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Quade Cooper returned from a minor knee injury to again illustrate what the struggling Queensland Reds are missing.
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The mercurial outhalf was simply outstanding playing for Brisbane club side Souths against the Wests, helping them to a 38-31 victory.
He scored two tries and set up three others, including one simply outstanding offload.
The Reds are second from bottom in the Super Rugby standings and have won just four of their fourteen matches so far.
Reds head coach Brad Thorn has banished Cooper from the set-up. In May he said that the 30-year-old, who is contracted to the Reds until the end of 2019, was welcome to move.
“If there was an opportunity for Quade at another Super Rugby club, we wouldn’t stand in his way”, Thorn said.
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The Reds and the Wallabies were recently dealt a severe injury blow with the news that their Australia centre Samu Kerevi will miss the entire Rugby Championship after undergoing surgery to repair a torn biceps.
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Kerevi is expected to be out for between three and four months, reportedly doing the damage during the Wallabies’ Test series defeat to Ireland last month.
The 24-year-old went for scans on Sunday after he was in discomfort during the Reds’ Super Rugby loss to the Blues last Friday.
Kerevi went under the knife on Monday and will not play again this season as he sets out on the road to recovery.
The loss of the powerful Kerevi is a blow to the Reds, who are already without Chris Feauai-Sautia and Izaia Perese for the remainder of the campaign.
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