite rower turned lock with a mere two years of rugby experience?
Big deal; Caderyn Neville’s rise from the lower leagues of Sydney rugby to Super Rugby with the Melbourne Rebels continues, with him now listed in the Wallaby squad.
He has made a spectacular start to his career in a way most uncommon for this position. A cap will come sooner rather than later, but it might not come in the Test against Scotland on Tuesday in Newcastle, New South Wales. He was on Super Rugby duty against the Brumbies last Friday, with the Waratahs playing one day later. The core of the team for the match with Scotland will be chosen from the Western Force and Queensland Reds, both sides inactive that weekend.
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In normal circumstances the likelihood would be that Andy Robinson’s side would come up against the Australian captain James Horwill, but injury last weekend has robbed Deans of his leader and outstanding tight five forward.
No Test side likes losing its captain but when the tight five has such a propensity for struggling, the loss of a leading lock is doubly debilitating. Scotland have a chance to dominate the forward exchanges against what will be a weakened pack.
The captain has joined James O’Connor on the list of June absentees. The loss of the maverick full-back, wing and now fly-half has been compounded by the injury to the even more glittering attacking talent of Kurtley Beale. He was believed to be out for the entire month but recent reports suggest he will be available sooner than that, albeit not for the first two internationals.
Beale, like O’ Connor, was being considered as an option at fly-half. So too was the Brumbies’ impressive playmaker Christian Lealiifano, which brings us full circle to the headline acts that glitter on the surface of the Wallaby pool.
No Australian rugby player has divided opinion more in the past two seasons than Quade Cooper — either a temperamental prima donna or rugby genius, and there’s not much opinion in the neutral ground. Cooper has returned from the ruptured knee ligaments sustained in the third place playoff match with Wales in the World Cup. It summed up the bitter personal disappointment of a tournament where the New Zealanders relished his fall from grace.
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He has played 120 minutes of undistinguished rugby in the past fortnight, but Deans has no other viable alternative at number ten. He will provide an opportunity for Scotland and Wales to attack the Wallabies and cut the link between the outstanding Will Genia and the backs. But, knowing Cooper, he will also be a threat.
Much is made of his physical frailties as a defender but his mental strength and readiness to give it a go no matter what state his game is in is ignored. It does not fit cosily into the Cooper cliché. Considering that the Wallabies see Scotland as the build-up to the first Test against Europe’s finest, Cooper is almost certain to use the match as another stepping stone to full fitness.
With the Western Force and the Reds both enjoying rests, Deans is spoilt for choice when looking for his alternative captain in Horwill’s temporary absence. Genia or the openside flanker David Pocock are the contenders. Both are world class.
There has not been much in the way of “world class” about the way the Australian franchises have performed in Super Rugby. The best Australian team, the Brumbies, are no more than the tournament’s fifth-rated side while the defending champions, the Reds, are back in eighth. The other three sides fill the 11th, 12th and 13th places.
Pat McCabe has been pretty consistent at inside-centre for the Brumbies but doubts remain that he is the answer to the debate surrounding that position. McCabe is tough and Deans sees him as a foil to Cooper, but Berrick Barnes has a wider range of skills and an extra kicking dimension. His excessive kicking is such that Mark Ella, the Wallaby superstar from the 1980s, has called for Waratahs to drop him.
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So there are problems in the midfield but answers in the back row, where Scott Higginbotham continually impresses with his powerful running and his clever handling skills. The strong scrum of a Brumbies team that possesses two of the Australian front row is another bonus, with Stephen Moore and Ben Alexander ever more vital members of the squad in the absence of Horwill.