Wallabies seeking ruthless streak: Cooper - Sports News - Fanatics - the world's biggest events

Wallabies seeking ruthless streak: Cooper

By David Beniuk 05/11/2010 08:28:47 PM Comments (0)

Quade Cooper's fiery performance against New Zealand won't be a one-off, with the brilliant five-eighth declaring the Wallabies are out to match the ruthlessness of the top-ranked All Blacks.

As Australia prepared to face Wales at the Millennium Stadium on Saturday (0130 Sunday AEDT), Cooper said his running battle with New Zealand captain Richie McCaw in Hong Kong was all part of a new attitude from the fast-improving Wallabies.

"I just didn't want to take a step back," Cooper told reporters in Cardiff.

"The way that New Zealand have approached us is with that ruthless attitude.

"If you sit back and let them run the show, it can be a long few years and can be a long Test match.

"That's the kind of attitude that we want to have.

"We've just got to step up and take that challenge and take that battle right back to them."

Australia are showing all the signs they have turned a corner with hoodoo-busting victories in Bloemfontein and Hong Kong, and the confidence is clearly growing inside the young squad.

But consistency is the thing they still need to prove they are capable of and Cooper said that would only stem from a clinical approach.

"As soon as you let that go, then you're back to winning one, losing one," he said.

"If you keep that attitude that you're not letting anything come between you and the victory ... that's when you'll get the consistency."

Wallabies skipper Rocky Elsom said the new mindset had been a work in progress.

"We don't want to give anything away for nothing, that's always the sign of a good side," he said.

"That's how you'd like to be perceived."

The UK media were getting their first taste of Cooper since his rise to game-changing superstar status, and the Quade-mania meant he was the centre of most of the attention at Australia's team-naming press conference.

The Queenslander handled himself graciously, telling the locals he needed to get his kicking game right or they'd all be watching a brilliant try from champion Welsh winger Shane Williams "on YouTube".

Wallabies coach Robbie Deans was still to receive any word from Wales on whether the Millennium Stadium roof would be closed but his side prepared for any eventuality by training in atrocious UK weather.

Cooper said hot favourites Australia would unleash their flamboyant attack on depleted Wales regardless of the conditions.

"If we go into our shell and go away from what we're good at, it will fall right into the hands of the opposition," he said.

"Rain, hail or shine, if you still have the ability to move the ball around and play a confident style of football, the world's your oyster."

The UK recession has hit the working class game in Wales, with only around 53,000 tickets sold for the 74,000-seat stadium clash, locals blaming high ticket prices and the upcoming visits from New Zealand and South Africa.

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