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Eddie Jones defends Cooper's form while Hooper is a 'long shot' for Bledisloe I

(L-R) Michael Hooper and Quade Cooper pose during a Rugby Australia media opportunity launching the Wallabies 2023 Rugby World Cup jersey, at Coogee Oval on June 22, 2023 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

Wallabies co-captain Michael Hooper appears a long shot to face New Zealand in the opening Bledisloe Cup clash while coach Eddie Jones has defended the contribution of some of his stars.

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The Australians are winless in their first two matches under returning coach Jones and face a mammoth task at the MCG next Saturday night against the unbeaten All Blacks.

With the second Test in Dunedin early next month, the Wallabies are looking to lift the prized trans-Tasman trophy for the first time since 2002, when Jones was in his first stint as coach.

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Veteran flanker Hooper is still battling a calf injury that ruled him out of last weekend’s loss to Argentina, with a decision to be made on him over the weekend.

“He wasn’t able to train today and we’ll need to make a medical assessment of him over the weekend and see whether he can participate in the game or not,” Jones told reporters on Saturday.

“We’ve still got a week to go and calf injuries we tend to be more careful with their rehab than other injuries so medical staff are being pretty careful with him.”

Jones revealed that star prop Taniela Tupou had returned from the Australia A clash in Tonga unwell and could only manage his first run with the Wallabies on Saturday.

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“If he can get through some some good training early in the week then he may be available for selection,” Jones said.

With Quade Cooper and Nic White in their 30s Jones was questioned about the lack of pace in his halves and also from inside centre Samu Kerevi.

He defended Cooper and Kerevi, saying they were tracking well for the Rugby World Cup, which gets underway in early September.

“We’ve got a number of players coming back from long-term injuries and then we know those players, as much as we like them to be at their best now, they’re not going to be their best until the World Cup,” the coach said.

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“We’ don’t know where Quade’s going to end up – he’s still four games into returning from an Achilles tendon and Samu Kerevi is three or four games back from an ACL and they’re serious injuries.

“So with better exposure, the quality training and rugby training over the next period of time, they’re going to get a lot sharper.”

Jones dropped fullback Tom Wright from his squad following the losses to South Africa and Argentina with Andrew Kellaway and Jordan Petaia in the mix to wear the No.15 jersey.

Utility back Reece Hodge and backrower Pete Samu were also selection casualties.

“We need to improve the team, we haven’t been good enough in the first two games so I’m still searching for what our best team is, that’s quite obvious,” Jones said.

“I’ve only had the players for a short time and I need to find out what our best combinations are so Kellaway and Petaia are definitely options at 15 and both have trained there this week.

“These games, as important as they are and certainly against New Zealand and the Bledisloe Cup we treat them with the utmost importance, but I’ve got to find out who the best 33 is for Australia and this is part of the process.”

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Tom 5 hours ago
Will Bristol's daredevil 'Bears-ball' deliver the trophy they crave?

Also a Bristol fan and echo your sentiments.


I love watching Bristol but their approach will only get them so far I think. Exeter played like this when they first got promoted to the prem and had intermittent success, it wasn't until they wised up and played a more balanced game that they became a consistently top side.


I really want Bristol to continue playing this brand of rugby and I don't mind them running it from under their posts but I don't think they need to do it every single time. They need to be just a little bit more selective about when and where on the pitch they play. Every game they put themselves under so much needless pressure by turning the ball over under their posts trying to do kamikaze moves when it's not required. By all means run it from your goal line if there is a chance for a counter attack, we all want to see Bristol running in 100m tries from under their posts but I think until they learn when to do it and when to be pragmatic, they are unlikely to win the premiership.


Defense has been a real positive from Bristol, they've shown a lot of improvement there... And I will say that I think this kamikaze strategy they employ is a very good one for a struggling side and could be employed by Newcastle. It's seems to have turned around Gloucester's fortunes. The big advantage is even if you don't have the biggest and best players, what you have is cohesion. This is why Scotland keep battering England. England have better individuals but they look muddled as a team, trying to play a mixed strategy under coaches who lack charisma, the team has no identity. Scotland come out and give it full throttle from 1-15 even if they struggle against the top sides, sides like England and Wales who lack that identity drown under the relentless will and synergy of the Scots. If Newcastle did the same they could really surprise some people, I know the weather is bad up there but it hasn't bothered the Scots. Bristol can learn from Scotland too, Pat is on to something when he says the following but Scotland don't play test matches like headless chickens. They still play with the same level of clarity and ambition Bristol do but they are much better at picking their moments. They needed to go back to this mad game to get their cohesion back after a couple of seasons struggling but I hope they get a bit wiser from matches like Leinster and La Rochelle.


“If there’s clarity on what you’re trying to do as a team you can win anything.”

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