Quade Cooper could be offered World Cup lifeline as Joe Powell admits the Brumbies would be ‘happy to have him’
Cooper has been exiled from the Reds side by head coach Brad Thorn and has fallen out of Michael Chieka’s Australia squad as a result
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Your support makes all the difference.Quade Cooper could be offered a 2019 Rugby World Cup lifeline after Brumbies scrum-half Joe Powell admitted that the ACT Brumbies would be “happy to have him” if he wanted to end his Queensland Reds nightmare.
After being exiled from the Reds team by head coach Brad Thorn, Cooper has knuckled down with Brisbane’s club side Souths, with the 70-Test capped fly-half determined to prove his worth for both his Super Rugby side and Michael Cheika’s Australia team.
Posting on Twitter on Monday, Cooper wrote: “Even when it appears there is no way, there is ALWAYS a way...persist and be patient...grateful to be representing @SouthsRugby on this journey back to the Reds & Wallabies.. I will not give up.”
The 30-year-old remains contracted to the Reds until the end of the 2019 season, which takes in next year’s Rugby World Cup in Japan, but looks certain to miss out unless he can force his way back into the plans of Rugby World Cup winner Thorn and subsequently into the Wallabies squad.
Thorn has previously said that he will not stand in the way of Cooper if he pursues a move away from the Reds, and while a switch to a Northern Hemisphere club has not yet materialised – despite the likes of Sale Sharks and Ulster being linked with him – there could yet be an opportunity to continue his career in Australia.
Fellow Wallaby Powell, who has three international caps to his name, has admitted that should he do so, he would be welcome with open arms to rival side the Brumbies.
“He’s a guy with a lot of experience and he would teach the younger guys a lot of things,” Powell told local media on Tuesday.
“We’d be happy to have him if he was to come. If we could get him down to Canberra – I’m not sure he would like the weather too much – but it would be good to see him playing at a higher level again.”
Cooper won the last of his 70 Wallaby caps in June 2017 against Italy, but was a notable omission from Cheika’s squad for the Rugby Championship and the end-of-season European tour. Current first-choice fly-half Bernard Foley has made the No 10 shirt his own for Australia, but there is little strength in depth beyond the Waratahs stand-off and Cheika could be forced to rely on natural centre Kurtley Beale and utility back Reece Hodge to cover the position with few other options to call upon.
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