Quade Cooper to play his 50th game for Australia against Wales

Nov 28 • Australia, General News, International, World Rugby • 2076 Views • Comments Off on Quade Cooper to play his 50th game for Australia against Wales

Qantas Wallabies flyhalf Quade Cooper will become Australia’s 40th player to reach the prestigious 50-game Test milestone in Saturday night’s final Spring Tour and James Bevan Trophy contest against Wales at Millennium Stadium.

The honour comes at the end of a watershed year for the 25-year-old Queensland Reds playmaker, who was also given Australia’s vice-captaincy duties throughout the Spring Tour.

Cooper boasts an impressive winning strike rate of winning 31 of his 49 Tests since debuting against Italy in 2008 and has accumulated 124 points in his Test career to date.

He will now be aiming to celebrate his milestone game as part of an Australian team that has made three changes to its starting line-up against Wales.

Those changes include the return of Adam Ashley-Cooper at outside centre and Nick Cummins on the wing, along with Christian Leali’ifano shifting to his preferred role in the number 12 jersey.

Qantas Wallabies coach Ewen McKenzie has also re-shuffled his bench with hooker Tatafu Polota-Nau, prop Benn Robinson, lock Kane Douglas, backrower Dave Dennis and centre Mike Harris the five changes made.

For the third straight week the Qantas Wallabies have named an unchanged starting forward pack.

“We’re treating this week a little bit like our Grand Final, so it’s pleasing to bring in some big game players with a lot of experience,” McKenzie said.

“I think everyone will be extremely motivated by the circumstances of the game and the opportunity to play Wales in their backyard. For us to finish on a high would be good reward for a lot of the hard work being done.

“There has been a lot of change and different things happening, so for the guys to push through that has been terrific.”

McKenzie also congratulated Cooper on reaching the 50-game honour.

“To get to 50 games is an outstanding achievement and it’s fitting that he reaches the milestone at the end of a really good individual season,” McKenzie said.

“He has really enjoyed the responsibility of playing at 10 for Australia. He is a very proud guy and proud of his involvement. This team is very important to him and I’m personally quite pleased for him.

“He’s continually improving both on and off the field and definitely isn’t the finished article, which is promising.

“But, he won’t be too caught up in the milestone externally, his focus will be on how he fits into the team and his responsibility of managing this game.”

McKenzie said Saturday night would be a good opportunity to finish the season on a high note while also continuing Australia’s eight-game win streak over Wales.

“We are trying to be a consistent side which can come up with answers no matter what the circumstance or environment,” McKenzie said.

“We are enjoying playing in big venues in front of hostile crowds, but being consistent in that space is where we want to be.

“Our journey at the moment is around that and four wins in a row to end the season would be fantastic.”

The Qantas Wallabies side to play Wales for The James Bevan Trophy at Millennium Stadium on Saturday 30 November is:

1. James Slipper (Queensland Reds – 48 caps)
2. Stephen Moore (ACT Brumbies – 90 caps)
3. Sekope Kepu (NSW Waratahs – 37 caps)
4. Rob Simmons (Queensland Reds – 36 caps)
5. James Horwill (Queensland Reds – 47 caps)
6. Scott Fardy (ACT Brumbies – 9 caps)
7. Michael Hooper (NSW Waratahs – 27 caps)
8. Ben Mowen (c – ACT Brumbies – 14 caps)
9. Will Genia (Queensland Reds – 54 caps)
10. Quade Cooper (vc – Queensland Reds – 49 caps)
11. Nick Cummins (Western Force – 11 caps)
12. Christian Leali’ifano (ACT Brumbies – 12 caps)
13. Adam Ashley-Cooper (NSW Waratahs – 90 caps)
14. Joe Tomane (ACT Brumbies – 8 caps)
15. Israel Folau (NSW Waratahs – 14 caps)

16. Tatafu Polota-Nau (NSW Waratahs – 45 caps)
17. Benn Robinson (NSW Waratahs – 65 caps)
18. Ben Alexander (ACT Brumbies – 61 caps)
19. Kane Douglas (NSW Waratahs – 13 caps)
20. Dave Dennis (NSW Waratahs – 17 caps)
21. Nic White (ACT Brumbies – 10 caps)
22. Mike Harris (Queensland Reds – 9 caps)
23. Bernard Foley (NSW Waratahs – 3 caps)