Time to test Tuqiri
By David Campese
April 20, 2007 12:00
Article from: The Daily Telegraph
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THE Wallabies need Chris Latham. Unless he recovers from major knee surgery and hits top form in double quick time then Australia's chances of winning the World Cup will be as fruitless as the search to find his replacement at fullback.
Who can Wallaby selectors turn to as a stopgap for the opening three Tests of the season next month against Wales and Fiji, and for the Tri-Nations series to follow?
Drew Mitchell has been playing at No. 15 for the Western Force and continues to blow hot and cold.
The Brumbies have used Julian Huxley and Adam Ashley-Cooper. Huxley would struggle at Test level in my opinion and while Ashley-Cooper has shown promise in the position, the Brumbies have not given him enough time there to press his claims.
Peter Hewat at NSW has struggled with his defence in recent weeks and league convert Clinton Schifcofske has shown in a struggling Reds outfit that he still has a way to go.
Another contender would be Cameron Shepherd at the Force but the Perth franchise has been using him to great effect on the wing.
So who to choose?
I would take a left-field option and hand the jumper to Lote Tuqiri, the only player who can come close to matching the running game Latham gives the Wallabies.
But I would also pick two players with experience at fullback on the wings – Shepherd and Mark Gerrard – so the three of them could rotate at various times.
Tuqiri could fill the fullback spot in attack with Gerrard or Shepherd, who are both long punters of the ball, moving there for set pieces in defence so they can return any opposition kicks.
The only other genuine wing contenders would be Rathbone and Mitchell. Rathbone seems to be battling to find his old pace. It might have something to do with the injuries he's been carrying.
Mitchell is a genuine speedster but I would probably leave him on the bench because he would add nothing to the kicking game of the back three. Given Tuqiri is not great with the boot it would be unwise to risk a second non-kicker.
At outside centre Stirling Mortlock selects himself. The worry there is that Mortlock has been prone to injury in recent seasons. A lot of it can be traced to his fearless and aggressive approach.
But there must also be concerns that Father Time is catching up with him, as it is with other senior players including Stephen Larkham.
Another problem area is inside centre. Berrick Barnes at Queensland is a good young player but he appears to get rattled too easily at this stage of his career.
Gene Fairbanks at the Brumbies is not of international standard and the No. 12 for last year's November Test against Scotland, Scott Staniforth, is not a ball player.
Australia needs another playmaker alongside Larkham at five-eighth so my choice would be Morgan Turinui. He is out injured at the moment and may struggle to get in but he at least has some natural flair about his game, even if coaches seem intent on turning him into a midfield crash-ball runner.
Larkham is another certainty at No. 10. God knows what the Wallabies will do if he gets injured because the next generation have not yet arrived.
Halfback is a no brainer. Matt Giteau has to be there. The selectors would be crazy to go any other way.
George Gregan does not threaten the defence and there is no way any team will win this World Cup unless they have attacking options in every backline position.
Rival sides do not worry about Gregan because they know he will not run the ball and, if he does, lacks the pace to do any serious damage.
Connolly needs to bite the bullet on George because if he leaves him at the scrumbase our World Cup chances will sink even further.
