Quade Cooper has thrown his hat into the ring to be considered a Wallabies fly-half option once again ahead of the 2027 Rugby World Cup, despite being 38 years of age.<\/p>\n
After Cooper took up a coaching position in Japan Rugby League One for the 2025\/26 season, it appeared that his playing days had run their course and he had retired.<\/p>\n
He joined Kintetsu Liners for the campaign but it appears he is now having a rethink about whether or not to put his boots back on and try to add to his 80 Wallaby caps.<\/p>\n
Interested<\/p>\n
\u201cThe thing is I never retired, I just had other opportunities that presented themselves and at the time when I was deciding do I want to keep playing, I was very mentally tired,\u201d Cooper told The Australian newspaper on Saturday.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo am I interested? I mean, who wouldn\u2019t be, it\u2019s a home World Cup<\/a> and I still know I can play.<\/p>\n \u201cSo, of course, I\u2019m interested, along with every other ex-player and every other up-and-coming young guy. I\u2019m sure that everybody wants a piece of it in some way.\u201d<\/p>\n It would be a remarkable story but by no means impossible as Australia<\/a> have been struggling in the fly-half jersey for some time, with several players given an opportunity.<\/p>\n Former head coach Joe Schmidt handed a staggering nine players a chance in the position during his tenure while new boss Les Kiss doesn\u2019t appear to have a nailed on 10.<\/p>\n Kiss recently included Carter Gordon, Ben Donaldson and Declan Meredith as his fly-half options for their upcoming two-Test series against Japan and discussed the role.<\/p>\n Wallabies captain gives verdict on Les Kiss\u2019 arrival ahead of double Japan clash<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cThe first two Tests<\/a>, I\u2019ve got three 10s that will lead the way for us,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cWhatever I do after that is another question, but for now I\u2019m just focused on what I have to do with this team, and it\u2019s important that my team know that.\u201d<\/p>\n SA Rugby general manager for high-performance rugby, Dave Wessels, who worked with Cooper<\/a> at the Rebels, has backed him to succeed if he were to take the plunge.<\/p>\n \u201cI was lucky enough to coach this man for a few years in Australia. I back the man Quade Cooper to pull this off,\u201d he wrote in a post on X.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s a proper athlete and has genuine work ethic\u2026and most of all loves the game! Would be great for Australian rugby.\u201d<\/p>\n