Cooper defends Marcus chatter
‘I’M NOT COLLUDING WITH ENEMY’
QUADE COOPER has kicked into touch suggestions that he could be colluding with the enemy by messaging Marcus Smith.
Cooper is in a three-way battle with James O’Connor and Noah Lolesio for the Australian starting 10 shirt in Saturday’s first Test here.
Smith looks nailed on to start as fly-half for England in the opener, with Owen Farrell at 12, but he has been chatting with Cooper to exchange tips.
Cooper’s link-up with Smith comes after the recent rumpus over England coach Eddie Jones keeping in touch with Wallaby centre Samu Kerevi, thanks to their link through Japan club Suntory Sungoliath.
But Cooper, 34, says the critics should have bigger things to worry about than him chatting with Smith online.
“If you are of the mindset of trying to hold things back from other people and trying to stunt someone else’s growth that is such a negative way to live your life,” said Cooper. “It is great way to be able to toss information back and forth and if it can help or challenge someone that’s great.
“When I was young you couldn’t just send Carlos Spencer an Instagram DM and chat to him.You couldn’t get in contact with these guys. One of my best mates, Ben Tapuai, was playing for Harlequins. Marcus followed me on Instagram and we ended up trading a few messages. He is a great talent and hopefully we can build that friendship over the next few years.”
Cooper was part of the worst season of Jones’ coaching career but, despite that calamity, he still claims the England coach made him the player he is. The Australian playmaker was a teenager at the Super Rugby outfit the Reds in 2007 when Jones was in charge of a disastrous campaign that brought just two wins.
Jones, left, walked the plank after a 92-3 defeat to the Bulls but he had put Cooper and scrum-half Will Genia on the path to becoming Australian regulars. Seventyfive caps on, fly-half Cooper is set to face down the man who gave him his first break in pro rugby. “I have nothing but respect and gratitude for Eddie,” he added. “We had to learn hard and fast, myself and Will, when we came through we were 17 or 18, we were just thrown straight into Super Rugby.
“When you look at the Reds, we got to 2010-11 and we were in a great space. Eddie saw in us that he thought was worth pushing and pushed a few buttons to try and get us here.”