Gatland Test plans take shape
The Queensland Reds, to their credit, came to play but the brittleness of their set-piece meant that a victory was always likely to be beyond them.
From Warren Gatland’s perspective this was the contest he has been chasing since setting out on tour, with the pace and intensity the Reds brought to the opening quarter more in line with what the Lions can expect in the Test series than anything experienced in the opening games.
The downside — and one that was always likely to happen — were the injuries to key players. It has proved a bad few days for the tour loose head props with Ireland’s miserable season on that front continuing with the loss of Cian Healy. At least he had some consolation with that questionable-looking citing for biting proving to be totally unfounded. With Healy gone the unexpected loss of experienced double Lion Gethin Jenkins, even before he got to sample any game time, was very unfortunate. However the silver lining comes in the outstanding form of 22- year-old Mako Vunipola who has had an explosive start to the tour with another fine showing on Saturday.
The Irish injury jinx was extended further with Tommy Bowe’s tour coming to a shattering halt after breaking his hand early in the second half. Like Healy, I was certain Bowe would make the test side and his fine showing in the opening half at Suncorp, typified by one fabulous break out of defence that almost led to an outstanding try for Alex Cuthbert, would surely have cemented his place. Ireland’s contribution to the make up of the test side has suffered a twin blow even before the doubts surrounding Rob Kearney’s hamstring have been satisfied.
At least a measure of consolation can be drawn from the call-up of Simon Zebo. His continuing development will be accelerated even further just by his inclusion in that Lions party.
Cuthbert could now be the likely beneficiary of Bowe’s misfortune but he has nowhere near the same game appreciation, footballing instinct and work-rate of the Ulster man. While he is an outstanding finisher, his defence was suspect on more than one occasion on Saturday, a point of weakness that will not have gone unnoticed in the Wallaby camp.
In so many ways this game summarised the current state of Australian rugby with a misfiring scrum and lineout unable to provide any decent or consistent possession to a very dangerous looking back line.
Australia’s paucity on the goal kicking front was also highlighted once again with Quade Cooper and Michael Harris both guilty of missing two very straight forward efforts from the boot.
Contrast that with 16 successful kicks on the trot in two successive games from 11 from 11 by the outstanding Leigh Halfpenny against the Force and five more from an improving Owen Farrell in Brisbane. That type of consistency is invaluable entering a test series of this nature.
Luke Morahan’s superb individual opening try for the Reds served to remind us however of the individual creative brilliance of Australian back play and their ability to score out of nothing. I will be very surprised if that effort fails to secure him one of the six additional places in the Australian squad set to be announced by Robbie Deans tomorrow.
The big question on everyone’s lips is whether or not Cooper will make that list. On Saturday’s showing it is easy to see why he has divided opinion so much, right across Australia. He excites and infuriates in equal measure. If you are a coach that likes structure, as Deans definitely is, then Cooper is not your man. He plays off the cuff and is capable of opening up even the most organised of defences with a brilliant sleight of hand. On the flip side, his defence is poor, he often runs down blind alleys and he is capable of some blundering mistakes. His understanding with Will Genia, a certain starter for Deans at scrum-half, is outstanding but his lack of game management is a worry.
Deans’ favoured alternative James O’Connor is totally unproven as a test out-half having won the vast majority of his caps elsewhere in the back line. Deans’ selections will tell us much but to compete in this series, the Wallabies need players with an x-factor and Cooper is certainly one of those. Suffice to say, the Lions would be quite happy to see him excluded from Deans’ plans, which looks increasingly likely at this stage.
What Saturday taught Gatland is that his set-piece, regardless of the varying combinations used to date, is very strong and that will allow his big physical backline the go forward ball he craves.
What will disappoint him again after this most recent outing was his side’s defensive frailty around the breakdown. Queensland were offered far too much scope there and that will have to improve.
The big concern now is that with the vast majority of the test side being rested against the Brumbies in Canberra on the Tuesday before the first test, the Waratahs game Saturday offers the last chance for those players to sample anything like the intensity that the Wallabies will play at. Some of the Lions appeared off the pace when the Reds pressed the accelerator in that opening half but conditions dictated that the pace would drop after the break.
Deans will have noted that and will plan accordingly. That said it is very difficult to control the tempo of a game if you don’t have the ball and the power of the Lions forward unit means that Australia will have to plan for doing an awful lot of defending. The route to winning this fascinating series is already beginning to take shape.
