analysis Australia don't fear New Zealand ahead of their semi-final meeting and why should they, asks Neil Drysdale

 

Quade Cooper, who grew up on New Zealand’s North Island, has traces of that pragmatic confidence in his own abilities, but the next few days should prove whether this 23 year-old player is a class act or a clown prince.

As one of the pivotal members of Robbie Deans’ Australia side, who will tackle the hosts in Auckland on Sunday, the man who is booed wherever he ventures in the Land of the Long White Cloud, accepts that he has failed to hit the heights thus far in the competition. Indeed, Cooper has incurred trenchant criticism from a number of former Wallaby greats, including David Campese and Nick Farr-Jones.

Yet his response to his detractors encapsulates the reasons why the All Blacks are concerned about the looming semi-final.

They know, as well as anybody else, that all the pressure and the lofty expectations of their myriad rugby obsessives surrounds the hosts, whereas the Australians, who were defeated by Ireland, and were fortunate to wriggle past South Africa last weekend, can sense that they only need one towering performance to shatter the aspirations of Graham Henry’s much-hyped squad.

It hardly helps, of course, that Deans -- a former New Zealand internationalist and assistant coach of his homeland at the 2003 tournament -- was among the favourites to replace Henry when his squad crashed at the 2007 event.

Four years down the line, he has produced a team which refuses to be deflected by any talk of All Black magic or mystique and, while he has been careful to sing the praises of Richie McCaw and Mils Muliaina, Deans also appreciates that history weighs heavily on these performers, who might have stacked up centuries of caps but have never won the one trophy which really matters.

“There will be a lot of emotion, but we have to deal with it,” was his succinct assessment of the semi-final, a statement which epitomised his deadpan delivery in the face of breathless media interrogation.

On the negative ledger, Australia have not beaten the All Blacks at Eden Park since 1986, their pack has struggled to contain the Irish and South African forwards and it is difficult to envisage New Zealand being so profligate if dominate territory and possession, to the extent the Springboks did.

Yet, on a more positive note, the Wallabies are still in the mix. They have prevailed in spite of Cooper having an awful match in the quarter-final and, while most of this week’s focus has revolved around the flowering of a new golden generation in Wales, it shouldn’t be forgotten that the Australians have their own precocious talents.

Better still from their perspective, they neither fear their hosts, nor are intimidated by them. And why should they be? In the countries’ last three meetings, Australia have triumphed twice, winning 26-24 last year and 25-20 in their most recent confrontation. On the two previous instances when these combatants have locked horns at the World Cup, it was the men in green and gold, who came up trumps, 22-10 in 2003 and 16-6 in 1991.

In David Pocock, they possess a superstar and the suspicion lingers that McCaw, for all the propaganda insisting that his metatarsal injury is not unduly affecting him, will scarcely be relishing going toe-to-toe with Deans’ formidable back-row trio.

It may be the case that they miss the services of a truly Test-class kicker but, then again, with New Zealand down to their third-choice stand-off, the half-back battle could be decisive. Australia have game-breakers in these positions, particularly if Cooper can unleash such menacing runners as James O’Connor, Kurtley Beale and Will Genia.

The crux is that these individuals have struggled to demonstrate their gifts during the past month, but have knuckled down to grinding out results, whether through glimpses of genius from O’Connor and Beale, or the blitzkrieg of juddering tackling which repelled the South Africans.

Despite the anxieties over Cooper, Berrick Barnes, delivered a reminder of why the No.10 is such a dangerous adversary. “He has stepped up this year with the Queensland Reds,” said his team-mate. “He’s won the Tri-Nations, the Super Rugby title and he has kicked crucial goals whenever he needed to.”

In short, he is a proven champion, and he and his colleagues will approach the semi-final with the mentality that if they can secure early points, it will prey on the All Blacks and heighten the tension among their supporters on the periphery.

Yes, they will be underdogs, but not in their own minds. “How we survived I don’t know,” said Barnes, in the wake of their success over South Africa. But survive they did, and you should never rule out the Australians in these situations where it’s as much about perspiration as inspiration.