‘Rugby nerd’ Quade Cooper praises ‘special’ Wallabies rival

Eddie Jones is spoilt for choice ahead of this year’s Rugby World Cup in France. The Wallabies coach has a plethora of genuinely talented first-five eighth’s to choose from as the men in gold chase rugby immortality.

Of course, Quade Cooper is one of them.

Cooper is widely considered to be a frontrunner for the coveted World Cup squad, but the 35-year-old will have to fend off some stiff competition to claim the No. 10 jersey for his own.

Wallabies Bernard Foley, Ben Donaldson and Noah Lolesio are also running, as is uncapped Australian Carter Gordon.

Gordon has been nothing short of sensational for the Melbourne Rebels in Super Rugby Pacific, and has well and truly thrown himself into World Cup competition on the back of a breakout campaign.

“Rugby nerd” Quade Cooper – as former Wallaby Morgan Turinui described him – couldn’t have spoken more highly of the exciting young talent.

“It is good to have competition and I’ve been rooming with Carter, so he’s a great kid and (I) look forward to working with him,” Cooper said on Rugby Heaven.

“There’s a lot of special things with him and every other young player in this group. He’s a great ball player. He’s got a great pass on him. He’s just a great young kid.

“As are the rest of the boys here. So it’s a great group and I look forward to being in camp for the rest of the week.”

Gordon has cemented his place as the chief No. 10 down south in Melbourne, and is expected to hang onto that role for the years to come.

But, in a boost for both the Rebels and potentially the Wallabies, Gordon could potentially player alongside his younger brother Mason.

Mason has inked a deal with the Rebels – recently re-signing with the club – but is yet to make his Super Rugby Pacific debut.

Speaking with RugbyPass earlier this year at Junior Wallabies training, Mason opened up about the “unbelievable connection” he shares with his brother.

“I live with him down in Melbourne and it’s really good for us because we have an unbelievable connection as brothers, pretty much best friends,” Mason Gordon told RugbyPass.

“We learn off each other very well with different people but we do learn off each other well.

“He’s someone I look up to and know that I’ll have him by my side and I’ll be by his side whenever we need each other.

“Definitely a role model for me. I watch his games every day, I know exactly where he’s supposed to be on the  field and he does leaps and bounds above what he’s supposed to.

“Coming home and getting to see the personal side of him like I have my whole life obviously, he’s my brother, he’s a very professional athlete and I take a lot of things from him.”