WALLABIES coach Michael Cheika has thrown down the gauntlet to controversial playmaker Quade Cooper, naming him at fly-half for tomorrow’s Bledisloe Cup decider at Eden Park.
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The big gleaming symbol of trans-Tasman rugby supremacy hasn’t resided in Australia since they coughed it up to John Mitchell’s All Blacks in 2003, but after outplaying the All Blacks at the Olympic Stadium last Saturday, Michael Cheika’s men are now just 80 minutes from breaking a 13-year tenure.
The rangy Vito’s inclusion on the blindside of the scrum was something of a surprise by coach Steve Hansen, though he had promised all of his players a chance to push their World Cup credentials in the five Tests before the global showpiece.
After dismantling the Wallabies 41-13 to retain the Bledisloe Cup for a 13th straight year and protect fortress Eden Park, the All Blacks will arrive in England next month favourites to become the first nation to defend the Webb Ellis crown.
“Not too many guys get through their career without getting badly injured”, Hansen said.
“I’ve been quite open about the fact that they’re coming, he and Foley are coming [to the World Cup]”.
“I really want to be trying to go out and train as hard as I can so I can play well on Saturday”, McCaw told a news conference on Friday.
Carter had been in the spotlight for his display in the All Blacks’ 27-19 defeat in Sydney seven days earlier and he responded in style.
“I’ve had some great memories playing in New Zealand and especially at Eden Park”, Carter said. He is quite appropriately now the most capped global player of all time and we celebrate that achievement with him. “We asked the boys who were against us to put a bit of pressure on because that’s what we’re going to get (from Australia)”, he said.
A group of senior All Blacks including Richie McCaw and Dan Carter share their thoughts after their final match in New Zealand.
“It’s fantastic isn’t it?” said Hansen of McCaw’s impending Test record.
“Those men have all given a huge amount over the years and I think a lot of the success has come from their talents”.
“The thing that I marvel at is the quality of the performance week in, week out”.
“The vast majority of the 142 Tests he has started and played 80 minutes, always giving 100 per cent and with a winning record that is nearly unbelievable. To be able to do that is pretty remarkable; extraordinary really”.
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But it did little to stem the All Blacks’ tide, with Ben Smith and Nehe Milner-Skudder combining to put Aaron Smith on a run to the line where he was felled three metres short by Cooper, who ended up in the sin-bin. Down in what amounts to the gutters of the game, on the ground at breakdowns, the All Blacks were more than happy to slog it out in the grime, and the improvement in the team’s fortunes largely stemmed from that fact.
