Cooper boxing:

[Hugh Jarse]

.../snip/.... But it's also no secret that this decision is taken to maximise his effectiveness on counter attack. In 2011 over 80% of the Reds tries came from attacking raids that started in their own half (Yes this is a stat I read and no I can't find it now) largely due to us having out most potent attacker defending at 15. .../snip/...

The IRB publish all sorts of stats here FWIW, and its been a while since I opened any of the documents up, but what struck me the last time I glanced through is the quite high % of tries scored by the better performing teams from turn over ball and long range counter attacks. The Reds counterattacking tries % may simply mirror those international trends.

The other thing that sticks in my mind from glancing through the various documents there was the number of tries scored off lineout set pieces. The reasons for this are for debate on another thread.

Lastly, where is Sir Richie? We need someone to hate. In his absence we have been forced to turn on one of our own (OK a reject from over "there" but like all good things originating from there, we'll claim them).

A bloke who managed to alienate most of the NZ public in RWC11 seems to have had an ongoing polarising effect in Wallabydom as well. To some he can do nothing wrong, to others nothing he does will ever not be wrong.

 

[Pfitzy]

Crusaders were masters of counterattack. I'm sure Mr Allen can tell you the details of why it is so effective, if it hadn't been put into article form already.

I don't see commitment from Quade in the contact area. He's upright making tackles, and on the weekend he would always look to offload even when going straight in would have been the best option (e.g. everyone else flat footed). Might be something left over from his younger years? Got hurt in a front-on tackle, or like Kurtley, was so good at stripping the ball he never got out of the habit.

 

[Scoey]

I agree with most of that Pfitzy. His technique is not great but he is certainly not alone here, yet is constantly singled out. I know in his younger years, (ie schoolboy rugby) he loved the contact. The harder the better. I think that your theory on stripping the ball may be closer to the mark and I hadn't thought of that. It's probably fair to criticise his commitment in the contact area at times but I think this is an area that has improved markedly over the past couple of years. Add to that a major knee injury in '11/'12 and I thinksome reluctance in contact could be forgiven. He's faaaar from perfect but looking at him objectively in his current guise; a fair amount of the criticism he cops is dated.

Interestingly, on the counter attack topic, in the 2011 season, the article I read had the Reds at the highest percentage (of tries coming from own half), Saders 2nd with a similar percentage around 80% but there was a fair margin to 3rd place. And no surprise that the top two counter attacking teams were in the final that year.