'I'm where I need to be': Cooper confronts his demons
SPOTLIGHT: Quade Cooper is confronting his demons head on as he prepares to tackle Argentina for the first time since suffering a devastating leg injury.
It was during the second half of the Wallabies’ famous 41-26 comeback win over the Pumas 11 months ago that Cooper ruptured an achilles tendon, leaving the influential playmaker racing the clock to be fit for the 2023 World Cup.
Cooper made his Wallabies return in last Saturday’s forgettable 12-43 loss to the Springboks in the opening match of the Rugby Championship in Pretoria.
Starved of the ball and opportunities behind a well-beaten Australian forward pack, Cooper had been the man for the Wallabies before that pounding on the South African Highveld.
After replacing Noah Lolesio as the Wallabies’ flyhalf in 2021 under former coach Dave Rennie, Cooper sparked Australia’s first five-match winning streak since making the 2015 World Cup Final.
It was perhaps no coincidence both Cooper and strike centre Samu Kerevi then missed the Wallabies’ 2021 end-of-year tour of Europe while committed to Japanese clubs as Australia’s winning run ended with a hat-trick of defeats to Scotland, England and Wales.
Cooper also missed the ensuing series loss to Eddie Jones’ touring England side last year with a calf injury before returning to help the Wallabies recover from 17-26 down late to deny the Pumas in Mendoza.
No wonder why Jones turned to the 35-year-old as starting No.10 last week for his first Test of the year since replacing Rennie in January.
Now Cooper is eager to repay Jones for his faith if given another opportunity against Argentina in Sydney on Saturday.
The veteran insists he won’t be holding back, like he might have earlier in his career.
“Technically, it’s [only] my third game of footy so I’m excited to have the opportunity to get back out there,” Cooper said on Wednesday when asked if he was ahead or behind where he hoped to be in his comeback.
“I’ve been on the field so if I’m on the field I’m where I need to be. In terms of it being the corresponding game [from last year’s injury], I’m looking forward to that challenge.
“It’s similar to the first time I ran again. My first running session I grabbed the boots that I hurt my achilles in and put them straight back on.
“In the past, I may have thrown the boots out when I got injured rather than thinking ‘hey, the boots, game and team are irrelevant, it’s the work that you’ve done and do each day to put you in the position to perform’.”
Jones will name his side to face the Pumas on Thursday with Kerevi expected to replace Reece Hodge at inside centre and finally reunite with Cooper in a massive midfield boost for the Wallabies.
Prop Taniela Tupou will also make his comeback from an Achilles tendon rupture for Australia ‘A’ against Tonga on Friday, in a side that also includes Wallabies veterans James O’Connor and Bernard Foley.
