Watch: The infamous Bledisloe that turned Quade Cooper into public enemy number 1
Every great success story has a hero and a villain, and there’s no question that New Zealand-born playmaker Quade Cooper filled the latter role superbly as the All Blacks chased a World Cup victory in 2011.
24 years prior, New Zealand had hosted and triumphed in the inaugural World Cup, taking out the final against France, but they’d fallen short of the mark in every tournament following.
Come 2011, rugby’s flagship competition was once again being held on New Zealand soil and the nation was cautiously optimistic that finally – finally – the William Webb Ellis Cup would find its way back into the NZ trophy cabinet.
Before the tournament could even commence and the All Blacks could try do what they’d failed to accomplish for over two decades, they had to overcome the Wallabies in a two-match Bledisloe Cup series – and what a series it turned into.
2011 was the last year the Tri-Nations took place before Argentina joined the competition to create the Rugby Championship and saw Australia, New Zealand and South Africa face-off on a home and away basis.
In NZ’s first game against Australia, home advantage helped the All Blacks to a comfortable 30-14 win with the men in black recording 20 points before the Wallabies were even able to make it onto the scoreboard.
Three weeks later, it was time for the second match – this time played in Brisbane. The winner of the game was inevitably going to be crowned Tri-Nations champion but, more importantly, would enter the World Cup in a month’s time with an extra boost of confidence.
Anticipation was high – New Zealand had been expected to deal to the Tri-Nations then march straight onto the World Cup so the fact that the Wallabies had mounted a challenge at all had fans excited on both sides of the Tasman Sea.
The All Blacks were coming off an away-loss to the Springboks and they hadn’t lost back-to-back games since 2009 which added an extra little bit of spice to the occasion.
New Zealand made five changes to their starting XV from the team that had bested Australia in Auckland, substituting Cory Jane, Zac Guildford, Adam Thompson, Sam Whitelock and Tony Woodcock in for Sitiveni Sivivatu, Hosea Gear, Jerome Kaino, Ali Williams and Wyatt Crockett.
Australia, meanwhile, had made four changes of their own, bringing in Anthony Fainga’a, Radike Samu and Dan Vickerman for James O’Connor, Ben McCalman and Rob Simmons.
Samu’s inclusion, in particular, piqued interest. At 35-years-old, the lock-cum-loose-forward was set to become the oldest ever Wallaby to play in a Tri-Nations match.
The Wallabies took the early lead in the game through a try to halfback Will Genia, playing in front of his home crowd.
Minutes later, Samu breached the All Blacks line and cantered down the middle of the park but was eventually brought down by the chasing defenders – but it was a warning to the Kiwis for things to come because 20 minutes later he did the exact same thing but had enough space to run away for an incredible try.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CA1B2OJAGKH/
Palming off Thompson after David Pocock reclaimed a high ball, Samu ran 50 metres for a score that was later awarded the International Rugby Players Association Try of the Year.
In a complete reversal of the prior match between the two rivals, it took until the 52nd minute for New Zealand to record their first try. Conrad Smith dotted down after a silky offload from Dan Carter then turned creator minutes later, setting up his midfield partner Ma’a Nonu for a try of his own.
Before Nonu’s try, however, Quade Cooper made a mistake he would rue for the remainder of his international career – a mistake which would see his confidence severely impacted at the World Cup.
In the 54th minute of the game, Cooper slyly dug his knee into the head of All Blacks captain Richie McCaw – an action that forever poisoned the playmaker in the eyes of the New Zealand public.
Cooper was later cited for the knee but nothing came of it – except incessant, endless booing from NZ crowds whenever Cooper came to town.
Still, there was a game to play and the match quickly resumed.
Nonu’s score tied the contest up 20-all with 20 minutes left to play before the Wallabies retaliated – with Genia the catalyst, breaking the line at halfway.
It was reminiscent of the 2011 Super Rugby final, played almost a month earlier at the same grounds. Genia set up the Reds’ final try of that game to break hearts of the Crusaders fans everywhere and he was again causing problems for NZ rugby fans.
Genia stepped around the ruck, dashed toward the goal posts then set up Digby Ioane who passed on to Kurtley Beale for the touchdown.
There was still plenty of time for the All Blacks to mount a fightback but the Wallabies’ defence held firm, shutting the New Zealand attack down and claiming a well-deserved 25-20 victory.
It was a momentous occasion for the Wallabies and could have paved the way for a successful run at the World Cup – but they came unstuck in the semi-finals of the competition when they were again tasked with playing the All Blacks.
Itching for revenge, New Zealand won the game 20-6 and went on to claim their World Cup title a week later.
Boos ran out across the ground whenever Cooper touched the ball – even in the matches leading up to the finals – and the man who helped dismantle the All Blacks just a couple of months later looked completely rattled.
