Two young players with a modest ten caps between them, both wearing 12 on their backs, played pivotal roles at Twickenham on Saturday. For Quade Cooper it was a day to remember, for Shane Geraghty, though it marked his first start for England, it was a more painful experience.
Not that Geraghty, 23, played poorly but he found, in the international arena, that the time he has in the Guinness Premiership no longer exists. The midfield manoeuvring of England and Australia, though, was an intrigue in itself: the players wearing 10, Jonny Wilkinson and Matt Giteau, spent almost as much time at second receiver as the usual pivotal position of the fly half and Cooper, 21, did more than his experienced colleague to shape the game.
This was part of a plan by Robbie Deans, the Australia head coach, who had spent a month working in camp with an axis of Giteau and Berrick Barnes. When Barnes damaged ankle ligaments in training in Tokyo, Cooper took over the role and, because he has played so much of his rugby at fly half, Deans was happy to offer him many of that position’s routine duties.
None of this surprised England, who knew that Australia would swap their first receiver as circumstances dictated but when the first clearance was entrusted to Cooper, they may have realised that he would be the de facto fly half. “Matt Giteau drove that situation,” Dean said of the player who, though only 27, is the most experienced back in the party with 75 caps.
“Quade is maturing and it shows. He’s worked hard on all aspects of his life and it’s manifesting itself in the team. It’s a matter of using the skill sets to suit.
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“Quade’s a great passer of the ball so is Matt, but it shows the trust we have in Quade and it makes us harder for the opposition to read.” England were looking for something similar with the Wilkinson-Geraghty relationship and Geraghty stepped into the first receiver slot with increasing frequency as the game wore on.
Overall Wilkinson received 34 passes in that role and Geraghty 24, after receiving only one first touch in the first quarter. In the opposing camp, Cooper was first receiver 21 times to Giteau’s 18 but, the first time Australia forced an attacking lineout, the more experienced man stepped in at fly half; the resultant move ended with Australia’s first try, from Will Genia.
In the modern game, plenty of players, apart from the fly half, take up the initial running but, as England attempted to put width in their game, Geraghty had as many opportunities as Wilkinson.
The relationship needs time to mature. Wilkinson was playing for the first time with Danny Care, at scrum half, and Geraghty against a well- structured defence. Geraghty has demonstrated already the confidence and talent of a game-breaker; it did not come on Saturday but Giteau himself exemplifies the possibilities.