WALLABIES COACH MICHAEL Cheika has defended Quade Cooper after the flyhalf was criticised for his performance following Australia’s crushing loss to the All Blacks in the Bledisloe Cup on Saturday.
Cooper was a surprise selection for the Eden Park game in Auckland, given his history of being flustered when playing the All Blacks in New Zealand.
The 27-year-old made several errors in the first-half, but it was his sin-binning early in the second-half for a head-high tackle that saw the All Blacks stretch their lead.
“I thought he did well,” Cheika told reporters after the defeat.
“We didn’t want to lose him to the sin-bin but he was trying to make a try-saving tackle.
“I thought he put us in good position early on and made some good plays and led us around the park well until he had to leave the field.”
Before the Eden Park clash Cheika had already said Cooper would head to the World Cup starting in England next month and the flyhalf felt he had justified that faith.
“I did the job I needed to do in terms of controlling the team around while I was out there,” Cooper said.
I was disappointed with not being able to stay out there for the whole game but that’s the way it’s gone.”
The Wallaby was booed by the 48,000-strong crowd but said he was not rattled. “It’s professional sport. The crowd hasn’t got anything to do with it,” he said.
“My mindset had blocked that out. I’m accustomed to training to that now. I expect that.”