The 2011 Bledisloe victory for the Wallabies should have paved the way for future successes but it may well have simply hardened the Kiwis’ resolve and unleashed a crowd of braying, bloodthirsty fans on a man who grew up in the small town of Tokoroa but found his countrymen turning against him.
Comments on RugbyPass
Anna, You are right, we need to have patience whilst the others catch up to England and France. Also it is the PWR that has been the game changer for England. the RFU put money into that initially at the expense of the Red Roses. I was sceptical at first but it has paid off in spades.
1 Go to commentsI think Matt Proctor became a 1 test AB in the same fixture. Cameron is quality and has been great this season, can’t believe’s he only 27. Realistically how would he not be selected for ABs squad this year. Only Dmac is ahead of him as a specialist 10. With Jordan out, it will come down to where and when Beauden Barrett slots back in, and where they want to play Ruben Love. Cameron seems an absolute lock in for the wider squad though. Added benefit of TJ-Cameron-Jordie combination at 9, 10, 11 too.
1 Go to commentsFarcical, to what end would someone want to pay to keep this thing going.
1 Go to commentsHavili, our best 12 by a mile, will be in the squad, if he stays fit. JB is the most overrated AB in the last 50 years.
61 Go to commentsWe had during the week twilight footy, twilight cricket, tw golf plus there was the athletics club. Then the weekend was rugby 15s plus the net ball, really busy club scene back then but so much has changed and rugby has suffered. And it was all about changing lifestyles.
6 Go to commentsIn the 70s and 80s my club ran 5 Senior sides plus a Vets. Now it is 2 sides with an occasional 3rd team. Players have difficulty getting to training now, not sure why and the commitment is not there. It seems to me more a problem of people applying themselves and not expecting to turn up and play whenever they want to.
6 Go to commentsROG’s contract is until 2027. The conversation about a successor to Galthie after RWC 2027 may be starting now. We can infer that Galthie’s reign stops then. He is throwing the Irish Coaching Job angle in because he is Irish. The next Irish coach MUST be Leo Cullen. As well as being the best coach available, coaching the vast majority of Irish Internationals week in week out, he has shown incredible skill at recruiting the best coaching staff for the job in hand. That was a failing in France. Cullen is a shrewd guy and if there is a need for foreign coaches underneath him he won’t hesitate. Rightly so. Ireland does need to start to bring Irish coaches through. Not just at the professional level but we need to train coaches to man new pathways for developing kids from schools/clubs up through the divisions.
8 Go to commentsNo Islam says it must rule where it stands Thus it is to be deleted from this planet Earth
18 Go to commentsThis team probably does not beat the ABs sadly Not sure if BPA will be available given his signing for Force but has to enter consideration. Very strong possibility of getting schooled by the AB props. Advantage AB. Rodda/Skelton would be a tasty locking combination - would love to see how they get on. Advantage Wallabies. Backrow a risk of getting out hustled and outmuscled by ABs. Will be interesting to see if the Blues feast on the Reds this weekend the way they did the Brumbies we are in big trouble at the breakdown. Great energy, running and defence but goalkicking/general kicking/passing quality in the halves bothers me enormously. SA may have won the World Cup for a lot of the tournament without a recognised goalkicker but Pollard in the final made a difference IMO. Injuries and retirements leave AB stocks a bit lighter but still stronger. 12 and 13 ABs shade it (Barret > Paisami, Ione = Ikitau, arguably) Interesting clash of styles on the wings - Corey Toole running around Caleb Clark and Caleb running over the top of Toole. Reece vs Koro probably the reverse. Pretty even IMO. 15s Kelleway = Love See advantage to ABs man for man, but we are not obviously getting slaughtered anywhere which makes a nice change. Think talent wise we are pretty even and if our cohesion and teamwork is better than the ABs then its just about doable.
11 Go to commentsCompletely agree. More friday night games would be a hit. RFU to make sure every club has a floodlit pitch. Club opens again Saturday to welcome touch / tag. Minis and youths on Sunday
6 Go to comments1.97m and 105Kg? Proportionately, probably skinnier than me at 1.82 and 82kilos. He won’t survive against the big guys at that weight.
55 Go to commentsThe value he brought to the crusaders as an assistant was equal to what he got out of being there. He reflected not only on the team culture but also the credit he attributed to the rugby community. Such experience shouldn’t be overlooked.
8 Go to commentsGood luck Aussie
11 Go to commentssmith at 9 / mounga 10 / laumape 12 / fainganuku 14
61 Go to commentsBar the injuries, it’s pretty much their top team …
2 Go to commentsDon’t disagree with much of this but it appears you forgot Rodda and Beale, who started at the Force on the weekend.
11 Go to commentsExcept 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.
61 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.
8 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
61 Go to comments