Cornelsen gets a real kick out of Wallabies' return to running game
Sydney Morning Herald
Friday September 11, 2009
Former Test forward Greg Cornelsen says Australia are up and away, writes Phil Wilkins. He was a face in the crowd of 40,000. A big man with wire in his hair. The man who shoved the ball under his jumper for the matchwinning try at Millner Field and later scored four tries in a Test against New Zealand at Eden Park.Greg Cornelsen's actions of the 1970s are rugby union achievements for all time. An immortal of the game, alive and well at 57, he watched Australia's 21-6 defeat of the world champions, South Africa, last Saturday from a corner of Brisbane's Suncorp Stadium with 14-year-old son Jack, a flanker at The Southport School on the Gold Coast.€śI was ecstatic,€ť the former back-rower of 25 Tests said. €śEx-players feel for the boys when they lose several Tests on the trot. And I feel really good for Robbie Deans. He's an exceptional coach. It's wonderful for the whole group.€ťCornelsen watched as Deans's young Wallabies €“ halfback Will Genia, hooker Tatafu Polota-Nau, open-side flanker David Pocock and fullback James O'Connor chief among them €“ hammered a distinct marker in the bend in the roadAbove all, he was pleased with Deans's removal of his backs' kicking boots and replaced by sprinting spikes, restoring Australia's age-old policy of utilising the width of the field and running the ball.€śYou talk about our day and their day,€ť Cornelsen said when asked about the different strategies of the amateur and professional Test eras, and how they have varied in three decades. €śWhen we played the All Blacks, they had a better pack than us. But Australia were always better in the backs. Whether playing for Australia or NSW Country, Queensland or NSW, our philosophy was, 'Play it away from their tight forwards because we're better out wide.'€śThat was how we played it ... as far from those big fellows as possible ... That's the way the boys played it on Saturday night. There was great merit in it.€śUnlike other Tests we have witnessed this year, which have been kickathons, they ran the ball, far more so than in the past.€ťInjuries aside, the Wallabies displayed individual talents to stride confidently towards the 2011 World Cup. Equally importantly, coach and squad had a collective desire to play the Australian way, as espoused by the Waratahs of 1927-28.Cornelsen spoke glowingly of halfback Genia, who, from his first touch of the ball, provided speed of service to the backs; the €śphenomenal performance€ť of hooker Polota-Nau; the workrate of scavenging flanker Pocock; the power of Australia's scrum; the tackling of Berrick Barnes in midfield; the attacking mindset which allowed the Wallabies to dominate the Test. The width and speed of Australia's passing game left the Springboks so drained that they were walking to the set pieces even when trailing 16-6 at the 63rd minute.Cornelsen added: €śGenia has a fabulous pass, he tackles well and provided an immediate spark to ignite the whole team. Early on, he ran the blind, put an up-and-under along the sideline ... just like Hippy [John Hipwell] ... and they gathered the ball two yards in from touch, a wonderful kick to apply pressure.€śPolota-Nau was outstanding, a really tough bloke. He tackled incredibly and he has pace. What a heart. He was injured, but played on and soon after they scrummed so well they 'popped' the Boks' tight-head, John Smit.€śOur scrum was excellent. The player of the match was loose-head Benn Robinson. He's not huge but, like Andrew Blades, he has a tremendous technique.€śPocock is a stand-out, an exceptional openside. Rocky Elsom is back, a class player, and they have been able to move George Smith to No.8. Smith is still the best. I think he is one of Australia's greatest loose forwards, just phenomenal.€ťBefore his match-sealing try three minutes from the end, fullback O'Connor was trapped in his own quarter. So vigorously did he ward off tacklers that teammates were able to recover and clear the ball.Professionalism, Cornelsen said, has been €śwonderful for rugby€ť, pointing to the large crowds in Melbourne, where there would have been less than 10,000 to a Test in his day. Cornelsen's god-son, Joe Roff, observed that when rugby became professional, the public considered it a superior product, reasoning that because players were paid, it must be a better game.€śA major difference now is the defence of the teams. It's phenomenal,€ť Cornelsen said. €śThey don't commit so many to the breakdown. Instead of seven on eight, you've got 10 or 12 people out there in the back line. You don't have the open spaces ... a major difference between our day and modern rugby. More defenders, less space.€ťCornelsen remains perplexed as to why more variations and moves are not introduced at the scrum and lineout when equal numbers are lined across the field, seven on seven.Cornelsen's last thought was €śprobably a generation thing, but when Adam Ashley-Cooper scored his try and ran in and embraced the crowd, it's not what we did. We never hugged a Taranaki dairy farmer.€ťFootnote: Cornelsen wants to alert Deans about 18-year-old back-rower, Ed Quirk, already signed by the Reds. €ś[He was] an absolute stand-out. In the Brisbane semi-final he was just like Mark Loane playing against boys.€ť
© 2009 Sydney Morning Herald
