Wallabies flyhalf Quade Cooper has attempted to take the spotlight off himself by saying that Saturday’s Bledisloe Cup Rugby Championship match in Wellington is not about him against the All Blacks.
Cooper returns to the Wallabies starting line up in the Number 10 jersey pushing World Cup finalist Bernard Foley out to centre.
The match will be Cooper’s first for the Wallabies since Australia beat Uruguay in the Rugby World Cup last year. It will also be his first against New Zealand since the second Bledisloe Cup match in Auckland last year.
Whenever New Zealand born Cooper plays for the Wallabies in New Zealand he makes the headlines and had a long standing rivalry with Richie McCaw and has often been branded as public enemy No.1 by some All Black fans.
“It’s not about me against the All Blacks, it’s about the Wallabies against the All Blacks, Australia against New Zealand,” he told the Australian Rugby site.
“So, I’m not getting drawn into anything personal.”
“I’m not coming over here thinking I need to do anything special to beat the All Blacks. We need to do something as a team and we owe, not only to ourselves, but the public back at home.”
Cooper spent most of the last year playing for Toulon in France with a short stint with the Aussie Sevens has made a more consistent player according to Wallabies coach Michael Cheika.
Cooper is however refusing to make any predictions.
“I can’t say that I’m going to be more consistent or anything like that but I know that every time I put the jumper on I give it everything I’ve got and this will be no different,” he said.
“I want to go out there and do the best that I can to contribute to the team and get a victory for the team.”
The Bookies have given Australia a 19 point start for this Match.
