Cooper to skipper BaaBaas against Wallabies

Wallabies playmaker Quade Cooper will captain the Barbarians against Australia later this month.

His announcement as Barbarians captain for the clash in Sydney on October 28 was tweeted by former Australia coach Alan Jones, who will coach the invitational side. 

I'm pleased to announce that @QuadeCooper will captain my Barbarians side against the @qantaswallabies - October 28, @AllianzStadium #rugby pic.twitter.com/fobT1fWdbt

— Alan Jones (@AlanJones) October 3, 2017

The Wallabies will play the Barbarians at Sydney’s Allianz Stadium on October 28, and Jones is clearly looking for an attack-minded team to pull off an upset against Cheika’s men.

Jones interviewed Cooper on his show and urged him to bring his creative flair.

“That’s what I love doing, I’m going to be up there doing my best to attack from everywhere and really making it entertaining for the fans,” Cooper said.

There’s a lot of emphasis these days being put on defence and that in turn slows the whole game down, and having the focus on attack can break down defences and also make it entertaining.

“It’s always fun to do, come up with new ways to be able to break down these defences.”

Cooper was a surprise omission from Australian coach Cheika’s squad, particularly as he has only Bernard Foley as a full-time five-eighth in the set-up. Cheika has preferred Kurtley Beale as a back-up No. 10 and has had utility Reece Hodge training in that position throughout the Rugby Championship.

The Wallabies play the All Blacks in Brisbane the weekend before the Baabaas showdown and are then off for their month-long spring tour, so it would surprise if Foley started against Cooper in the game.

Cooper has been forced to play in the NRC for Brisbane City while the Wallabies have been taking on New Zealand, South Africa and Argentina.

It’s expected that Jones will name several other former Wallabies in his squad, as well as some international stars.