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Springboks on Cooper: 'Not saying he was immature in the past...'
By Liam Heagney
Beaten Springboks boss Jacques Nienaber has paid tribute to Quade Cooper for the way he played for Australia in last Sunday's dramatic Rugby Championship win for the Wallabies on the Gold Coast. That 33-year-old hadn't been capped at Test level since 2017 but he returned from his four-year stint in the international wilderness to put South Africa to the sword with a match-winning effort capped by a last-gasp penalty kick.
With young Noah Lolesio struggling in recent matches versus the All Blacks, and particularly inaccurate off the kicking tee, Wallabies boss Dave Rennie felt last Sunday's round three Championship clash with the Springboks was an opportune time to recall Cooper to a set-up he was last involved in when Michael Cheika was in charge.
Cooper went on to account for 23 of Australia's match-winning tally of 28 points and his influence was admired by rival boss Nienaber, who insisted that he was surprised by nothing which the veteran out-half did having long been an admirer of his style of play.
"Nothing (surprised me)," said the Springboks boss when asked about a Cooper factor he will likely face again this Saturday when the teams play their round four clash in Brisbane. "He is a quality rugby player. I always thought he was a quality rugby player. I was coaching the Stormers back in 2011 when he and Will (Genia) were running riot with Queensland.
"I still see the same traits that I saw back then in him. It's always nice as a defence coach to measure yourself against the quality of somebody like Quade. Just from purely what I am seeing, I am not saying he was immature in the past, not at all, I see a mature game. I thought he managed the game well and that is why Dave selected him, because of his experience. He is an experienced guy who has played over 70 Test matches."
Nienaber, who has made two changes to the starting Springboks XV for this weekend's rematch with the Wallabies, added that the dynamic of having an old-stager such as Cooper involved in a squad where there are youngsters such as Lolesio who are keen to learn is a win-win situation for any team. "Test match rugby is different and it's something you grow into. You make mistakes, you get used to the pace of the game only after a couple of matches, you get used to the pressure of it.
"Quade has played 70-odd Test matches and has been through most of it. In terms of your squad, it is always nice to have experience on one side but also to get that energy and that almost mindfulness and playfulness from the youth. It's always nice to have a good balance in terms of that."
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Latest Comments
Excellent points Mz. Because of other commitments I have just watched the game.
Interesting watching it after reading all the news reports especially in the English media. I was expecting to see a game that the ABs were very lucky to win. What I saw was a game that England showed their tactical incompetence and their inability to construct any try scoring opportunities.
They can go on deluding themselves that they were unlucky to lose ( as Borthwick said post match ) but until they stop relying on rush defence and goal kicking to win I feel they're doomed to be ranked 4 or 5 in the world.
Can't wait until the weekend to see how the Wallabies go against them
Though I dare say Walter will be hoping for an England win.
Go to commentsIF SA and NZ win then its 1,2,3 SA/NZ/IRL Otherwise as you were. This is largely irrelevant beyond bragging rights.
As I have pointed out elsewhere the practical use of the Rankings is to determine the seedings bands for the RWC draw. The draw takes place early 2026 and hopefully the rankings will be taken from then.
Important to be in the top 6, the top 12. (and likely the top 4).
This is because there are now 6 groups in the RWC 2027.
If you are in top 6 you are in Seeding Band 1. That means none of the other top 6 will be in your group.
Seeding Band 2 are teams from 7-12, who will have a top 6 team but no other 7-12 team.
After England's defeat by NZ there is clear water between NZ in 3rd, France in 4th and England in 5th. England are desperate for top4, ill come back and explain why later.
Lets look at Seeding Band 1 and 6th place. If you make 6th, no top 6 team is in your group, you are top dog. If you win your group, you won't be facing a top 6 team in your 1/8th final, you will be facing a weaker team. If you fail to make 6th place you WILL have a top 6 team in your group and if you don't win your group you WILL (probably) meet a top 6 in the 1/8 final. That's massive.
Its Argentina holding 6th now. Assuming England hold 5th, then its a 4 horse race for 6th. Argentina, Scotland, Italy and ...Australia. (ranked 6,7,8,9)
Australia play the Lions in NH summer 2025 they are running out of time to get up to 6th for their own RWC. They MUST make a move now. They must beat Wales and they really must beat Scotland to gain points and take points off them. Could they surprise England or Ireland? England may be the better bet but Schmidt knows Ireland so well having masterminded their downfall in France.
Another one to watch is Italy V Argentina. Italy are ambitious and they will want to start pushing the likes of Argentina. If they win this they are still in the hunt. Well worth a watch either way.
Top4: I think the top 6 will be seeded, all the way through from the draw. If thats the case then the top 4 will be seeded to avoid each other until the semi. Good for more certainty around ticket sales etc. That's a possible reason why England want in there. You're not in there you are hitting a top 4 team in a QF. That's an extra 50:50 match you can do without and avoid by being top 4.
Lets look at what Seeding bands might look like with todays rankings:
Seeding Band 1
IRE/SA/NZ/FRA/ENG/ARG
Seeding Band 2
SCO/ITA/AUS/FIJ/WAL/GEO
Sample Aussie strongest pool opponent and 1/8th final opponent if in top 6
Strongest pool opponent: FIJI
1/8 final opponent GEORGIA
Prognosis: advance to 1/4 and potentially beyond
Sample Aussie strongest pool opponent and 1/8th final opponent if NOT in top 6
Strongest pool opponent: SOUTH AFRICA
1/8 final opponent NEW ZEALAND
Prognosis: You know the prognosis
I am pretty sure this is not lost on Joe Schmidt?
Keep in mind when enjoying the matches.
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