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‘Not that I wouldn’t want to’: Quade Cooper discusses Wallabies future

James Slipper and Quade Cooper of the Wallabies watch on following the The Rugby Championship & Bledisloe Cup match between the Australia Wallabies and the New Zealand All Blacks at Melbourne Cricket Ground on July 29, 2023 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Morgan Hancock/Getty Images)

80-Test Wallaby Quade Cooper had admitted that he’ll “probably” never play for Australia again after being omitted from Eddie Jones’ squad for the Rugby World Cup last year.

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Cooper, 35, hasn’t played international rugby since last year’s Bledisloe Cup Test in Dunedin which saw the All Blacks emerge victorious after a Richie Mo’unga penalty at the death.

That was the Wallabies’ fourth loss in as many starts under then-coach Eddie Jones, and also their final Test before the 33-man squad for the Rugby World Cup was to be named.

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Sam Dickson talks to RugbyPass about the All Blacks Sevens early exit | Perth SVNS

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Sam Dickson talks to RugbyPass about the All Blacks Sevens early exit | Perth SVNS

On the morning of August 10, there were murmurs that Cooper and former captain Michael Hooper were set to be left out of the World Cup squad. The Wallabies confirmed that when they revealed their squad on Stan Sport that night.

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But Cooper, who plays club rugby in Japan alongside Will Genia for the Hanazono Kintetsu Liners, refused to rule out a return to international rugby last December.

While the New Zealand-born playmaker has once again left the door open for more Tests in Wallaby gold, Cooper told followers on his Facebook story that it was unlikely.

“I’ll probably say no,” Cooper said in response to a question about whether he’d play for the Wallabies again.

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“It’s not that I wouldn’t want to, it’s more new coaches and stuff like that. I’m getting older but you just never know.”

The coaching change that Cooper was refereeing to was Rugby Australia’s decision to appoint former World Rugby Coach of the Year Joe Schmidt into the role.

Schmidt was officially unveiled as Australia’s third head coach in as many years following the efforts of Dave Rennie and coach Jones.

“I’m desperate for the Wallabies to be competitive, and if I can help, that’s why I’m here,” Schmidt explained at Sydney’s Allianz Stadium earlier this month.

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“I think the global rugby family is desperate for the Wallabies to be where they need to be. British and Irish Lions, they want to have a fantastic series so we want to build toward that and give them exactly what they want and not make anything easy for them.

“Two years after that you’ve got a home World Cup.

“I’m desperate that the Wallabies are really competitive in that World Cup and we get through to those really competitive playoff rounds.”

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But the past won’t be forgotten. Many will still question whether Cooper was the right man to wear the Wallabies’ No. 10 shirt at the World Cup – and more questions may yet be asked.

The Wallabies’ poor campaign under coach Eddie Jones – which saw them win just two from nine Tests in 2023 – will live on forever in a  new Stan Sport docuseries.

Stan released their sneak peek trailer for the three-part series on Monday morning. The behind-the-scenes content will follow the Wallabies’ poor season, including their World Cup disaster.

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H
Hellhound 22 minutes ago
France put World Cup pain behind them with unbeaten run in November

France is starting to look like they are finally over their WC headache, although they were lucky that NZ had a very bad game. The Argies as usual is one game good, the next bad. If they can sort that out and be more consistent, they could become contenders for the WC.


NZ, Argentina (if they are more consistent), and now the Wallabies too is in an upward curve (can they be consistent?), as well as Fiji(as inconsistent as Argentina) looks like possible contenders. The Boks will be as usual a huge threat to defend their title. Things are looking up for the South, so the North should rightfully beware of the Southern Hemisphere threat.


With the French looking dangerous, the English with their close runs (mostly a mindset problem) and the Scottish seems to be the NH main contenders. The Irish is good, but not excellent anymore. They are more overbearing and with their glory days mostly gone with old players hanging on by a thread, by 2027 if they don't start adding in the younger players, they won't make it past yet another WC Quarter final. The problem is that their youngsters, while good is nothing special.


That is just 8 teams without the Irish that can become real WC contenders. Lots of hickups to be sorted still for these teams, excluding the Boks to become a threat. Make no mistake, the top Tier is much closer than people realise and the 2027 WC will be a really great WC, possibly the best contended WC ever.

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