Quade Cooper is set to make his return to Test rugby from the bench after being named in the Wallabies’ 32-man squad for next week’s third Bledisloe Cup match against New Zealand at Suncorp Stadium.
Cooper suffered a serious shoulder injury back in May but has shown good form in the NRC tournament for Brisbane City.
The talented five-eighth is set to be named as a reserve with Bernard Foley to start, however Cooper’s return for the clash at Suncorp Stadium on October 18 is timely given the suspension of Kurtley Beale and injuries to several other inside backs.
Following back-to-back losses to South Africa and Argentina to sink their Rugby Championship campaign, coach Ewen McKenzie may be looking at the dead-rubber against the All Blacks as a last chance for some of his underperforming stars.
McKenzie virtually ruled out the prospect of Cooper starting, but said he was happy with his progress.
“Quade’s played a handful of games now and he played well on the weekend,” he said.
“We haven’t looked at him in our environment. (Starting) might be a stretch, I don’t know. I’ll form an opinion when I see him and see how he looks.
“He hasn’t been in the environment for the last nine months, 10 months.”
ACT Brumbies flyer Henry Speight has also been included in the squad, but won’t be considered for selection as he finishes his recovery from a hamstring problem.
Speight will use the week in Brisbane to familiarise himself with the Wallabies environment ahead of the Spring Tour.
The Fijian-born flyer is one of four uncapped members in the squad, alongside Western Force tighthead prop Tetera Faulkner and centre Kyle Godwin, and Melbourne Rebels winger Tom English.
In a further change, Rebels backrower Luke Jones has also received a call-up, after previously earning his international debut for Australia in the second Test against France in June.
Brumbies centre Matt Toomua drops out of the squad through injury after receiving a head knock in Australia’s most recent clash against Argentina in Mendoza, while flyhalf Beale will not been considered until a Code of Conduct Hearing is finalised.
McKenzie will finalise his 23-man matchday squad next Tuesday.
Wallabies squad:
Ben Alexander, Tetera Faulkner, Sekope Kepu, Benn Robinson, James Slipper, Saia Faingaa, James Hanson, Josh Mann-Rea, Sam Carter, James Horwill, Rob Simmons, Will Skelton, Scott Fardy, Scott Higginbotham, Matt Hodgson, Michael Hooper (capt), Luke Jones, Jake Schatz, Will Genia, Nick Phipps, Nic White, Quade Cooper, Bernard Foley, Kyle Godwin, Tevita Kuridrani, Christian Leali’ifano, Adam Ashley-Cooper, Tom English, Israel Folau, Rob Horne, Henry Speight, Joe Tomane.
Sneaky
Guest
Seems like you've had too much bad weather up there and it's making you a bit sad... This is by far not the worst wallaby side ever. No where near it in fact. Solid EOYT last year and a whitewash of the French. Poor RC this year but playing against the top three nations in the world, IMO. A more fair reflection would be to say one of the best kiwi, sa and Argentinian teams I've seen for a long time. The wallabies are one win off becoming third in the world and evening the ledger against the top two teams in the world. Not exactly a disaster.
Sneaky
Guest
Incorrect initial statement and therefore all other statements are moot points. If the wallabies win then they DRAW the Bledisloe series one all. Looks much better than another series loss IMHO.
Crackle
Guest
This exchange reminds me of the Monty Python skit about the dead parrot - Norwegian Blue I believe it was :-)
BRAMS Brams
Guest
With all the other rubbish going on I think it's important to remember Adams 100 test well done from a Kiwi a great effort.
Brad. H
Guest
Bam ! ;-)
Magic Sponge
Guest
2011 All over again in 2015 world cup. Watch and see, QC will drop his bundle again and cause Aus to get eliminated thru either no defence or throwing a haymaker and getting intercepted.
Jokerman
Guest
Cooper will then be be moved into a van. A white suite will be applied to him for protection but also to look like his favorite star Russle Crow. Then off they go to see Berick the medium. Potions will be mixed. Cooper will be promised the booing will be minimal. Cooper needs to know, like superman to kryponite Cooper's weakness is to the sounds of booing. It really hurts him. It disrupts his digestive system as well as his feelings. Then it will be game on. Link and the circus against the mighty All Blacks.
Zero Gain
Guest
No friends?
soapit
Guest
half the story but about 90% of your post mike
Sprigs
Guest
It certainly was for the Boks in the quarter final of the world cup. Quade stopped what looked like a certain try. Boks lost.
liam
Guest
jesus
Zero Gain
Guest
Slow is the right word to describe Foley, but you forgot 'plodding'. Quade is several classes above Foley.
Shane D
Roar Rookie
One of the factors in the IRB points is you gain additional points for beating a team ranked higher that yourself. That's one of the reasons that the gap between the higher teams with better win / loss records is not larger.
Zero Gain
Guest
I can't wait to see Quade make Fekitoa look silly with a well placed pass.
Shane D
Roar Rookie
Skelton - can't jump in the line out & out of puff after 20 minutes. He does not have the work rate to cope if the AB's play at their usual pace.
Shane D
Roar Rookie
Who killed the poor innocent rubber?
All Bent Out of Shape
Guest
A dead rubber does not mean there is nothing to play for. It means that in context of the series it has no bearing on the result. That is why , by definition, this game is a dead rubber. Now, there are rankings points, pride, for and against, win loss ratio and whatever else to play for but it is still a dead rubber because it is a Bledisloe Cup test in which the result of the Bledisloe has already been decided and this test cant change that. That is what a dead rubber is. You have games that influence the result of a series and those that dont, those that dont are referred to as dead rubbers. Also you can argue, wish and hope that this game will be contested as hard as a deciding match of the RC, WC or BC but my guess is that it probably wont be because they usually are not and can be looser 'caution to the wind', 'nothing to lose' types of games.
Terry Kidd
Guest
Why??
Terry Kidd
Guest
I agree BB .... Foley has been head and shoulders the best 10 in Australian rugby for 2 years. He deserves the Wallaby 10 shirt until someone steps up and plays better. Foley has done nothing wrong behind a consistently beaten pack. How do you justify taking the shirt off him?
Terry Kidd
Guest
Agreed Harry ... I'm wondering if Link still has the support of the players. I'm wondering why BA is still selected. I like the selection of Godwin, would like to see him start at 12 but I'll wager he doesn't. I'll support the Wallabies but in reality I cannot see a win and expect a 30 point loss. I am wondering if the Wallaby coaching and management hierarchy have got it completely wrong, but I also think that none of us will see the whole story.