Time to take yourself back to the end of October. The Wallabies were embarking on a five Test tour of the UK and Europe – ‘another Grand Slam on the offering’ were the weary words we heard again.
There wasn’t a lot of hope. We’d played 10 Tests and only won three of them. The expected saviour, in new coach Ewen McKenzie, seemingly hadn’t fared much better than the much maligned Robbie Deans, only winning twice against the Pumas. But a record thrashing of Argentina and a somewhat positive performance against the All Blacks in Dunedin had provided the Aussie rugby public a much needed boost.
As to the players themselves? Well the new boys were the stars. Ben Mowen and Scott Fardy, a couple of backrowers from the Brumbies, were the leading performers in the early rounds of the GAGR Wallaby Player of the Year.
Others to impress were Waratah whiz Israel Folau and the Reds halves pairing of Will Genia and Quade Cooper. Who will be the GAGR Wallaby Player of the Spring Tour and what impact will that have on the overall Player of the Year winner? Let’s go to the voting.
Match One: v England @ Twickenham, London (2 November)
Australia: Israel Folau, Adam Ashley-Cooper, Tevita Kuridrani, Matt Toomua, Nick Cummins, Quade Cooper, Will Genia, Ben Mowen [C], Michael Hooper, Scott Fardy, James Horwill, Sitaleki Timani, Ben Alexander, Stephen Moore, James Slipper. Replacements: Saia Fainga’a, Benn Robinson, Sekope Kepu, Kane Douglas, Ben McCalman, Bernard Foley, Nick White.
England Mike Brown, Chris Ashton, Joel Tomkins, Billy Twelvetrees, Marland Yarde, Owen Farrell, Lee Dickson, Billy Vunipola, Chris Robshaw [C], Tom Wood, Courtney Lawes, Joe Launchbury, Dan Cole, Tom Youngs, Mako Vunipola. Replacements: Dylan Hartley, Joe Marler, Dave Wilson, Dave Attwood, Ben Morgan, Ben Youngs, Toby Flood.
England 20 (Chris Robshaw try; Owen Farrell try, 2 con, 2 pg) defeated Australia 13 (Matt Toomua try; Quade Cooper conv, 2 pg)
G&GR Points:
3 – Adam Ashley-Cooper
2 – Matt Toomua
1 – Quade Cooper
Match Two: v Italy @ Stadio Olimpico, Turin (9 November)
Australia: Israel Folau, Adam Ashley-Cooper, Tevita Kuridrani, Matt Toomua, Nick Cummins, Quade Cooper, Will Genia, Ben Mowen [C], Michael Hooper, Rob Simmons, James Horwill, Sitaleki Timani, Ben Alexander, Stephen Moore, James Slipper. Replacements: Saia Fainga’a, Benn Robinson, Sekope Kepu, Dave Dennis, Liam Gill, Christian Leali’ifano, Joe Tomane, Nick White.
Italy: Luke McLean, Tommaso Benvenuti, Luca Morisi, Alberto Sgarbi, Leonardo Sarto, Alberto Di Bernardo, Edoardo Gori, Sergio Parisse [C], Robert Barbieri, Alessandro Zanni, Marco Bortolami, Antonio Pavanello, Martin Castrogiovanni, Davide Giazzon, Michele Rizzo. Replacements: Leonardo Ghiraldini, Matias Aguero, Lorenzo Cittadini, Quintin Geldenhuys, Joshua Furno, Tobias Botes, Tommaso Allan, Tommaso Iannone.
Australia 50 (Nick Cummins 2, Ben Mowen, Tevita Kuridrani, Adam Ashley-Cooper, Joe Tomane, Israel Folau tries; Quade Cooper 4 con; Christian Leali’ifano 2 con, pg) defeated Italy 20 (Luke McLean, Lorenzo Cittadini, Tommaso Allan tries; Alberto Di Bernardo conv, pg)
G&GR Points:
3 – Quade Cooper
2 – Nick Cummins
1 – Matt Toomua
Match Three: v Ireland @ Lansdowne Road, Dublin (16 November)
Australia: Israel Folau, Adam Ashley-Cooper, Tevita Kuridrani, Matt Toomua, Nick Cummins, Quade Cooper, Will Genia, Ben Mowen [C], Michael Hooper, Scott Fardy, James Horwill, Rob Simmons, Sekope Kepu, Stephen Moore, James Slipper. Replacements: Tatafu Polota-Nau, Benn Robinson, Paddy Ryan, Sitaleki Timani, Liam Gill, Christian Leali’ifano, Joe Tomane, Nick White.
