He won’t be taking on the All Blacks but Quade Cooper’s most important role could be as the Wallabies whisperer.
Despite sensationally being brought back from the international wilderness after four long years, Cooper was never likely to feature so soon for the Wallabies after being selected in the squad.
He still could feature later in The Rugby Championship – and has an eye on taking his chance and pushing for a dream World Cup bid in 2023 – but for now Cooper’s got an even more important role: keeping Noah Lolesio’s feet on the ground.
After spearheading the Wallabies’ 2-1 series win over France, Lolesio will once again wear the No.10 jersey against the All Blacks on Saturday in the opening Bledisloe at Eden Park.
As a kid, Lolesio, the Queensland prodigy who moved down to the Brumbies as a teenager, looked up to Cooper who thrilled and spilled over the course of his 70…
