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Cooper tells Waratahs: you're simple and boring
Greg Growden Chief Rugby Correspondent | March 3, 2009
QUEENSLAND Reds five-eighth Quade Cooper believes the Waratahs are "boring" - and with two of their key Wallabies front-rowers in doubt for Friday night's Super 14 match, NSW's boring-in capabilities are also under question.
There are serious doubts over whether injured Test prop Benn Robinson and Wallabies hooker Adam Freier will be available and NSW are concerned that their absence will affect the team's scrummaging power.
Yet the spark has come from elsewhere, with Cooper yesterday succeeding in firing up the interstate match by arguing that the Reds, the self-proclaimed entertainers of the tournament, will undermine the Waratahs through their flamboyant attacking game.
"We've got a lot of speed out wide, a lot of talent out wide, and we really want to use that," Cooper told Brisbane reporters yesterday. "There's no use trying to play their [NSW] game plan and play a simple, boring style. [NSW] are very much a structured side, so if we can unscramble them a bit and try and pierce through them as much as possible it would disrupt their defensive line.
"They're playing boring, but they're still winning, whereas our three games have been really exciting and we've lost two of them. Winning matters, but you still have to be playing well and I'm very confident with the way our team is playing. I'd like to make this [interstate] game quite an exciting one."
Cooper's comments will aggravate the Waratahs, who are not impressed that they constantly get criticised for playing "ugly" football, even though they sit on top of the Super 14 ladder. But yesterday the Waratahs' main concern was working out who would be packing down in the front row and determining their midfield combination.
Coach Chris Hickey is undecided whether Timana Tahu or Tom Carter will start at inside-centre and may not make a final decision until just before kick-off. The NSW front-rowers are also likely to be bracketed when the team is announced midweek.
Robinson, who suffered a direct hit above his left knee in the Highlanders match last Friday night, will be given until Thursday to prove his fitness.
"It's probably 50-50 at this stage," Hickey said yesterday. "Benn's important, and we'd like to have him there, but we have to wait and see."
If Robinson is unavailable, he will be replaced at loosehead prop by Sydney University's Jeremy Tilse. Freier is troubled by a neck complaint and he missed training yesterday.
"He got jammed in the neck and kept playing last Friday. He's still pretty sore and today he is not real good," Hickey said.
On the Carter/Tahu selection dilemma, Hickey said: "Both players bring something different to the game, and we'll assess that as the week goes on. You can make a strong argument for either player starting."
Hickey was at Suncorp Stadium on Sunday to watch the Reds play mistake-riddled football to beat the Cheetahs.
"The Reds played well, and were unlucky not to score another three tries because of some simple catch-pass things," he said. "They are playing good football and are prepared to chance their hand by being expansive. Quite often when you play that way you get rewarded. We're aware of how they're going to try to play the game against us."
However, the Waratahs are far fitter than the Cheetahs forwards.
"We've been happy with how we've finished in all three games this year," Hickey said. "Fitness is something we take confidence out of."
http://www.rugbyheaven.com.au/news/n...842328904.html
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