Quade Cooper - weak link?

Friday 4 December 2009
Published By: Ben Welch
International Rugby > Australia

Quade Cooper could well have been the weak link in Australia's side this autumn, if statistics are to be believed.

An analysis of each of the Wallabies' games was conducted by Scott of Green and Gold Rugby and he found that Cooper missed 12 tackles over the course of the tour.

That's plenty more than the seven of Digby Ioane, who was the only other member of the squad to let more than five tackles through.

What was meant to be an historic grand slam tour has been dubbed a "grand shame", although Scott observed that it could very easily have been different.

Just one more point against Ireland and two more against Scotland would have done the trick so perhaps describing the trip as a complete waste of time is a little harsh.

Meanwhile, Green and Gold Rugby readers have named George Smith as their player of the year, with the flanker just pipping young prop Benn Robinson to the post.