Wallabies legend David Campese has criticised Quade Cooper’s chancy style of play and his ability to stand up under pressure as Australia’s Rugby World Cup 2011 campaign teeters on the brink.
Campese blamed a lack of leadership and teamwork for the 15-6 World Cup loss to Ireland last Saturday and the exhilarating Cooper was at the heart of his concerns.
“They thought it was going to be a lot easier than it was. Quade Cooper, I don’t know. I don’t know what he’s doing – every time he got (the ball) the crowd booed him. These flick passes, they work for Sonny Bill Williams, but it doesn’t work for certain people,” Campese told New Zealand’s Radio Sport.
“Under pressure, you want people in positions that can control the game and be smart about it. These guys weren’t smart at all.”
The unpredictable Cooper needs to get back to basics to put the Wallabies back on track, according to Campese.
“People have got to realise that I was a winger, so I was the last man on the line to try things,” he said.
“He’s a playmaker so he’s getting the ball all the time. I don’t think he understands the position sometimes, he thinks he can do a lot of things and he’s got to realise a No.10 normally is the big go-to man.
“When you’re under pressure you get the ball and kick it down touch like Dan Carter does. On the weekend I was watching and Cooper got the ball and just wanted to try everything himself. You can’t win a World Cup if you play like individuals, you’ve got to play as a team. Unfortunately the Wallabies on Saturday didn’t look like a team.”
Leadership, too, was lacking in Robbie Deans’s side and the coach wasn’t spared in Campese’s honest assessment.
He also rubbished suggestions that the Wallabies would need to temper their game plan to suit difficult conditions inNew Zealand.
“You’ve got a Kiwi coach, Robbie Deans, coaching them – so he should know what the weather’s like.
“He should understand the conditions and the way it’s played. And that was his 50th game forAustralia, so it’s not going to be a memorable day for him.
“The players obviously aren’t listening, or he’s not giving them the right advice.”
Deans now has an unenviable win-loss record (28 wins, 21 losses, and one draw), including losses toSamoa,ScotlandandIreland.
“I suppose the unfortunate thing for the Wallabies is we’ve got him until 2013,” Campese said.
“John O’Neill in his wisdom signed him up, so what happens if we go out in the quarter-finals? We’re stuck with the guy for another couple of years.”
by Buford Balony
