'Tacklebags' ready to run over Canada
I hope Drew tears down the house....Connolly completely underrates him...he seems to have something against him IMHO :mad:
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'Tacklebags' ready to run over Canada
From Wayne Smith in Bordeaux, France
September 29, 2007
AUSTRALIA coach John Connolly has promised the team's Mr Fixit, Adam Ashley-Cooper, that he will not be disadvantaged in his battle with Drew Mitchell for the left wing position by being forced to play at inside centre against Canada in Bordeaux tonight.
Ashley-Cooper's number of Test caps has just nudged into double figures, but he will find himself playing in a fourth position tonight after intermittent appearances on the wing, at full back and outside centre.
Mitchell has taken full advantage of his rival's toe injury, to post two tries against Japan, a performance against Wales that fluctuated from brilliant to bad, and then a much steadier showing for a further three tries against Fiji last weekend. Remarkably, he now is the Rugby World Cup's joint leading try scorer.
But try tallies are about the last gauge Connolly will use to evaluate Mitchell's performance, with the Wallabies coach spelling out again yesterday what he wants from his fast but flawed wing against the combative Canadians.
"He just has to keep improving and cut down on the errors," Connolly said. "But he has shown he can learn from his mistakes. "In his first game for (Western Force) this year, he turned over the ball five times in contact. He went away and worked on that and did not lose the ball once in the next 45 contacts." (What has Mitchell done wrong in the World Cup that Coops hasn't? From memory Coops has made some pretty shocking mistakes...i'm thinking domestic season South Africa for a start!)
In Connolly's mind, however, Ashley-Cooper remains the incumbent left wing, even though he has had only one Test outing there, against Japan, since the return Tri-Nations fixture against South Africa in Sydney. "He has been mucked about in his career, there is no doubt about that," Connolly said.
"As for the contest between him and Drew, you've got to set out some markers. Current form is important but we also have very clear memories of what he did against the All Blacks at the MCG (where he scored the match-turning try). So he's not going to suffer. The problem he has is if someone like Drew comes in and tears the house down."
This is a difficult match to analyse, and not just because the Canadians, homeward-bound after this Test, play a abrasive, in-your-face game that could take some countering.
Test veteran Stephen Larkham was to have captained the Wallabies until his knee injury and subsequent infection.
Every member of the Wallabies squad who has seen little game time in the tournament has been given a start, save for third-string hooker Sean Hardman, who will come off the bench to replace Adam Freier.
No.8 Stephen Hoiles has to accept that his role is to bring his linking skills to the table once the more explosive Wycliff Palu and David Lyons have made their opening statements.
On one hand, there is enormous pent-up energy and frustration just waiting to be unleashed, and the "tacklebag" Wallabies could cut loose if the Maple Leafs are not on their guard - just as a corresponding Australia side did at the previous Rugby World Cup, dumping 142 points on Namibia without a single point in reply.
On the other, there is the example of the Springboks' recent nightmare against Tonga, in whch the dirt-trackers had accumulated so much rust that even the late injection of the Test regulars almost didn't save South Africa from a humiliating defeat.
Connolly has little doubt it will be the first scenario that is enacted at the Stade Chaban-Delmas tonight. "These guys have a point to prove and they're in a good enough frame of mind to play well," he said. "I expect they will hit the ground running."
Vice-captain Nathan Sharpe predicted that Canada would feel the full impact of a lot of frustrated ambition. "Whilst there might be some rust in terms of skill execution, the energy will be going through the roof," the veteran second row said.
The Australia
