The vital Bledisloe Cup role Quade Cooper could play for Wallabies
Ex-All Blacks hooker James Parsons believes returning Wallabies playmaker Quade Cooper could provide Australia with a pivotal off-field role in the lead-up to the Bledisloe Cup series.
Cooper was a shock re-call into the Australian national squad a week ago as Dave Rennie’s side prepares for their Bledisloe Cup and Rugby Championship campaigns, which begins next Saturday at Eden Park in Auckland.
Cooper, who last played for Australia in 2017, travelled with the Wallabies to Auckland on Friday ahead of their opening clash against the All Blacks, although it remains to be seen whether he will feature in Rennie’s match day side.
According to Parsons, Cooper’s influence on the playing group will be strongly felt regardless of whether he plays or not.
Speaking on the Aotearoa Rugby Pod earlier this week, the former two-test rake said he anticipates Cooper will play a vital role in preparing the Wallabies to face the All Blacks – a fixture the first-five has become familiar with over his extensive career.
Many of Cooper’s most memorable moments, both good and bad, have come while playing for the Wallabies against his nation of birth, and Parsons said that could prove to be valuable for Australia’s younger and inexperienced figures.
“I think he’s got a massive role to play in terms of prepping the team that’s going to play,” Parsons told the Aotearoa Rugby Pod.
“I just think it’s so underappreciated publicly, but giving someone like Quade of his experience – understanding playing the All Blacks, what it’s like at Eden Park, he’s been through the good and the bad – the reins to run the ‘All Blacks’, as such, at training and do the research… He’s a true professional in terms of his preparation.
“Having him orchestrating that at training is only going to better prepare them to perform on the weekend.
“He’ll be used, I believe, like a mentor and I suppose a voice of experience for guys like Noah [Lolesio], James O’Connor to come back in, and allow them to just focus on Australia and the way they play.
“He’ll be taking the guys that are outside that 23 to really hone in and bring a level of intensity at training that is going to have them humming come Saturday and almost know what to expect before they get out there against the All Blacks.
“Of course you can’t orchestrate it perfectly, but he’s hungry to train, he’s hungry to be involved, and that to me would be a role that would just be perfectly-suited for someone with his experience, but also his want to have another crack.”
Wallabies halfback Nic White has issued a warning to the All Blacks a week out from their opening Bledisloe Cup clash of the year at Eden Park next Saturday. #AllBlacks #Wallabies #BledisloeCup https://t.co/1Xii1d3jrN
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) July 31, 2021
Maori All Blacks halfback Bryn Hall shared similar sentiments as he expressed the importance of having an experienced leader within Australia’s ranks.
“I think we’ve talked about how good experience is,” the veteran Crusaders halfback told the Aotearoa Rugby Pod.
“Not too sure what the injury scenario is with James O’Connor and [Matt] To’omua as well, but I think any time you can get a player with that kind of experience that’s played a lot of caps for the Wallabies, it can only help a guy like Noah Lolesio.”
Hall drew comparisons of Cooper’s role within the Wallabies to that of Morne Steyn, who has been re-called into the Springboks squad for the British and Irish Lions series after a five-year hiatus.
“We’ve talked about it with Morne Steyn coming back to help [Handre] Pollard and that as well,” Hall said.
“I think having a guy with that kind of experience, who’s played in big matches and has a pretty good understanding of what it looks like in big matches, it’s only going to help Noah when they give him the reins.
“If they feel like they want to go in a different direction with experience, they’ve got a guy like Quade Cooper who’s done a lot in that Wallabies jersey.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Most exciting player on the planet right now, worth the price of a ticket.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith and Ireland live rent free in Safa’s heads. Their comments only triggers because its true. If the Boks had dismantled a 14 man AB’s, then there would be more respect. But they didnt, in fact quite the opposite, the 14 man NZ were clearly better. And the Bok have always been ordinary between RWC’s, thats why their supporters are now ‘only RWC’s matter’. They know thats BS. Its BS to both AB’s and Bok’s due to their history. But now its all the Safas have. Now we’ll hear excuses when they lose “oh we didnt have all our players available, the ABs/France/Eng/Irel were at full strength”, forgetting for a minute that its because of their own dumb policy. Oh well, makes a change from blaming ‘cheating refs’.
23 Go to commentsNo Nick, they did not, in fact, justify any ‘probables’ label. At no time did they seriously compete for the championship. Ireland led from start to finish and in the end, as a result of glaring referee errors, were never under serious pressure to lose their crown.
33 Go to commentsMoney for him, and his family, has been the sole motivator since he signed for Queensland aged 17. Why else sign for Melbourne. Tupou is poorly advised. If he’d stayed and developed in NZ he would have had a long Test career. If Leinster offer him a few more coins than he’s currently earning, he’s goneburger.
