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Spiro Zavos | April 21, 2009
JAMES O'CONNOR, a scrawny, brilliant kind of a player, chased after the loose ball, grabbed it and then booted it into the stands. It was fitting that the best player on the field closed out a well-deserved victory for the enterprising Western Force over the lacklustre Waratahs.
Scott Staniforth was awarded the man-of-the-match award, mainly because of his courageous dive for the line to score the Force's second, and match-clinching, try.
But it was O'Connor who provided the sparkle and zest in attack, as well as some steel in defence, that allowed the Force to complete a slam of victories over Australian sides.
He made a pinpoint cut-out pass to put Staniforth in the clear for his dash to the try line. This ability to pass long and accurately while running at pace is a rare skill in Australian rugby. Stephen Larkham had the skill and Matt Giteau has it, and now we have O'Connor.
Towards the end of the match when the Waratahs made a series of charges to try to pull off a victory, O'Connor knocked over Wycliff Palu, skittling him so emphatically that you'd think that he and not Palu had the 30-kilogram weight advantage. But then last season O'Connor, playing his first starting game for the Force, easily handled massive Hurricanes No.12 Ma'a Nonu.
One of the stories within the narrative of the 2009 tournament has been the progress (or lack of progress) of the three wonder-boy backs, Kurtley Beale, Quade Cooper and O'Connor. Cooper and O'Connor were selected for the Wallabies tour at the end of last year.
To my mind, there was an element of warehousing in these selections as Cooper, who was born in New Zealand, was being chased by New Zealand officials and O'Connor, through his family, was eligible to represent Australia, South Africa or New Zealand.
After a promising start this season, Beale has been relegated to the reserves and is being used as an impact player. He has been the victim of the Waratahs' overly defensive and limited game plan, which places an undue emphasis on kicking.
The flaw in Cooper's game has always been his tendency for headless-chook plays. Wallabies coach Robbie Deans was able to harness Cooper's brilliant step and slick passing, getting him to underplay his game until it came time to strike - as he did with a sensational match-winning try against Italy.
Cooper took this form into the early rounds of the Super 14 but against the Lions on Saturday night, as the Reds sank to a "disgraceful" (in the words of coach Phil Mooney) 31-20 defeat, Cooper was back to his worst. The Waratahs' loss to the Force means they go into their bye round with two successive defeats and face the difficult prospect of three matches in South Africa.
The momentum in the race to the finals has shifted to the Chiefs, who have won six successive matches, the Crusaders, with four successive victories, the Blues and the Hurricanes, with two successive wins, and the Brumbies, with three victories on the trot.
The Force have a mathematical chance of making the finals. There is some pessimistic talk about difficulties involved with Australia fielding a fifth Super team.
The achievements of the Force put a lie to this.
Their foundation coach, John Mitchell, is right when he insists, "We are doing some great things for Australian rugby".
Playing the most entertaining rugby of the Australian sides and fostering the prodigious rugby talent of O'Connor are among those great things.
spiro@theroar.com.au
http://www.rugbyheaven.com.au/news/n...079604982.html