Understandably, a lot of the talk in the last couple of
weeks both pre and post announcement has been fanatically focused on what the
makeup of the Lions’ touring party will be.
Now that I have fully digested the complexion of the touring group (more
on this maybe later), I have been casting an eye across the other side of the
world, looking at who will most likely be (at this point in time) pulling on a
Green and Gold against the Lions come June 22nd:
Logistics, Logistics,
Logistics…
A lot of the main talk down under has centred on who was and
was not named in the bafflingly titled “Wallaby Logistics Camp”. Rather, it has centred on the fact that a
certain Quade Cooper was not named. Many
people, me included, have got a lot of time for the flair and vision Quade can
provide from fly half for both the Reds and the Aussies. There is no doubting he is a game changer at
any level, but there have been a lot of questions asked about his temperament,
his consistency and his defensive ‘skills’ – in short, he is a polarising
figure. This was not the case for Aussie
coach Robbie Deans however and refreshingly in the modern world of risk averse
rugby, Cooper has been his first choice 10 for a few years now. That was of course until, frustrated at on-going
ARU contract negotiations, mustering all of his well-documented common sense he
decided to take to twitter and declare that he was forced to play boring rugby
and that the Australian
squad was a toxic environment under Deans’ charge.
This has led to Deans understandably not being too eager to
bring him back in to the fold as if nothing has happened. There is also the small matter that Cooper
has only recently returned from fairly major Knee surgery to consider, and there were no
guarantees of either form or a change in attitude upon his return. However, Cooper does appear to have ‘seen the
light’ (or at least been reminded that Lions tours only come along once in a
career) and his form over the past few weeks of Super Rugby have done nothing
but throw more and more weight behind the growing clamour in Australia for his
timely return to the fold (this
cut out pass for the try alone is worthy of his inclusion).
Fancy a Tinny Kurt?
The other big story in Australia at the moment worryingly
enough again centres around one of their key flair players Kurtley Beale, who
unfortunately seems to be having a bit of trouble staying off the pop, and more
pertinently not punching his team mates when he has been on the pop. Beale was recently suspended and ordered to
enter counselling by his ‘team’, the Melbourne Rebels, for admitting
to punching teammates Gareth Delve and Cooper Vuna whilst on tour in South
Africa. A couple of weeks on, and it was
deemed that Beale was ready to return to rugby, and indeed made a try scoring return
to Rebels action off the bench, before being pulled
out of the starting line up once again ahead of the Rebels’ match against the
Blues this week for breaching his agreement to not drink alcohol, and for
not attending a mandatory counselling session.
Matt Burke and Tim Horan gave the impression on their Sunday morning
rugby show ‘The Ruck’ (podcasted onto iTunes every week – well worth a listen)
that Kurtley is essentially homesick and is struggling without his support
network in Sydney since his decision to follow the Dollars to Melbourne. Whilst everyone wishes him all the best in
his recovery process, there is hardly a Lions fan out there who will be sad
that it is now highly unlikely he will be lining up on June 22nd.
Izzy Ready?
The third most talked about flair back (yes, I know, they
have got THREE FLAIR BACKS – You listening Warren?!) in Australian rugby at the
moment is the ridiculously talented Israel ‘Izzy’ Folau. At 24 Years of age, he has already played
Test Rugby League for Australia as well as spending time playing top grade
Aussie Rules Football. Tempted over to
Union by the Waratahs, to say he has hit the ground running would be an
understatement in the same league as saying Alex Ferguson was an above average
manager (my one and only football reference, I promise). Playing at 15 for the ‘Tahs,
he has taken to union as well as you would expect someone who has already shown
the physical attributes, mental adaptability and ball skills to have already
flourished at the top level of two contact sports.
With 7 tries to his name already, the rest of his
stats are no less impressive – he leads Super Rugby in run attempts, run
metres and is top 10 in line breaks, try assists and offloads. Standing at 6 foot 5 and with his background
in Aussie Rules, he is also enabling the ‘Tahs to bring back the now retro
cross field kick, which as a red zone attacking move I massively prefer to the
standard ‘let’s do 20 pick and drives until we knock it on or get called off
our feet’. But anyway, I digress.
Unfortunately I fear his many gifts will not be able to out
sing the refrain of “he’s only played 13 weeks of rugby union” and in as
pressured an environment as a Lions series I think they will go with the likes
of Jesse Mogg, who whilst he lacks test experience, has more Super rugby under
his belt. That is not to say his
selection would not be warranted, either.
He is in superb form for the Brumbies, and comes fully equipped with a
cannon of a left boot, which Folau (oddly considering his Aussie Rules
credentials) does not. Whilst he will remain in the squad, if nothing else to
try and convince him he has a future in Union, I can’t see past him being
at best an impact sub on the bench.
Moving Forwards
This leaves the Aussies in a bit of juxtaposed position from
recent years, namely that their forward pack is settled and looking to be their
current strength whilst their backline, somewhat in turmoil and potentially
shorn of a number of their established stars (James O’Conner suffered a nasty
looking chest injury this weekend as well) looks like the weak link.
In the Waratahs’ hugely
impressive win against the Stormers this week, and indeed in the few weeks previous
Benn Robinson, Sitaleki Timani and Tatafu Polota-Nau were imperious and the
back row of Dave Dennis (brilliantly stereotypical Australian name), Michael Hooper
and Wycliff Palu could well be transplanted wholesale into Gold Jerseys.
Added to this the Aussies can call on the likes of James
Horwill, Saia Fainga’a and James Slipper who are going well for the Reds (who
also feature my potential Aussie Bolter, Ed Quirk). If this wasn’t enough, the Aussie Pack will be
further bolstered by Ben Mowen, Ben Alexander and the Prodigal Son George Smith
who are all starring in the table topping Brumbies team.
The initial 25 man Aussie Squad is to be announced this
Sunday, 19th May, with a further 6 being added a few weeks later
after their super rugby commitments end.
My prediction is that you will find the Aussie starting XV in the 1st
Test will not be a million miles away from this, fitness allowing:
1. Benn Robinson
2. Tatafu Polota-Nau
3. Ben Alexander
4. James Horwill (c)
5. Sitaleki Timani
6. Ben Mowen
7. Michael Hooper
8. Wycliff Palu
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9. Will Genia
10. Quade Cooper
11. Digby Ioane
12. Christian Leali’ifano
13. Adam Ashley-Cooper
14. James O’Connor
15. Jesse Mogg
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