Australia
Toulon confirm Quade Cooper signing
April 24, 2015
Cooper shakes hands with Toulon owner Mourad Boudjellal © RCT
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Quade Cooper will leave Australian rugby at the end of the season after signing a two-year deal with French Top 14 outfit Toulon. The club announced Cooper's signature on Friday night via their Facebook page, posting a photo of the 27-year-old wearing a Toulon jersey.

"Versatile first five-eighth Quade Cooper has committed with Rugby Club Toulonnais (RCT) for the next two seasons," the club said. "Cooper, currently with the Queensland Reds and a winner of the Tri-Nations and the Super 15 in 2011, will join the Rade as early as this summer."

Cooper will link up with former Wallabies playmaker Matt Giteau, who has been instrumental in guiding the French club to this season's European Champions Cup final. Toulon are chasing an unprecedented hat-trick of European titles, and they will play Clermont Auvergne in the final at Twickenham in eight days.

Australia will miss Toulon-bound Quade Cooper

Confirmation of Cooper's move comes a day after his manager Khoder Nasser had told AAP his client was "deciphering" the new rules about overseas players being eligible for the Wallabies. Under the newly implemented regulations, Cooper would need to add seven more appearances to his 53 Test caps, by the time he leaves Australia, to be eligible for selection.

Given the playmaker's recent injury woes, making the additional seven Test appearances would be no guarantee but Nasser hinted Cooper's decision had little to do with the new regulations.

"To be honest, he was deciphering everything before the ARU's rules came out, regardless," Nasser said.

Cooper's Queensland team-mates Will Genia and James Horwill are already committed to overseas switches next year and are set to be the biggest beneficiaries of the Wallabies' eligibility changes, as both sit on 58 caps. The Reds did, however, tie up Wallabies vice-captain James Slipper and experienced forward Rob Simmons to extended deals on Friday.

Slipper, who would have met the eligibility criteria by playing one more season of Super Rugby, has shown his commitment to the Reds by signing a three-year extension which will keep him in Australia until the end of 2018, while Simmons has committed until the end of the 2017 season.

"Everyone will give it a thought when their opportunity comes but I want to play here in Queensland," Simmons said.

© AAP

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