4 Go to commentsFinn. No one would say Ford had played well up until the last game. One standout performance in 5 is hardly in form . It should be a given that a 10 will control play . Not in Fords case be praised for suddenly doing so. Where was he against Scotland ,Italy. The pundits were saying how far away from play he was standing and one even said that the Ireland game was his last chance saloon to perform . Not exactly top form catching anyones eye. If he can play like this game after game then great. Keep him in . But after 90 odd caps we all know he just doesnt keep it going . By all means keep him there but the issue is that Borthwick will persist even when he plays poorly. Which is more often than not. Thats why i am concerned that Smith ,despite fab form , cannot get a game at his preferred spot. Can you imagine Ford at full back .
5 Go to commentsI do not really get why put Ollivon at 6 when he’s a 7, while Cros was the best Frenchman of the tournament, playing at…6. His only game replacing Aldritt at 8 doesn’t change much in terms of his impact. Lamaro was also outstanding in that brilliant Italian side, probably better than Reffell. So putting 2 Welsh players from the wooden spoon holders, and none of the 4th nation (Scotland) is also strange. Is it about showing that in this harsh transition Wales is, there were some standouts…?
6 Go to commentsThe events at this year’s six nations should undermine many of the arguments made against promotion and relegation between the six nations and the REC. If Italy had been allowed to yo-yo between divisions it conceivably could have really hurt their development, but if Italy, Wales, and Scotland are all at risk of relegation, with none of them being relegated more often than once every 3 or 4 years, you’d have to back all of them to muddle on through it, especially when you factor in the likelihood they’ll still be guaranteed world league matches against tier 1 opponents. Another way of looking at italys resurgence would be to say that the development model of adding an extra team to the six nations has worked, and now must be done again. Georgia could join to make it a 7 team round robin, and if and when Georgia demonstrate an ability to consistently win games, Portugal can also be added to make it an 8 team 2 conference competition. Frankly at this point I think it falls to world rugby to demand that the 6N act in the interests of the game. If the 6N won’t commit to expansion then the 6N teams should be handicapped in world cup draws (i.e. world cup seedings would not be based on their ranking points, but on their ranking points minus a 5 point penalty).
6 Go to commentsSteve Borthwick deserves credit for releasing the shackles on his England side and letting them play in a manner that somewhat resembles the top sides in the Gallagher Premiership. Will they revert to type in New Zealand in July.?
33 Go to commentsJames Lowe wouldn't get in any other 6N team. He's a great example of Farrell’s brilliance, and the Irish system. He is slow. His footwork is poor. But he fits perfectly in that Irish system, and has a superb impact. But put him in another team, and he'll look bang average.
6 Go to commentsCrusaders reached their heights through recruitment of North Island players, often leaving those NI teams bereft of key players. Example: Scott Barrett and Sam Whitelock robbed the Canes of their lineout and AB locks. For years the Canes have struggled at lock. This rabid recruitment was iniated by rule changes by a Crusader dominated NZR Head Office. Now this aggressive recruitment has back-fired, going after young inside back Hamilton Boys stars. They now have 4 Chiefs region 10s and not one with the requisite experience at Super level. Problems of their own making!
2 Go to commentsOver rated for a long time…exposed at scrum time too.
4 Go to comments“Firing me” should have been Gatland’s answer.
2 Go to commentsFinn Russell logic: “World” = 4 countries. Ireland may be at or near the top. FR’s bigger concern should be he and his fellow Scots (incl. the Bloemfontein ones) sliding back down to below top 10
42 Go to commentsMind games have begun. Ireland learned their lesson after saying they could beat England with 13 players or whatever. Still, if they win at Loftus, that would be impressive - final frontier etc.
58 Go to comments$950k for a Prop that isn’t fit enough to play 10 mins of rugby? Surely there is someone better to replace Big Mike with
4 Go to commentsFour Kiwis in that backline. A solid statement on the lack of invention, risk-taking and joy in the NH game; game of attrition and head- banging tedium. Longterm medical problems aplenty in the future!
6 Go to commentsGood article, I learnt quite a lot. A big sliding door moment was in the mid 00s when they rejected Steve Anderson's long term transformation and he wrote Ireland's strategy instead.
2 Go to commentsHi Dr Nick! I'm worried that I've started to enjoy watching England and have actually wanted them to win their last two games. What would you prescribe? On a more serious note, I've noticed that the standard of play in March is often better than early February. Do you think this is because of the weather or because the players have been together for longer?
33 Go to commentsMy question in all this brett is who is going to wear the consequences of these actions? Surely just getting the sack isn’t sufficient? A teenager working the till at woolies would probably get taken to court if they took $20 out of the till. You mean to tell me that someone can spend $2.6 million and get away with it? Where was it spent? What companies/people were the beneficiaries etc? How is it just being talked about as an ‘oopsie’ and we all just move on and not a matter of the court for gross negligence, fraud, take your pick…
24 Go to commentslove Manu too but England have relied on him coming back from injury for far too long and not sorted the position with someone else long term . It will be a blessing he has gone . Huge shame he was so injury prone . God speed Manu .
3 Go to comments