Super Rugby
Reds unperturbed by Cooper KO
ESPNscrum Staff
October 26, 2011
Australia's Quade Cooper is helped from the field, Rugby World Cup, Australia v Wales, Eden Park, Auckland, New Zealand, October 21, 2011
Quade Cooper's difficult Rugby World Cup campaign ended in injury © Getty Images
Enlarge
Related Links
Players/Officials: Quade Cooper
Tournaments/Tours: Super Rugby | Rugby World Cup

Reds coach Ewen McKenzie believes that the Super Rugby champions can cope with the loss of Wallabies starlet Quade Cooper to injury.

Cooper suffered knee ligament damage during Australia's Rugby World Cup third-place play-off victory over Wales in Auckland on Friday and is expected to be out of action for up to six months.

The injury is a massive blow for the Reds given that the mercurial fly-half played a key role in last season's Super Rugby success. However, McKenzie is not short of options at No.10.

'We have five guys that can play in that position so we'll probably play around with that a bit,'' he told the Sydney Morning Herald.

''You don't want anyone injured but at the same time it's a full contact sport and it happens, so the key is having depth in your squad so you can survive these things.

''There's not one of us, myself included, that didn't get their opportunity in rugby because someone was injured. It's a really good opportunity for everyone.''

''We had 37 players play last season and we won the title. We were really digging into our reserves.''

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.

Live Sports

Communication error please reload the page.

ABOUT COOKIES

To help make this website better, to improve and personalize your experience and for advertising purposes, are you happy to accept cookies and other technologies.

More Info Here Cookie Choices