Watch: Booing Kiwis left stunned as Quade Cooper delivers virtuoso performance in 2013
The level of vitriol plastered at Wallaby flyhalf Quade Cooper by Kiwi crowds was still high a full two years after the 2011 World Cup. The booing antics had become a poor habit, while cheering errors by Cooper was commonplace throughout New Zealand stadia.
The last game of the 2013 Bledisloe series was to be played under the roof in Dunedin at Forsyth Barr Stadium, and the Wallabies were looking to avoid a clean sweep after going down 47-29 in Sydney and 27-16 in Wellington.
In both prior losses to the All Blacks, Cooper had been only a flyhalf replacement but had since started four tests on the trot heading into the final Bledisloe clash. It would be an opportunity for Cooper to silence the naysayers and earn the respect of New Zealand crowds.
Quade Cooper Haters have small minds to go with our small country and for the Guys a small something else #NZLvAUS
— 2Tapu (@2TAPU) October 19, 2013
Booing Quade Cooper is still a thing in 2013? Come on.
— Ben Coles (@bencoles_) October 19, 2013
https://twitter.com/AliGoneski/status/391453831579443200
The Wallabies immediately started on the front foot with an early break to Israel Folau after recovering the kickoff.
Receiving a penalty from a scrum shortly after, Cooper lined up his first kick of the night while boos echoed around the enclosed arena. He drilled it straight down the middle to give the Wallabies a 3-0 lead.
“Couldn’t be straighter, this could be a good night for Cooper,” former All Black Justin Marshall forewarned on the commentary call.
A Wallabies attacking pattern from a lineout used a heavy set of forward runners around the corner before eventually settling deep inside the All Blacks’ 22. Cooper calmly dropped back into the pocket and confidently slotted a drop goal with advantage playing.
More boos rained down on Cooper’s second penalty attempt, which was again thumped high and through the uprights.
Two try-saving tackles by Cooper on Kieran Read and Aaron Smith in the space of twenty seconds just a metre shy of the tryline kept the Wallabies in the match midway in the first half.
An explosion of All Blacks tries stretched the lead to 30-12 but a late Wallabies surge paid dividends when Quade Cooper set up Adam Ashley-Cooper with a long floated pass. His sideline conversion closed the gap to 30-19.
The Wallabies kept fighting back but couldn’t reduce the deficit, admirably going down 41-33, with Cooper a central figure in an Australian side that put up their largest score against the All Blacks since 2008 when they won 34-19 in Sydney.
Quade Cooper finished with a perfect night off the tee, kicking six from six and with the drop goal finished with a personal tally of 18 points and a try assist.
Prominent New Zealand filmmaker Taika Waititi led the praise online for Cooper, calling him a great player.
Quade is a great player
— Taika Waititi (@TaikaWaititi) October 19, 2013
https://twitter.com/JonYounie15/status/393147859798745088
Pin point accuracy from Quade Cooper… Come on @QantasWallabies 👏👏👏
— Erin Molan (@Erin_Molan) October 19, 2013
Did anyone expect that game from Quade Cooper? The more I think about it the more impressed I am. He has been the easiest target in Oz rugby
— Georgina Robinson (@geerob) October 19, 2013
You Maori that hate on Quade Cooper – shame on you.
— Morgan Godfery (@MorganGodfery) October 19, 2013
Great and entertaining rugby match…. Better showing from the Aussies… Quade, top class 2day.. Final score to the All Blacks 41-33
— robertmarawa (@robertmarawa) October 19, 2013
Amazing kicking from Quade Cooper tonight!! 100% record!! #proud #NZLvAUS #bledisloe
— Caelie Jones (@caeliejones) October 19, 2013
After the game, Cooper said the team was heading in the right direction after being away on tour with each other in South Africa and Argentina.
“As a team we’re heading in the right direction and the more good games put together, on a personal note, the better the performance as a team,” he added.
“You’re put in a position where you’re living together basically. Six weeks away as a team you get to know each other on and off the field, you get to see peoples’ habits, their traits, things that you may not necessarily like about the players but you have to work hard and the things you like, you build on those.
The 2013 end-of-year tour following the final Bledisloe match may have been Quade Cooper’s finest stretch of games for the Wallabies, orchestrating wins over Six Nations champions Wales, Ireland, Italy, and Scotland while falling at Twickenham to England by 20-13.
