Rugby: Giteau to fix kicking woes on his own

BRISBANE - Robbie Deans wants an uncertain Matt Giteau to solve his goalkicking gremlins alone after the Wallabies' controversial two-prong approach failed at Suncorp Stadium.

Deans has not ruled out using two kickers in the Tri-Nations but would clearly prefer to have an assured Giteau owning the key role after both he and Quade Cooper missed kickable shots against Ireland.

Fortunately for the Wallabies, they were not punished for close-range misses in the unconvincing 22-15 victory on Saturday night, but it could have been a far more comfortable outing if they were on song.

Giteau, who only took kicks from in front, finished with two from three while man-of-the-match Cooper slotted two from five.

The duties were split after Giteau missed a sitter in Australia's 21-20 loss to England in Sydney and the 81-test back again showed his technique was failing with an unsuccessful 35m penalty attempt in the fifth minute.

Right-footer Cooper, at first told to take left-field shots, was given responsibility for the rest of the first half, kicking two from wide out and missing with two others that hit the post.

The left-footed Giteau did return to slot two three-pointers to ensure a seven-point second-half lead but they were the easiest attempts of the night.

It appears technical issues that led to a four-from-eight return against England affected Giteau's confidence.

Deans, a superb goalkicker for the All Blacks and Canterbury in the 1980s, denied Giteau needed to go back to school either with himself or former kicking mentor Ben Perkins.

The coach stressed Giteau, the Super 14's most accurate kicker with 83 per cent, was experienced enough to deal with his "flat patch" individually.

"He's been kicking for so long he knows what he's not doing correctly. He's going through a speedbump at the moment, there's no doubt about that, but he's allowed it to affect his mental processes and that happens to even the best.

"The point is the player has to own the solution. At the end of the day they're the one that has to master it. He's at a point now with experience and maturity to be able to master it."

John Eales and Paul McLean, former Wallaby captains and goalkickers alike, both questioned Deans' left-field tactic to share the kicking responsibilities after a match-eve kick-off.

Deans, who also has the option of calling on fullback James O'Connor, is not sure if he will adopt the same plan in the Tri-Nations next month.

"It's a possibility, I don't know right now."

- AAP