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Report: Quade Cooper set to miss remainder of England series
Wallabies flyhalf Quade Cooper withdrew at the last minute from Australia’s impressive win over England in the first of their three-match series and a report out of Australia suggests he won’t feature for the remainder of the series.
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Cooper pulled up lame in the final stages of the Wallabies’ warm-up ahead of their match on Saturday night and was replaced in the No 10 jersey by youngster Noah Lolesio, with the experienced James O’Connor coming onto the bench.
Following the match, coach Dave Rennie confirmed that Cooper had injured his calf but the magnitude of the damage was unclear.
“We’re not sure the extent of that but he couldn’t push off the calf, so we’ll assess and have a clear idea during the week,” he said.
According to the Sydney Morning Herald, the prognosis is less than ideal, with Cooper certainly out of the second test and likely to miss the third as well.
While the Wallabies will still aim to get their most experienced out-half fit and ready for action in time for the final test of the series in Sydney, the reality is Cooper will likely not feature again for Australia until the Rugby Championship kicks off on August 6, when the Wallabies take on Los Pumas in Argentina.
Cooper played a significant role in Australia’s successful Rugby Championship last season, which saw them finish second on the overall ladder. While Lolesio had been handed starting duties for the opening five matches of the year – against France and New Zealand, Cooper reinstated himself as the first-choice No 10 in the squad after linking up with the team part-way through the campaign and Lolesio was initially left out of the Wallabies for the end-of-year tour, only to get a reprieve when Cooper withdrew himself from the selection.
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On Saturday night, however, Lolesio cut a composed figure at Optus Stadium and helped guide the home team to a 30-28 victory – ending an eight-game losing streak against one of Australia’s traditional rivals.
With Cooper unlikely to feature again throughout the three-match series, Lolesio is likely to hold down his spot in the No 10 jersey.
Cooper isn’t the only player who will be missing from at least the next future, however, with Tom Banks (broken arm) and Allan Alaalatoa (concussion) both sidelined for the second test.
In better news for the Wallabies, prop Taniela Tupou is fit and available for selection and will likely swap straight into the starting line-up for the crock Alaalatoa.
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Comments on RugbyPass
It was a let’s-see-what-you're-made-of type of a game. The Bulls do look good when the opposition allows them to, but Munster shut them down, and they could not find a way through. Jake should be very worried about their chances in the competition.
2 Go to commentsHats off to Fabian for a very impressive journey to date. Is it as ‘uniquely unlikely’ as Rugby Pass suggests, given Anton Segner’s journey at the Blues?
1 Go to commentsSad that this was not confirmed. When administrators talk about expanding the game they evidently don’t include pathways to the top tier of rugby for teams outside of the old boys club. Rugby deserves better, and certainly Georgia does.
1 Go to commentsLions might take him on if they move on Van Rooyen but I doubt he will want to go back, might consider it a step backwards for himself. Sharks would take him on but if Plumtree goes on to win the challenge cup they will keep him on. Also sharks showing some promising signs recently. Stormers and Bulls are stable and Springboks are already filled up. Quality coach though, interesting to see where he ends up
1 Go to commentsAnd the person responsible for creating a culture of accountability is?
2 Go to commentsMore useless words from Ben Smith -Please get another team to write about. SA really dont need your input, it suck anyway.
264 Go to commentsThis disgraceful episode must result in management and coach team sackings. A new manager with worse results than previous and the coaching staff need to coached. Awful massacre led by donkeys.
1 Go to commentsInteresting article with one glaring mistake. This sentence: “And between the top four nations right now, Ireland, France, South Africa, and New Zealand…” should read: And between the top four nations right now, South Africa, Ireland, New Zealand and France…”. Get it right wistful thinkers, its not that hard.
23 Go to commentsHow did Penny get the gig anyway?
2 Go to commentsNice write up Nick and I would have agreed a week ago. However as you would know Cale & co got absolutely monstered by the Blues back row of Sotutu, Ioane and Papaliti and not all of these 3 are guaranteed a start in the Black jumper. He may need to put some kgs before stepping up, Spring tour? After the week end Joe will be a bit more restless. Will need to pick a mobile tough pack for Wales and hope England does the right thing and bashes the ABs. I like your last paragraph but I would bring Swinton, Hannigan into the 6 role and Bobby V to 8
21 Go to commentsThe Crusaders can still get in to the Play Off’s. The imminent return of outstanding captain Scott Barrett and his All Black team mate Codie Taylor will be a big boost.There are others like Tamaiti Williams too. Two home games coming up. Fellow Crusader fans get there and support these guys. I will be.
1 Go to commentsCant get more Wellington than Proctor.
2 Go to commentsWhy not let the media decide. Like how they choose the head coach. Like most of us we entrust the rugby system to choose. A rugby team includes the coaches. It's collective.
13 Go to commentsHi NIck, I have been very impressed with him and he seems a smart player who can see opportunities which Bobby V _(who must be an international 6_) doesn’t see or have the speed to take advantage of. If he continues to improve and puts on 5kgs then he could be a great 8. He is a bit taller than Keiran Reid at 1.93m and 111 kgs, so his skill set fits his body size and who knows where it will lead. I hope the spate of Achilles tendon issues have been dealt with by the S&C people. It’s been a very long time since Mark Loane and Kefu stood out at 8. The question is will we be able to hold onto him, if he does make it he will be pretty hot property. I disagree with the idea of letting them go to the Northern Hemisphere and then bring them back.
21 Go to commentsBilly Fulton 🤣🤣🤣🤣 garrrmon not even close
13 Go to commentsDoes the AI take into account refs? hahaha Seriously why not have two on field refs to avoid bias?
23 Go to commentsVern challenging this Blues side might be the edge they need to fulfill their potential. Convincing results from strong D and strong carries are hard to argue against.
1 Go to commentsLove seems to add a strong back field defense with speed to close the gap and tackle to his ability to attack, kick and pass (an accurate long pass). This sets him an edge over some of the other names - JRK in particular. Has to be said that Jordan and Stevenson have also been exposed defensively while Love has yet to face test match intensity. Spoilt for choice.
1 Go to commentsHe’s strung together a few strong seasons, I’d like to see him in the ABs and build some depth along with Reiko and ALB. Levi Aumua hasn’t taken the step we hoped to see but time yet.
2 Go to commentsWhere has our good friend Pecos gone!? Similar place to the Crusaders D, the abyss.
4 Go to comments