Comments on RugbyPass
Except for the injured Zach Gallagher this would be Saders best forward pack for the season. Blackadder needs to stay at 7, for all of Christies tackling he is not dominant and offers very little else. McNicholfullback is maybe a good option, Fihaki not really upto it, there was a reason Burke played there last year. Maybe Havilli to 2nd five McLeod to wing. Need a strong winger on 1 side to compliment Reece
1 Go to commentsTo me TJ is clearly the best 9 in the competition right now but he's also a proven player off the bench, there's few playmaking players who can come off the bench as calm and settled as he is, Beauden can, TJ can and I doubt any of the scrumhalves in contention can, if they want to experiment with new 9s I want him on the bench ready to step in if they crumble under the pressure. The Boks put their best front row on the bench, I'd like to see us take a similar approach, the Hurricanes have been doing similar things with players like Kirifi.
33 Go to commentsROG has better chance to win a WC if he starts training and make himself eligible as a player. He won’t make the Ireland squad but I reckon he may get close with Namibia (needs to improve his Afrikaans) or Portugal. Both sides had 1000:1 odds to win the RWC in 2023 which is an improvement on ROG’s odds of winning a RWC as a coach. Unlike Top 14 teams, national teams can’t go shopping and buy the best players - you work with the available talent pool and turn them into world beaters.
2 Go to commentsthat backline nope that backline is terrible why would you have sevu Reece when he’s not even top 5 wingers in the comp why have Blackadder when there’s better players no Scott barret isn’t an automatic the guy is more of a liability than anything why have him there when you have samipeni who’s far far better
33 Go to commentsAh, good to find you Nick. Agree with everything about Cale. So much to like about his game
49 Go to commentsNot too bad. Questions at 6, lock and HB for me. The ABs will be a lot stronger once Jordan and Roigard return. Also, work needs to be made to secure Frizzell back for next season and maybe also Mo’unga; they’re just wasting time playing in japan
33 Go to commentsOn the title, i wonder for many of those people it is a case something like a belief in working smarter, not harder?
1 Go to commentsForget Sotutu. One of those whose top level is Super Rugby. Id take a punt on Wallace Sititi Finau ahead of Glass body Blackadder.
33 Go to commentsI’m a pensioner so I've been around a bit. My opinion of SBW is he is an elite athlete and a great New Zealander and roll model. He has been to the top and knows what he's talking about. To all the negative comments regarding SBW the typical New Zealand way, cut that tall poppy down.
17 Go to commentsI'm not listening to a guy moralise over others when this is the guy who walked out mid season on Canterbury RLFC when he had a contract with them, what a hypocrite. Those praising him are a joke.
17 Go to commentsI’d put Finau at 6 instead of Blackadder but that’s the only change I’d make. Can’t wait to see who Razor picks.
33 Go to commentsTamati Williams, Codie Taylor, and Same Cane? Not sure about Hoskins Sotutu at test level. Wasn’t that impressive last season. Need a balance between experience and talent/youth.
33 Go to commentsInteresting insight. Fantastic athlete, and a genuine human being.
17 Go to commentsThey played at night in Suva last weekend and it’s an afternoon game forecast for 19 degrees in Canberra this weekend. Heat change is a non issue.
1 Go to commentsWishing Rosie a speedy recovery
1 Go to commentsObscene that SA haven’t been knocking
1 Go to commentsChances of Blackadder being injured seem too high to give him serious consideration. ABs loosie combination finally looked good with 2 committed to tackling and clearing rucks in the centre and Ardie roaming. Hoskins/Ardie together would force one of them into where they don’t excel and don’t get to use their talent, or require a change in tactics. If we continue to evolve last years systems I would take Papali’i and Finau at 6 and 7 (conceding that Blackadder will be injured) and Ardie at 8.
33 Go to commentsArdie’s preferred position 7? Where do they get these writers from? I've no idea where he's playing in Japan, but the previous two seasons he wore the 7 jersey exactly twice.
17 Go to commentsNot good to hear Ulster described as “financially troubled”. Did not think it was getting to that level. I would hope the Irish system of spreading players of talent away from Leinster would kick in now. Better to have a Leinster fringe player with Ulster or Connacht, then getting only a few games a season in Dublin. 10, for example, would seem to be a case for spreading the talent. I would not be at all adverse to a SA man coming in as head coach/DR. Ludeke is worth trying. Certainly got a long and impressive coaching career at this level…..149 games in SR, then Japan, 30 years experience. And Ulster’s ledger of successful SA coaches and players is on the positive side. Is talk of Ruan Pienaar interested in coming back as a coach…..could be a good combination with Ludeke. And Pienaar and family would have no settling in to do, one would judge. He loved life in Ulster when there, by all reports.
1 Go to commentsSome thoughts to consider here, Sam. Thanks
2 Go to comments