Rugby World UK – July 2019

Age 26 (11.4.93) Position Back three

“The new breed of player” according

to Eddie Jones, who mooted using

the Exeter wing as a ninth forward for

England. A Test Lion in NZ, he relishes

the rough stuff and his ball-carrying

is exceptional – his 74% gain-line

success the best in the Six Nations.

Age 26 (13.7.92) Position Centre

In the space of three weeks last year, he

starred for the Barbarians, helped Fiji win

the London Sevens and scored a try on

his Test debut. In fact, he’s marked every

Test he’s played with a try, including an

historic win over France. Changes pace

and direction so smoothly that defences

can’t read his next move. A danger man.

Age 27 (27.4.92) Position Prop

Francis’s form this year has merited

comparisons with Adam Jones, who

is from the same village, Abercrave,

as the grandmother who qualified

this Exeter Chief for Wales. Always a

destructive scrummager, Francis has

added ball-carrying to his armoury.

75

QUADE

COOPER

74 JACK NOWELL 73 SEMI RADRADRA 72 TOMAS FRANCIS
33 3 40

70

100 Best Players

Age 31 (5 April 1988) Position Fly-half

I

T SHOULD have gone off

the rails, right? Having spent

a year playing at domestic

level after Queensland Reds

boss Brad Thorn said he didn’t want

under-contract star Cooper in his stable,

the mercurial fly-half should have

returned to Super Rugby with Melbourne

Rebels this season and bombed.

Well, he’s been blowing up in an

entirely different way. Back in tow with

favourite half-back partner Will Genia,

Cooper has sparked with the franchise.

Coach Dave Wessels has said Cooper is

“probably a once-in-a-generation player,

he can do some things that make you

go, ‘Gee, how did that happen?’”

Remember, too, that Cooper hasn’t

played for the Wallabies since 2017. In

March, Michael Cheika said of Cooper’s

potential return: “It’s just a matter of him

getting more games in the saddle. With

that, I have no doubt he will come into

strong contention for selection.”

Whatever you make of the playmaker’s

lifestyle choices, his relationship with

authority, his dalliances with pro boxing,

his rank stint at Toulon or his season

in the wilderness, you can’t deny his

impact. When he is well-supported

and focused, he can flay a defence

with an angled run, a dinked kick, a

looping pass and a face-splitting grin.

He’s having fun again.

What It’s Like To: P2 6 -27