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‘Rugby nerd’ Quade Cooper praises ‘special’ Wallabies rival
By Finn Morton
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.”
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Latest Comments
> It would be best described as an elegant solution to what was potentially going to be a significant problem for new All Blacks coach Scott Robertson. It is a problem the mad population of New Zealand will have to cope with more and more as All Blacks are able to continue their careers in NZ post RWCs. It will not be a problem for coaches, who are always going to start a campaign with the captain for the next WC in mind. > Cane, despite his warrior spirit, his undoubted commitment to every team he played for and unforgettable heroics against Ireland in last year’s World Cup quarter-final, was never unanimously admired or respected within New Zealand while he was in the role. Neither was McCaw, he was considered far too passive a captain and then out of form until his last world cup where everyone opinions changed, just like they would have if Cane had won the WC. > It was never easy to see where Cane, or even if, he would fit into Robertson’s squad given the new coach will want to be building a new-look team with 2027 in mind. > Cane will win his selections on merit and come the end of the year, he’ll sign off, he hopes, with 100 caps and maybe even, at last, universal public appreciation for what was a special career. No, he won’t. Those returning from Japan have already earned the right to retain their jersey, it’s in their contract. Cane would have been playing against England if he was ready, and found it very hard to keep his place. Perform, and they keep it however. Very easy to see where Cane could have fit, very hard to see how he could have accomplished it choosing this year as his sabbatical instead of 2025, and that’s how it played out (though I assume we now know what when NZR said they were allowing him to move his sabbatical forward and return to NZ next year, they had actually agreed to simply select him for the All Blacks from overseas, without any chance he was going to play in NZ again). With a mammoth season of 15 All Black games they might as well get some value out of his years contract, though even with him being of equal character to Richie, I don’t think they should guarantee him his 100 caps. That’s not what the All Blacks should be about. He absolutely has to play winning football.
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