Ireland: Robert Kearney, Tommy Bowe, Brian O’Driscoll, Luke Marshall, Fergus McFadden, Jonathan Sexton, Eoin Reddan, Jamie Heaslip, Sean O’Brien, Peter O’Mahony, Paul O’Connell [C], Devin Toner, Michael Ross, Rory Best, Cian Healy. Replacements: Sean Cronin, Jack McGrath, Stephen Archer, Kevin McLaughlin, Conor Murray, Ian Madigan, Robbie Henshaw.
Australia 32 (Michael Hooper 2, Nick Cummins tries; Quade Cooper try, 3 con, 2 pg) defeated Ireland 15 (Jonathan Sexton 4 pg; Ian Madigan pg)
G&GR Points:
3 – Stephen Moore
2 – Quade Cooper
1 – Michael Hooper
Match Four: v Scotland @ Murrayfield, Edinburgh (23 November)
Australia: Israel Folau, Joe Tomane, Christian Leali’ifano, Mike Harris, Chris Feauai-Sautia, Quade Cooper, Will Genia, Ben Mowen [C], Michael Hooper, Scott Fardy, James Horwill, Rob Simmons, Sekope Kepu, Stephen Moore, James Slipper. Replacements: Saia Fainga’a, Ben Alexander, Sitaleki Timani, Ben McCalman, Nick White.
Scotland: Sean Maitland, Tommy Seymour, Nick De Luca, Duncan Taylor, Sean Lamont, Duncan Weir, Greig Laidlaw, Dave Denton, Kelly Brown [C], John Beattie, James Hamilton, Grant Gilchrist, Moray Low, Ross Ford, Ryan Grant. Replacements: Pat Macarthur, Alasdair Dickinson, Euan Murray, Jonny Gray, Kieran Low, Chris Cusiter, Max Evans.
Australia 21 (Israel Folau, Chris Feauai-Sautia tries; Christian Leali’ifano con, 3 pg) defeated Scotland 15 (Greig Laidlaw 5 pg)
G&GR Points:
3 – Stephen Moore
2 – Israel Folau
1 – James Horwill
Match Five: v Wales @ Millenium Stadium, Cardiff (30 November)
Australia: Israel Folau, Joe Tomane, Adam Ashley-Cooper, Christian Leali’ifano, Nick Cummins, Quade Cooper, Will Genia, Ben Mowen [C], Michael Hooper, Scott Fardy, James Horwill, Rob Simmons, Sekope Kepu, Stephen Moore, James Slipper. Replacements: Tatafu Polota-Nau, Benn Robinson, Ben Alexander, Kane Douglas, Dave Dennis, Mike Harris, Bernard Foley.
Wales: Leigh Halfpenny, Alex Cuthbert, Owen Williams, Scott Williams, George North, Dan Biggar, Mike Phillips, Toby Felatau, Sam Warburton [C], Dan Lydiate, Ian Evans, Alun Wyn-Jones, Rhodri Jones, Richard Hibbard, Gethin Jenkins. Replacements: Ken Owens, Ryan Bevington, Samson Lee, Justin Tipuric, Rhodri Williams, Rhys Priestland, Liam Williams.
Australia 30 (Israel Folau, Joe Tomane tries; Christian Leali’ifano try, 3 pg, 3 con) defeated Wales 26 (George North 2 tries; Leigh Halfpenny con, 2 pg; Dan Biggar con, pg; Rhys Priestland pg)
G&GR Points:
3 – Michael Hooper
2 – Quade Cooper
1 – Scott Fardy
In what was a promising tour, full of encouraging performances as well as the occasional suspension, we saw a number of players, both new and old, stand up across the Test matches. The table shows how tight it was:
TOTAL
So there you have it. The prodigal son has returned and Quade Cooper finally has shown us that he can reproduce his dazzling Super Rugby form in the Test arena. There was competition there from the old stager, Stephen Moore, but Cooper snared points in every game except for the Scots and it was enough to see him rewarded as our Player of the Tour.
