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http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au...6-2722,00.html
Wayne Smith
Edinburgh
November 27, 2006
SCOTT STANIFORTH remarked after the Wallabies' Test victory over Scotland yesterday (AEDT) that he hoped his performance at inside centre had given the selectors food for thought. In fact, he had set before them a veritable banquet.
The selectors pretty much had turned over every stone this season in their search for an inside centre good enough to allow them to redeploy regular No.12 Matt Giteau to halfback without destroying the balance of the backline. Each player they tried there, first Mat Rogers, then Steve Larkham, and then finally Stirling Mortlock did well after a fashion, but always the bottom line recorded a net deficit.
Staniforth represented the last roll of the dice before the selectors gave up, returned Giteau to the midfield and left the specialist No.9s of George Gregan, Sam Cordingley, Brett Sheehan and Josh Valentine to fight it out next year for the halfback position.
If the truth be known, it was an experiment embarked upon with little sense of expectation, at least as far as some of the selectors were concerned.
Not to have given Staniforth a trial there would have left them exposed to the charge that they had not explored every avenue, but the fear before the Murrayfield Test was that his uncomplicated, direct game would not gel with all the talent around him.
In fact, the opposite result occurred. Staniforth played the straight man to perfection, fitting so harmoniously into a backline full of jokers that suddenly every possibility is back on the table for World Cup year, including the possibility that Gregan might not command a place in the starting side.
Far from stifling the creativity of the backline, Staniforth, 28, allowed it to shine by reigniting attack after attack. Just when it seemed the Wallabies were going to fall into their customary trap of not only running the opposition ragged but themselves as well, the veteran would hit the line hard to drive faltering team-mates back over the advantage line again.
To date this year, there has been an either-or predicament underlying the selection of each inside centre. A Larkham or a Rogers seemingly committed the Wallabies to all-out expansive attack; a Mortlock or a Staniforth to a bruising, physical game. But as it transpired, Staniforth allowed them to enjoy the best of both worlds.
When the Australians wanted to go wide, Staniforth ran the decoy role; when they wanted to go direct, he ran the crash ball -- and with a vengeance.
Looking on from the inside Larkham, the primary architect of Australia's impressive 44-15 victory over the willing Scots, praised the performance of the Wallabies' No.12, insisting he had had "a fantastic game".
"Scotty gave us another dimension out there," Larkham said, singling out Staniforth's ability to regenerate the attack.
"I think there are certainly times in games when you need that. And tonight he certainly delivered that, particuarly during that period up to half-time when their defence was so good." Looking on from the outside, equally impressed, was winger Lote Tuqiri.
"Scott Staniforth gave us some direction and he got involved, which was good," Tuqiri said.
"He's one of those guys who likes the contact and he got us going forward. He knows how to play up here after having spent a couple of seasons with London Irish."
Asked if the Western Force midfielder might just be the man to harmonise the backline before the World Cup, Tuqiri replied: "Exactly!"
Staniforth could not stop smiling after his dream debut as an international inside centre, having played all of his previous five Tests as a winger.
"I think that's what we've been trying all year to do, to get the right balance," Staniforth said. "Today we had a good balance there."
To be fair, it wasn't just Staniforth who helped supply that balance. Much of it came from right winger Mark Gerrard who, despite some harrowing moments at five-eighth for the Wallabies' midweek side, often slotted neatly into first receiver alongside Larkham, providing the Australians with two ball-players just off the ruck.
That's the formula which assistant coach Scott Johnson believes the Wallabies need to work to, and it matters not what numbers the ball-players wear on their backs.
Larkham deservedly was named man of the match for his stellar performance, but Gerrard also played his part in easily his best performance of the season for the Wallabies.
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Originally Posted by Sagerian
