Ashley-Cooper will be a Waratah

[fatprop]

Ashley-Cooper could be a Waratah

Iain Payten
From: The Daily Telegraph
March 24, 2011 12:00AM

BRUMBIES legend Stephen Larkham has backed Adam Ashley-Cooper to bounce back to form against NSW on Saturday night but speculation is mounting the star centre will follow it up by joining the Waratahs.

Ashley-Cooper has indicated he will make a decision on his provincial future after the match, having signed with the Australian Rugby Union until the end of 2012 but been granted extra time to decide between the Brumbies and the Waratahs.

Initial confidence in Canberra that Ashley-Cooper would stay seems to be slipping, with the Brumbies camp now rating it more a "50-50" call that the Wallabies centre will move to be closer to his partner in Sydney.

The Brumbies appear to have more certainty on the coaching front after boss Andrew Fagan recently flew to South Africa to meet Jake White, although Ashley-Cooper remains unhappy he was singled out over the axing of Andy Friend.

"He contributes so much on and off the field, he has a great social nature," Larkham said. "Obviously at the Brumbies we'd love to have him stay but I guess if he moved on we'd have to live without him."

Despite being one of the first Wallabies picked, Ashley-Cooper's struggle to exhibit the same class in recent seasons at Super Rugby level has continued this year.

Larkham said a failure of the Brumbies' attacking shapes had seen Ashley-Cooper too often caught working in tight, and not getting the ball in space where his free-running talent is lethal.

"We are trying to free him up, we have spoken a lot about it," Larkham said. "If we can get through the patterns we want to get through as a team, we are confident he will be given more time and space to use his speed, footwork and that strong fend."

Larkham said while they'd "certainly thought about" moving Ashley-Cooper back to fullback, he was likely to stay at No. 13 to play against NSW.

The Brumbies will name their side today, with Matt Giteau tipped to move back to inside centre and either Matt To'omua or Christian Lealifano at No. 10.

The Waratahs will give star hooker Tatafu Polota-Nau until the 11th hour on Saturday night to prove his fitness after returning from a knee injury. Polota-Nau and captain Phil Waugh were named in a 24-man squad yesterday, with Jeremy Tilse also added for the injured Benn Robinson.

 

[Hawko]

My initial thoughts are that this would be good for the Tahs and would mean the end of Cross. A couple of the up-and-comers at the Tahs like Pakalani, BKH, Kingston and Woodhouse would probably want to move to other provinces though as it is getting very crowded in the outside backs. Basically you could run a six man rotation around five positions and not lose anything at all. If there's an injury then you are basically bringing in a top class Super player to fill the gap. You don't have a problem till the semi's and then its just "who is playing best?"

 

[Dunnman]

Is his partner a man or a woman.....

 

[Lee Grant]

Who cares?

 

[Sandpit Fan]

Is his partner a man or a woman.....

Curious question, given the thread titles you have kicked off recently..:nta:

 

[Lachlan]

Please Dunmann.. for the good of us all - just admit it. If you were openly gay and comfortable with it we'd all be able to take things your saying at face value and glean some humour out of them. Being in your current state of denial just makes everything you say weird, creepy and questionable. Come on champ, there's no judgement here...

 

[ChargerWA]

Anyhoo...... AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) will become a Tah. If he was going to stay a Brumby they would have announced it this week. All this "He will make his decision after the game" only makes sense if he has chosen to become a Tah. Otherwise they would come out with it and give the Brums a boost for this game.

 

[daz]

AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) to end the Super Rugby career of Cross?

Looks like the Tahs may have a win-win here.

 

[Sully]

I read this morning he is being touted as a 12. So ending the career of Tom Carter.

 

[Dunnman]

I thought my question was a fair question.

Given the context.... The word "partner" was used. A common word for those in the gay community to describe their significant others. Sydney is the gay capital of Australia as well.

I get accused of being gay.... but when every post I make people are jumping all over me.

Anyway, as you were gentlemen.

 

[Godfrey]

If you were honestly not implying any negativity it is a fair question.

However partner is also used when someone is not married nor in a de-facto living arrangement but still has a long-term relationship. It is also used to remove the separation between hetero and homo relationships, not really to reinforce it.

Also his partner is a girl.

 

[cyclopath]

I thought my question was a fair question.

Given the context.... The word "partner" was used. A common word for those in the gay community to describe their significant others. Sydney is the gay capital of Australia as well.

I get accused of being gay.... but when every post I make people are jumping all over me.

Anyway, as you were gentlemen.

Well, it had been fairly well publicised in the media that his partner is a girl, and exactly who she is, so your question seemed a little troll-like at first glance. But fair enough if you did not know.

 

[Slim 293]

I read this morning he is being touted as a 12. So ending the career of Tom Carter.

I read that too.

Just adds to the ridiculous nature of the move.

Inside centre is not his best position.

 

[waratahjesus]

I read this morning he is being touted as a 12. So ending the career of Tom Carter.

maybe he wants a challenge, if so, trying to take a starting jersey off tommy rockabilly carter is certainly the biggest challenge in australian rugby.

 

[Reddy!]

I don't mind the move as long as he is recruited to play one position. He is still a stop-gap solution at the Brumbies and perhaps that is a reason for his move. Anyway, the move won't have much impact on this year, and for the Wallabies.

 

[Brumby Jack]

I suspect a decision could be made tomorrow and the announcement to be made on Wednesday.

 

[fatprop]

I read that too.

Just adds to the ridiculous nature of the move.

Inside centre is not his best position.

No more ridiculous than how he has been shunted around at the Brumbies, just where do the Brumbies think is his best position?

 

[qwerty51]

AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) could be fullback cover. I see Kurtley eventually end up as the 10.

 

[Slim 293]

No more ridiculous than how he has been shunted around at the Brumbies, just where do the Brumbies think is his best position?

Obviously outside centre... he moved to fullback to cover injuries...

The Brumbies have really been following Deans lead and accommodating AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) to where his Wallaby aspirations are...

Outside centre this year... fullback last year...

His versatile nature does mean though that he occasionally gets shifted when there are injuries... and I suspect that this would be no more different at the Tahs...

But I don't think it's in his best interest to be recruited as an inside centre...

 

[fatprop]

Last year he was stuck on the wing as well .................... which was stupid