Cooper turns up the heat ahead of All Blacks clash
The Maori-born Australian out-half did little to quash his status as New Zealand’s “public enemy number one” heaped the pressure on the home side when he agreed it would be “a tough one for them to swallow” if he scored the winning points at Eden Park this weekend.
“They are supposed to have won this World Cup for the past three tournaments and this is no different,” Cooper said.
“A lot of pressure is on them to win this competition on home soil so I am sure they will be worried about how they are going.
“These are the moments you play rugby for, an opportunity to play against the best team in the world in their back yard in a World Cup semi-final.”
Rocky Elsom, the former Leinster flanker, waded in behind Cooper to drive home the Wallabies’ message that all the pressure is on All Black shoulders.
“They’re the number one-ranked team in the world and they’re in a country where they expect them to win the World Cup. Regardless of what happens the public expect that,” Elsom said.
“You get a feeling around town that they won’t tolerate anything less.”
Cooper could have been lining up for the All Blacks this weekend had he taken up the option of returning to New Zealand as an 18-year-old.
“There was a time in my career where I had to decide whether I wanted to come play on this side of the Tasman,” Cooper said.
“I had been living in Australia for such a long period of time, my whole family had moved over, I was enjoying my lifestyle. It was a very tough decision to want to move away from my family again and I was just starting to make a career with the Queensland Reds.
“I decided that that was the best fit for me.”
Meanwhile, there was no sign of captain Richie McCaw during the final 15 minutes of All Blacks training at Waitakere Trusts Stadium in Auckland that was open to media but it is understood he had trained lightly earlier on.
Last Wednesday, ahead of the Argentina quarter-final, McCaw trained to the end of the session, albeit in running shoes. His very short training time and the fact that openside specialist Matt Todd is in Auckland attending sessions will increase concerns about his fitness.
Todd is not staying with the All Blacks — World Cup protocols only allow players brought into the squad as replacements to do that— but he has been put on standby in case McCaw’s foot injury worsens.
Todd will be getting schooled up in the All Blacks lineout calls and other strategies in case he has to join the squad.
Injuries to All Blacks Dan Carter, Colin Slade and Mils Muliaina already have resulted in call-ups for Aaron Cruden, Stephen Donald and Hosea Gear. Cruden is likely to start at first-five against the Wallabies on Sunday, with Donald as cover on the replacements’ bench.
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