Did Adam Ashley-Cooper cost Australia the Bledisoe 4 match in Hong Hong?
Basic skills breakdown by Australia give New Zealand the gap they need to steal the match in Hong Kong
On Saturday, the first ever Bledisloe Cup match to be held outside of Australasia was played at Hong Kong stadium. Despite the slippery conditions of the pitch, Australia showed New Zealand that they have closed the gap under the tenure of coach Robbie Deans.
In almost every aspect of play, Australia seemed the more crisp and organized team, playing inspiring, expansive and cohesive rugby. However, one moment of lapsed concentration immediately following the half-time interval sealed the fate for the Wallabies and gave the All Blacks the boost they needed.
Behind 14-9, New Zealand set up the attack inside the Australian 22 meter line and spread the ball wide. The final movement had the two All Black attackers matched with two Wallaby defenders including Adam Ashley Cooper guarding the winger Sitiveni Sivivatu.
Rather than keep his focus on Sivivatu, Cooper committed to the ball carrier who off-loaded to the now unmarked Sivivatu who sprinted over untouched for the score-leveling try.
As my old coach was fond of saying, “basic skills breakdown”. Even school-boys are taught to trust your teammates and hold your line. Decide for yourself by watching the clip below.
(On Nov 4th, 2008 at 1:03 pm)
First, to suggest one player was responsible for a team’s loss is ridiculous. Because all of the events leading up to the moment in the match were not Adam’s fault. He did make the classic mistake of leaving his man but keep in mind he’s only capped single digits.
More than anything it looks to me that a few Aussies were taking a break and didn’t man up quickly enough. The one player taking the pilar position has another player standing directly behind him, in effect doing nothing. He needed to get on that line. I could see why Adam would make the mistake that he did because their was a large gao between him and his inside defender. The wing also came up to late which created the space for the try.
In my opinion, the wing needed to be up a little closer to the gain line with the fullback coming over closer for support. At the end of the try you can see the fullback running over from the far side (he was initially positioned on the other side of the posts). When all you have is forwards lined up on the strong side and your backs on the weak side, that fullback needs to recognize that and move over to that side.
Regardless, I think it’s wrong to suggest one player "cost" his team the match. There’s 15 guys out there that need to work in unison.
(On Nov 4th, 2008 at 1:21 pm)
So if Ashley-Cooper and the outside-center had stopped the attack, do you still think Australia would have lost?
(On Nov 4th, 2008 at 1:53 pm)
That’s impossible to know. They could have stopped that phase of attack and then NZ could’ve scored on the phase. My point is the team collectively got themselves to that point. It’s a team sport, not an individual effort. He made a mistake and a subjective one at that. It’s not like he knocked on a pass for the winning try, that’s a little more clearcut. Aside from that, I saw other breakdowns in defense as stated in the 2nd and 3rd paragraph.
(On Nov 6th, 2008 at 7:56 am)
There’s no "basic skills breakdown" here, perhaps the organisation of the line could have been better, but as soon as the slipped pass from the kiwi 13 beats the hit it’s 2 on 1.
It may look like Sivivatu would have been caught by the cover if forced inside, but I guarantee if he still had the ball he wouldn’t have been.
I have to disagree with your inital question Vic, I don’t think what we’re seeing here is basic skills going wrong, but rather advanced skills being executed brilliantly;
i) draw the defender
ii) slip the pass
AND
iii) continue your run to make sure that the cover can’t get there.
I’m not looking forward to England meeting these two in the next few weeks.
(On Jan 2nd, 2009 at 6:47 pm)
While it’s hard to pin it all on AAC, you’d think a defensive line working well would have ushered that attack into the side-line, with AAC making the final tackle. There were the numbers to stop that. Would love to see the overhead shot. I have an inkling that Hynes committed too early.
Anyhoo, love the site guys, want to swap a link?
(On Jan 2nd, 2009 at 8:53 pm)
sure, e-mail me the details.