Quade Cooper shattered by failure to honour skipper James Horwill’s milestone with victory

QUADE Cooper would trade in his own 100-game milestone for a second chance at honouring skipper James Horwill with the win he deserved.

QUADE Cooper is hurting.

He says he would trade in his own 100-game milestone on Friday night for a second chance at honouring long-time skipper James Horwill with the win he deserved, but did not get in the Reds' latest fizzer.

An hour after the error-prone 35-21 crash against the Hurricanes on Saturday night, Horwill was near to tears in the dressingroom in Wellington as he spoke about what the Reds meant to him.

He had just received his tassled honour cap for 100 games of body-banging service in front of his players, proud parents Rod and Jenny and girlfriend Lauren Diamond.

The mood among his teammates that they had let down their talismanic leader on one of the most important nights for the Reds in his nine-season career was palpable.

News_Image_File: James Horwill in front of the Reds’ 100 Game honour board ahead of the Hurricanes match.

Flyhalf Cooper felt the sting.

“To come up short when two of our guys are playing their 50th (Ben Tapuai) and 100th (Horwill) games is deeply disappointing when you know the blood, sweat and tears they have put in,’’ Cooper said.

“No one plays for numbers and caps. They are a byproduct. Like everyone in this team, I would hand back a cap or five to get a win for the team.

“There's no way we are giving up on the season. There's still hope and we'll be giving everything.’’

Another night of poor execution and a massive 47 missed tackles sent the Reds stumbling to just three wins from nine games and a lowly 13th position.

News_Rich_Media: The Queensland Reds have gone down 35-21 to the Hurricanes with Cory Jane scoring a hat-trick.

It can't be spun as “we're still in it’’ because the competition table is so condensed and the sixth-placed NSW Waratahs (24 points) are just two wins ahead.

The Reds could sneak into sixth by beating the Blues, Crusaders, Highlanders, Force and Waratahs, who all sit ahead of them, on the run home, but even the two games against the lowly Melbourne Rebels that lie ahead are not “gimmes’’ anymore.

There is still huge effort.

Flanker Beau Robinson copped multiple bellringing tackles from Victor Vito and Alapati Leiua yet climbed up to make 17 of his own.

Winger Chris Feauai-Sautia bust through 12 tackles in a fine running game.

News_Image_File: Quade Cooper casts a long shadow as he runs down the tunnel at Westpac Stadium.

One flicker of good news yesterday was halfback Will Genia (ankle) walking on to a Wellington-Auckland flight without crutches which suggests he is chance to face the Blues in Auckland on Friday night in Cooper's 100th appearance.

Flanker Liam Gill has joined the squad after an excellent recovery from a hamstring strain and his backrow excellence will be utilised immediately in Auckland.

Cooper's inconsistent performances of late reflect the Reds play as a whole.

In-form ACT Brumbies fly half Matt Toomua would be wearing the Wallabies' No. 10 jersey if a Test team was picked today.

News_Image_File: Will Genia could play against the Blues after being spotted without crutches on a plane flight.

A woeful miscued cross kick from Cooper was ugly on an ugly night for the Reds en masse, with indecision on gathering in kicks and poor control of the ball after encouraging first-half signs.

That the Reds' once imperious confidence has been eroded is obvious because Cooper is not as trusting of the options around him. That's when those cross kick aberrations sneak out.

What he has to do is control the show so the Reds can start clawing back some ground in Auckland and beyond.

A win is all that matters in Auckland.

The 100th game milestone joy can come later, just as he said.