Queensland Reds pivot Quade Cooper trains yesterday ahead of tonight's trial against Auckland in Toowoomba. Picture: Steve Pohlner Source: The Australian
AND so it begins, the long process of Quade Cooper winning back respect and his position in the Wallabies by letting his rugby do his talking for him.
Cooper's outing tonight in the Queensland Reds' season-opening trial against the Auckland Blues at the Toowoomba Sports Ground will be his first game of rugby since he almost cost Australia the Test against Argentina on the Gold Coast in September when he conceded a charge-down try before steering the Wallabies to a hard-fought victory.
No one realised it at the time but the reason his kick was charged down was because he had just injured his knee -- a season-ending injury, as it turned out -- and had been expecting halfback Nick Phipps would clear the ball out of Australia's red zone instead.
Stung by Wallabies coach Robbie Deans' admission that he might well have replaced his playmaker had he known how badly injured winger Dominic Shipperley was at the same time, a disillusioned Cooper made a series of damaging comments, first on Twitter then in the media, which irked many of his teammates and cost him the heaviest fine in the history of the game in this country, $40,000 post-tax.
For a time, it seemed certain Cooper would never play for the Wallabies again. It even seemed likely he would be forced out of the code entirely until ARU chairman Michael Hawker intervened to ensure that an insulting contract offer was replaced with one that better reflected the fact that barely a year earlier Cooper had been the hottest rugby property on the planet.
With Deans volunteering that he will have no problem accepting Cooper back into the Wallabies ranks, all impediments in the way of the mercurial five-eighth reclaiming the gold No 10 jersey have been removed -- save for him producing the form that would justify his selection.
If Cooper is feeling any pressure at all going into his only match before the start of Super Rugby -- he will miss the Reds' second trial next Friday against the Chiefs at Caloundra because it clashes with his boxing debut -- he certainly has disguised it well at training this week.
"He's looked relaxed, confident and at peace, despite the fact that he's been busy doing both (rugby and boxing training)," said Reds coach Ewen McKenzie. "All the tricks are there."
If Cooper had to miss one trial match, McKenzie no doubt would have preferred it to be this match to allow him to finetune his side against the Chiefs before the real war begins with the Super Rugby season opener against the Brumbies in Canberra on February 16. But Cooper's charity fight was locked in during the shadowy period when it appeared he was lost to rugby. McKenzie, rather than fight it, has tailored his plans around it.
He has tailored his team around Cooper tonight, selecting what on paper looks to be his likely backline against the Brumbies, with Ben Lucas at halfback, Ben Tapuai and Anthony Faingaa in the centres, Luke Morahan claiming the one wing spot left after Digby Ioane was assigned his, and goalkicker Mike Harris again tried at fullback.
Up front, it is a different story, with McKenzie giving a number of fringe players a chance. Room was made yesterday for yet another rising youngster when Wallabies hooker Saia Faingaa pulled up sore in training and was replaced by former England under-20 frontrower Kevin Davis, a regular prop being converted to hooker.
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