Wallabies coach Eddie Jones says injured playmaker Quade Cooper remains a strong contender for selection at the Rugby World Cup this year.
Cooper ruptured his Achilles tendon in last year’s Rugby Championship Argentina.
In recent weeks, the 34-year-old has begun running and kicking goals again, posting his progress on social media.
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Jones was asked on ABC’s Offsiders program whether Cooper was still a selection contender.
“Yeah I think so. He’s recovering well. I had a quick chat to him in Brisbane,” he said.
“He looked full of beans, he’s going back to play for his club in Japan, Kintetsu, who aren’t doing too well. They haven’t won a game, so they need a bit of Quade magic.
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“So that’ll get his confidence back, get them to win a few games, and we’ll see where he can take us in the World Cup.”
Jones added that he would need depth at five-eighth – while hinting a fit Cooper could be the front- unner, as he was under Dave Rennie.
“We will need to have three 10s at the World Cup, Quade could be one of them, and the other two spots are wide open.”
A potential form guide for Australia’s success at the World Cup is how its Super Rugby Pacific teams fare against the New Zealand sides.
The Brumbies remain the only Australian team to win two from two this season while the Rebels gave the Hurricanes a scare in Super Round.
“We’ve got to beat them. That’s not good enough for us,” Jones said of the Rebels loss.
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“We need to beat the New Zealand sides. The Rebels, they hung in the game, they could have got blown right out. At one stage, they looked like they were going to get blown out.
“You need to start the game with that intensity against the New Zealand sides.
“You can’t let them get on top. That’s what we want to see going forward. We want to see our players dominating the New Zealand players.”
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