Wallabies benefit from centre pairing of Quade Cooper, Digby Ioane
By Wayne Smith
November 09, 2009 Almost by accident - indeed entirely by accident - Wallabies coach Robbie Deans appears to have hit upon the backline combination he has spent the past two years searching for.
Had it not been for the tour-ending injuries suffered by Stirling Mortlock and Berrick Barnes over the past week, the Wallabies would have employed a fairly conventional back division for their spring tour.
Deans confirmed that had Mortlock not torn his calf muscle a second time, preventing him joining the touring party in Dublin as expected, he almost certainly would have been rushed straight into the side against Ireland next Sunday.
But when the deposed Wallabies captain and the tour vice-captain were both ruled out, Deans was forced to roll the dice with Quade Cooper and Digby Ioane as his centres against England at Twickenham and they came up as winners, both individually and as a threatening midfield combination.
Ioane, admittedly, did not represent too much of a gamble at 13. He had played sensationally there for Queensland in the Super 14 earlier this year and, after making a storming return to the Test arena as a right winger against the All Blacks in Tokyo, the chances always were that he would prove a handful for England when moved in one position.
Cooper, however, was another matter. He might have earned seven caps before Sunday but as Deans adroitly remarked, England basically represented his Test debut in the big time. Yet he handled it with all the aplomb of a young Tim Horan and right from the outset provided the Wallabies with a second genuine playmaking option as he alternated with Matt Giteau at first receiver.
The English media was agog that Giteau often was sent wide to cause havoc running onto Cooper's long passes, yet just as often it was Giteau at first receiver probing the defence with darting runs that more than once threatened to slice England wide open.
Although the Wallabies scored only two tries, they could easily have claimed half a dozen and while their finishing needs more work, the exciting thing was how dangerous the new-look backline appeared.
Certainly England hero Jonny Wilkinson was quick to acknowledge what ferocious pressure the Wallabies applied through their attack.
"We spent a long time in our own half and what we were trying to do to relieve that pressure was right, but that pressure kept coming," said Wilkinson. "The Australians did a great job of pinning us down there. And when they were down there they had a lot of possession and the possession they had was going forward, going forward, going forward.
"And when you're a team defending against incredibly quick ball, against guys going forward onto the ball for that long, you'd be a fool to think you could keep a team out forever."
In the end, the England defence did magnificently to restrict the Wallabies to only two tries, although to be fair the try tally should have been considerably higher had the Australians executed better.
Ironically, having wasted so many opportunities during the Tri Nations through their impatience, the Wallabies might have erred on the side of caution close to the tryline, with Ioane, prop Benn Robinson and even captain Rocky Elsom hanging on too long rather than risk 50-50 passes.
Still, Deans should have been delighted that his side finally raised its threat level, especially in the backs.
"Well, they did well today and, yes, we're pleased with the balance,"said Deans, reining in any hint of enthusiasm. "I think it offered us something. But as so often is the case, it's week two that's the key."
Week two, of course, brings arguably the most difficult Test of the Grand Slam tour, against Six Nations champions Ireland, Grand Slam winners themselves.
And where Cooper and Ioane confronted a no-name midfield pairing of Shane Geraghty and Dan Hipkiss, on Sunday in Dublin they will be tested by arguably the greatest centre combination in world rugby, Gordon D'Arcy and Brian O'Driscoll.
"Next week is going to be a good workout," Deans said. But despite the poker face, he must have been hugely relieved to finally notch a win with the Wallabies, only their second in the past eight Tests.
"It's certainly better than the alternative," he quipped, when asked what effect the victory would have on team morale. "Sooner or later, you've got to get up. We're hopeful that we can create a habit. But we go to Croke Park next week against an Irish side that's brimming."
At least the Wallabies will fly to Dublin sure in the knowledge that their defence is back to where it has been virtually throughout the professional era - the best in the world. So well did the entire Australia team defend to keep England tryless that it would be wrong to single out Cooper's defence, except for the fact that that is precisely what England did, funnelling all its early attack straight at him.
"They targeted Quade's channel early on and if they had made headway through there, who knows, they might have kept coming," Deans said.
When that didn't work, they tried every trick in the book, even a couple by Geraghty that aren't to be found in any coaching manual.
"England threw everything at us. They tried width, they tried the short route, they tried to turn us and the boys stood up," he said.
http://www.foxsports.com.au/story/0,...016959,00.html
