Quade Cooper left out of Wallabies Rugby Championship training squad, international career in the balance
KURTLEY Beale will be the designated deputy at No.10 for Australia after a lacklustre Super Rugby season cost Quade Cooper his Wallabies spot.
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KURTLEY Beale will be the designated deputy at No.10 for Australia after a lacklustre Super Rugby season cost Quade Cooper his spot in the Wallabies’ training squad for the coming Test campaign.
The international career of the 70-Test playmaker hangs in the balance after coach Michael Cheika continued to regenerate the Wallabies, naming 11 uncapped players in a 38-man group.
The Western Force were rewarded for a spirited season with nine players selected, including Curtis Rona. Interestingly, Cheika revealed he is thinking about moving Rona from centre back to the wing, where he was a dominant NRL tryscorer.
Among the other new faces were rookie props Jordan Uelese and Jermaine Ainsley, and Queensland rookies Campbell Magnay, Adam Korczyk and Izack Rodda. A handful of old faces were named too, with Pek Cowan and Tetera Faulkner included three years after their last taste of Test footy.
But as usual with Cheika’s wider squads — which routinely contain rookies on a version of work experience — the omissions were arguably more telling, with Scott Higginbotham, Rob Horne and Toby Smith all cut following game time in June.
Cheika admitted it had been a “difficult” call to axe Cooper.
“From a form perspective, yeah I don’t think his (Super Rugby) form has been brilliant to be honest,” Cheika said.
“I have had a long talk with him yesterday and … one of the big things is for him to look like he is enjoying his footy.
“Getting out there and really being a competitor for that 10 jersey. We have had a talk about the reasons why and obviously a lot of that is trying to get him back into a space where he can be that player, that’s going to get us around the park and do the stuff that we want him to do.
“I don’t feel like that’s been happening and I feel like at a certain point I have to change things.
“With a bit of congestion now in the midfield players, with Beale back and some of the options around the 10 position, I decided that’s the way to go.”
Though he had bright cameos in June, Cooper’s Super Rugby stats have been down in 2017. Just two linebreaks in 12 starts shows a player not as confident at the line as in his peak in 2011.
Cheika admitted there was also an element of seeing what Cooper’s “response” would be to his omission and there is hope yet for the enigmatic Reds playmaker with no other five-eighths included in the squad.
Beale is locked in as Bernard Foley’s back-up but it’s also understood Reece Hodge is viewed by Cheika as a future five-eighth option. Superboot Hodge played his junior rugby in the position and has also spent time there for the Rebels.
Cheika said he was keen get his eyes on Rona and Force partner Billy Meakes up close although he’s not sure where the former would be best deployed in a gold jersey.
“This will be an opportunity for the first time for me to get a look at Rona close up and see where he’s at as far as his work rate and also as far as his football and knowledge and where might he play in the end, will it be centre, will it be wing? Those type of things,” Cheika said.
With Sean McMahon returned, Higginbotham was dropped after failing to provide the desired “impact” in June, Cheika said. Nick Phipps returns at Jake Gordon’s expense and Izzy Perese earned a call-up after a strong under 20s campaign.
The Wallabies begin a gruelling conditioning camp in Newcastle next week, and will engage in camps in Cessnock and Penrith prior the first Bledisloe Cup clash in Sydney on August 19.
WALLABIES EXTENDED SQUAD
Jermaine Ainsley*, Western Force
Adam Coleman, 12 Tests, Western Force
Pek Cowan, 10 Tests, Western Force
Jack Dempsey, 1 Test, NSW Waratahs
Kane Douglas, 31 Tests, Queensland Reds
Sef Fa’agase*, Queensland Reds
Tetera Faulkner, 2 Tests, Western Force
Ned Hanigan, 3 Tests, NSW Waratahs
Richard Hardwick, 2 Tests, Western Force
Michael Hooper, 68 Tests, NSW Waratahs
Sekope Kepu, 80 Tests, NSW Waratahs
Adam Korczyk*, Queensland Reds
Tolu Latu, 4 Tests, NSW Waratahs
Sean McMahon, 15 Tests, Melbourne Rebels
Stephen Moore (c), 120 Tests, Queensland Reds
Tatafu Polota-Nau, 71 Tests, Western Force
Tom Robertson, 9 Tests, NSW Waratahs
Izack Rodda*, Queensland Reds
Rob Simmons, 71 Tests, Queensland Reds
Lopeti Timani, 7 Tests, Melbourne Rebels
Taniela Tupou*, Queensland Reds
Jordan Uelese*, Melbourne Rebels
Backs
Kurtley Beale, 60 Tests, NSW Waratahs
Israel Folau, 55 Tests, NSW Waratahs
Bernard Foley, 45 Tests, NSW Waratahs
Will Genia, 78 Tests
Dane Haylett-Petty, 17 Tests, Western Force
Reece Hodge, 13 Tests, Melbourne Rebels
Karmichael Hunt, 3 Tests, Queensland Reds
Samu Kerevi, 8 Tests, Queensland Reds
Marika Koroibete*, Melbourne Rebels
Campbell Magnay*, Queensland Reds
Billy Meakes*, Western Force
Eto Nabuli, 1 Test, Queensland Reds
Sefa Naivalu, 7 Tests, Melbourne Rebels
Izaia Perese*, Queensland Reds
Nick Phipps, 52 Tests, NSW Waratahs
Curtis Rona*, Western Force
*denotes uncapped player