Cooper out of Wallabies

RUGBY UNION: Poor form, a lack of enjoyment and the return of Kurtley Beale.

Wallabies coach Michael Cheika identified three reasons for leaving Quade Cooper out of an extended pre-Bledisloe Cup training squad named yesterday, and in doing so cast major doubt about the international career of the 70-Test playmaker.

Cooper was the major omission from a 38-man squad named by Cheika that will engage in a series of training camps prior to the Wallabies’ taking on the All Blacks in Sydney next month.

Though still missing Brumbies players, the squad contains a large number of new up-and-comers and a few old faces, including Force props Pek Cowan and Tetera Faulkner, who last played Tests in 2014.

But as usual, the absent names are often more telling about Cheika’s plans than the inclusions, and along with Scott Higginbotham and Rob Horne, the coach’s “difficult” decision to leave Cooper at home was a major one.

“From a form perspective, yeah I don’t think his (Reds) form has been brilliant to be honest,” Cheika said.

“I have had a long talk with him yesterday and I don’t want to breach that code of coach-player by giving out too much detail, but 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.”

Asked if he thought Cooper would fight to win his position back, Cheika said: “I’d say that’s his natural character, yes. You want your senior players to have that attitude when they face adversity, that they show resilience.”

Cheika said he’d omitted Higginbotham following a lack of impact in the June series.

The 38-man squad contains 11 uncapped players.