NSW Waratahs land Adam Ashley-Cooper on cut price deal for 2019 Super Rugby season
In his quest to make a fourth World Cup veteran utility back Adam Ashley-Cooper will lace up the boots for the Waratahs on a cut price deal.
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He led the Waratahs to their only Super Rugby premiership in 2014 and is the third most capped Wallaby of all time, but Adam Ashley-Cooper has returned to play for NSW for just $85,000 in a bid to make his fourth World Cup.
Ashley-Cooper, 34, is attempting to equal George Gregan as the only Australian to make four World Cups, and will do so via Super Rugby with NSW, who he played 61 games for from 2011-15 before moving to France and then Japan.
The utility back made a shock return to the Wallabies in last year’s spring tour, playing against Italy before he was stood down from the England Test alongside Kurtley Beale for breaching team rules.
His return to the Tahs had been mooted since August last year but was finally confirmed on Tuesday, but surprisingly Ashley-Cooper comes in at the bottom end of the squad’s pay scale.
“His contracting supports our plan around managing our players better in 2019 and further creating depth in our squad,” NSW coach Daryl Gibson said.
“At the same time, I take my hat off to Adam because he has accepted a base contract as his return is about chasing a dream of playing Super Rugby for the NSW Waratahs again and earning a spot in the Wallabies’ Rugby World Cup squad.”
Ashley-Cooper knows a fourth World Cup can only be achieved by rekindling the form he showed the last time he wore the sky blue jersey.
“If you don’t perform well in Super Rugby, I guess you’re not going to be selected for a World Cup, that’s what it boils down to,” Ashley-Cooper said.
“For me, there were a couple of carrots. There’s another opportunity to win a Super Rugby title with the Waratahs because I’ve got great memories of 2014 and what that felt like but then also to get to another Rugby World Cup and win the thing.
“I’ve had three opportunities, three cracks before and pulled up a little short so there’s a lot of football to be played this year and a lot of opportunities around being successful.”
Ashley-Cooper has played 117 Tests for Australia, trailing only Gregan (139) and Stephen Moore (129).
Ashley-Cooper will be competing for a spot in the centres or wing.
Gibson said in their 2018 season review, after NSW lost the semi-final to the Lions, a key issue was playing their best players too often.
With the addition of Ashley-Cooper and Karmichael Hunt, the Tahs have quality depth to allow the likes of Beale and Israel Folau to rest for longer periods, which will be required as part of the new alignment deal to aid the Wallabies in a World Cup year.
The Waratahs play their first Super Rugby trial on Friday against the Highlanders in New Zealand, before facing the Brumbies in Goulburn on Thursday, February 7.
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