Quade Cooper is out of the remainder of the Wallabies’ spring tour Tests, with coach Dave Rennie saying it was Cooper’s decision, having “felt compelled” to stay in Japan with his club Kintetsu Liners.
Rennie said Wallabies veteran Kurtley Beale would join from Europe while young No.10 Noah Lolesio, left out of the tour initially to train with the Brumbies, is being brought in despite a reluctance to bring in players from Australia.
Cooper joins fellow Japanese-based players Sean McMahon and Samu Kerevi in making themselves unavailable, with a clearly frustrated and “disappointed” Rennie making it clear it was his choice having felt that his club wanted him to stay with them.
Plenty of Wallabies fans will wonder how the three players, all restored to the side this year after long absences, have prioritised clubs over the gold jersey.
“That’s their primary employer, isn’t it?” said Rennie. “Ideally we want guys who are desperate to be Wallabies.
“He’s a good man,” Rennie said of Cooper. “He’s contributed massively on and off the field. He’s torn – he wants to be here. He wants to be a Wallaby, but he feels loyalty to his club.
“He’s made a decision he feels is the right one. He’s made my decision that’s best for him.
“I think if he had the support of the club and the blessing of the club he would have come. But he hasn’t.
“He wanted the blessing of the club, we talked about some flexibility around the tour dates but in the end he felt he needed to be there supporting his club, his employer heading into their season.
“We’ve accepted that and we’ve moved on.
“What this highlights is discussing it with their clubs early would have been important.”
(Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)
Rugby Australia’s handling of the situation has come under fire in recent days but Rennie gave his version of events as to how it got to this point.
“I spoke to all those boys when we were on the Gold Coast,” said Rennie. “They said that they had concerns around their clubs, and how the clubs would feel about them travelling in November close to the start of their season.
“But they all assured me they were keen to travel. And so for that reason, we got into negotiations with the clubs.”
Rennie said, however, the three players were not happy for Australia to use regulation nine and “tell the clubs that we’d take them.
“That’s the reason we had multiple zoom meetings to try to sort through the problem and took a bit of flexibility on both parties. In the end we have seen the results. We’re really disappointed.”
By Rennie’s version of events the clubs told Rugby Australia the players could tour.
So, Rennie was asked, did he feel the club’s had coerced the trio into not joining the tour party?
“All I’ll say is the players felt that the clubs wanted them to be there, it was an important period, their experience with the group they’ve got, heading into the preseason. The players felt compelled to stay.”
Rennie said Lolesio would have been in the tour party had Cooper been unvailable when it was named.
Cooper’s starting place will be likely taken over by James O’Connor. “He’s looking good and ready to go,” said Rennie. “We’ve got a lot of confidence in him.”
Tim J
Roar Rookie
Good points Ken… I will wait and do not get me wrong as I hope he can prove doubters like myself wrong. And yes DR he is the sort coach that could Beale performing well.
Tim J
Roar Rookie
You are right piru… How we miss him!
Ken Catchpole's Other Leg
Roar Guru
“ Beale now joining, all the momentum that the Wallabies have had is now down the drain.” Not so sure MK. I get your concern, but DR has shown that NO ONE gets an armchair ride into a gold shirt. Quade waited and trained. JOC waited and trained. Kurtley may wait and train and not get on the paddock. But Noah won’t know the outcome. Who will catch the culture quickest- the kid who’s had a taste? Or the maverick veteran? I’m picking Noah, even though I am a long term follower of Beale from his schooldays. Then there is always the chance that Beale pulls one last hurrah out of his kit bag. He’s won tests for us before now. Unlikely agreed, but possible. In summary, in Dave I trust.
piru
Roar Rookie
DC is a separate case to regular humans
Enough is Enough
Guest
Hooper is the most impotent number 7 the Wallabies have ever seen.That is why they have been flops for years. Dont lump this on 5 wins from 5 wins QC.
sheek
Roar Guru
The only God today is money. No-one owes anyone else anything, because most sportsmen today are only interested in money. They're just following the lead of their governing bodies & media empires. That's what happens when you corporatise sport. So be careful what you wish for.
Bobby
Roar Rookie
"Oh ye of little faith", Faith! :happy:
Faith
Roar Rookie
It’s a pity the best article on all this is in the Guardian. If the Roar had pieces like this rather than click bait all this ignorant handwringing and throwing toys out of the pram by this thread would be avoided. Oh but wait a minute it is exactly this quantity (rather than quality of content) of comments (erm readers) that TH says he was brought in to make possible. So, win win for him and Roar.
Faith
Roar Rookie
Is the right being 2nd Tier because that’s where they will be at the end of year without the Jap based players.
Faith
Roar Rookie
Tx Terry
Faith
Roar Rookie
JOC was really good at 10. Y the bawling drama?
Faith
Roar Rookie
Lol Bobby, then get ready to be no 7 in the world again.
ethan
Guest
This one stings worst of all, as Cooper still qualifies under the giteau Law, which the club knew when signing him, so there should have been no problem with reg 9.
Tim J
Roar Rookie
But Dan Carter played in Japan and became the best player in the 2015 RWC.
pm
Roar Rookie
It's a mess, but at the same time it's only an end of year tour. Other overseas players are going to join. Wallabies will be forced to adapt to not having a good 10 again and the back 5 looks very shakey. Will have to try and win through superior forward play
JC
Roar Rookie
Excellent point, P. The clubs would have invested a lot in getting the new comp off to a great start.
potsie
Guest
There is also more at stake. Japan is soon launching their first ever professional competition and using this to try to establish rugby as a serious, competitive sport in Japan and capture the benefits of the World Cup and other recent momentum. It is unfortunate for the tour, but not surprising that Japanese rugby officials and indeed other rugby folk might think establishing rugby in Japan is more important than an end of season tour.
potsie
Guest
You are quite probably correct, but even then there are often very clear indications they are saying "no" through specific use of language. For instance, if Japanese people say "kentou shimasu", which a translator would translate literally to "we will consider it" (to English speakers a weak positive), this is a pretty clear "No" to Japanese. But unless you are in the room and depending on who is translating, there are a million ways that a misunderstanding could have arisen.
scubasteve
Guest
I think a lot of us are just disappointed that with the forward pack and with a Hodge/Kerevi combo we were starting to look pretty good odds against England. For me, a lot of the success here hinges on our 12. our 13/14/15 are all good. 9/10 serviceable behind a strong pack.
piru
Roar Rookie
I'd be of the same opinion, but I'd be fine with RA saying that he therefore loses eligibility for the national team.