Genius of Genia remains a headache
Thu, 29 Jul 2010 11:56
First choice: Wallaby scrumhalf Will Genia
The mesmerising stepping of Quade Cooper is one less threat for the All Black to worry about, as they prepare for their Tri-Nations/Bledisloe Cup double header against the Wallabies in Melbourne on Saturday.
However, there is a far bigger danger lurking, as New Zealand look to stretch their victory run to 12 matches.
Cooper was ruled out when his appeal against a two-week ban - for a spear tackle on Springbok No.10 Morné Steyn - failed on Wednesday.
However, it is the threat posed by Australian scrumhalf Will Genia that is causing the Kiwis even bigger headaches.
All Blacks flyhalf Dan Carter - who watched as the Genia-Cooper axis flummoxed the Crusaders in a Super 14 match in Brisbane in February - identified 22-year-old Genia, as the prime danger in a backline already featuring the playmaking abilities of Matt Giteau and Cooper's replacement, Berrick Barnes.
Genia started his Bledisloe Cup career last year on the replacements bench behind Luke Burgess, but has since developed into one of world rugby's most astute and elusive scrumhalves.
"He's a fantastic footballer and if anything he's just kept improving from those opportunities he got last year," Carter told NZPA.
"He's the guy who gets them going forward and he's extremely dangerous around the rucks with those sniping runs so he's definitely a guy that we are really looking to shut down.
"We feel if we do that it will stop a lot of their game but it's not easy because he does read the game very well."
While those well-publicised All Blacks gameplans supposedly focused on exploiting the defensive frailties of Giteau and James O'Connor, the Papua New Guinean-born Genia's name was probably in caps on the team room's whiteboard.
In Carter's eyes, Genia warrants more attention than say a Ricky Januarie or Ruan Pienaar, who have served the Boks at scrumhalf this season.
"He is playing with real confidence and the type of player he is, there are a few things you need to talk about so at least guys are aware of it and are able to shut down his time and space," Carter told NZPA.
Yet, they still had to guard against overkill given the tried and true nature of the Giteau and Barnes combination.
"You can't go piling four or five guys just to watch him [Genia] specifically," said Carter.
"They've got a lot of other quality footballers around the paddock as well. It's a matter of having confidence in our defensive system to be able to cater for anything they throw at us."
Carter conceded that task might be more straight-forward in Cooper's absence. "He's always a real threat, especially with ball in hand. Quade can create something from nothing, you don't really know what he's going to do."
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