Veteran Wallaby Ashley-Cooper says he won’t rest until he wins the World Cup
Adam Ashley-Cooper is “filthy” he hasn’t won a World Cup yet, saying his 118-Test career means nothing if he doesn’t get his hands on the Webb Ellis Cup.
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Picked to play in his fourth World Cup, with 118 Test caps already under his belt, Adam Ashley-Cooper should be the happiest Wallaby alive.
If longevity is a measure of success, the 35-year-old’s standing as a Wallaby great is beyond question, but that’s not how the veteran utility back sees it.
Despite all his individual achievements and the accolades that have come his way, Ashley-Cooper is as unfulfilled now as he was when he was just starting out, driven by a sense of failure at what he hasn’t managed to do rather than what he has.
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“I’ve always played the game with a chip on my shoulder,” he told The Sunday Telegraph.
“And the fact I’ve played over 100 Tests for Australia and not really achieved anything significant, I’m filthy about that.
“For me to be happy, I’ve got to win the World Cup. It’s great to be picked to play in four World Cups and be in great company with George Gregan but that’s not what it’s about, it’s about winning.
“That’s what I need and I think it’s what this country needs and what our game needs.”
Ashley-Cooper was resigned to finishing his career without winning the World Cup when he played in the Wallabies side that lost the 2015 final to New Zealand and he took up a lucrative contract in France, then switched to Japan.
But something just kept gnawing away at him so last year, he called up Michael Cheika and asked whether there was any chance he could force his way into the side for this year’s World Cup.
He wasn’t asking for a handout, knowing he wouldn’t get one anyway, and had to take a massive pay cut to return home to play for the Waratahs and prove he deserved a spot on merit.
“I still wanted to achieve something at international level which I hadn’t done so I rang Cheikh and said ‘am I dreaming or could this be a reality?” and he said that he was very open to the conversation and I thought I could inspire a lot of others to come back and play,” Ashley-Cooper said.
“So I made that my goal and trained harder than I ever have before because I still had my own questions and fears about what I was trying to so but that’s what drives you.
“You’re allowed to be scared, you’re allowed to be fearful. I think that’s natural but you use that as a mechanism and just keep at it.”
Unable to break into the side for this year’s Rugby Championship, Ashley-Cooper was given a final shot at winning the Bledisloe Cup match when he was picked on the bench for last week’s clash with the All Blacks in Auckland.
Once again, the silverware he so desperately craved to validate his long career eluded him, so now it’s all on the line for him at the World Cup.
“It’s the same for any professional athlete, if you haven’t won any anything significant at the highest level you’re never happy,” he said.
“I should be happy with what I’d achieved but I’m not really and that’s why winning the World Cup means so much to me because this could be something that’s really special for all of us and no-one can ever take that away.”
Originally published as Veteran Wallaby Ashley-Cooper says he won’t rest until he wins the World Cup
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