Rugby World Cup
Quade Cooper accepts every rugby match might be his last
AAP
September 26, 2015
Australia to utilise strength in depth

Quade Cooper is looking at the Wallabies' Rugby World Cup fixture against Uruguay on Sunday as if it is his last match in the green and gold rather than an audition for the No.10 jersey for major fixtures ahead.

The Queensland Reds and Wallabies playmaker has the ideal opportunity to press his case for selection for the showdown with England at Twickenham the following weekend, but he is hesitant to turn his attention to that match, to Wales the weekend after or prospective knockout fixtures as he's understands that every day is important after he endured a horror World Cup in New Zealand four years ago that ended with a serious knee injury.

"To be honest, the way we look at it is that every day is a way to audition for the team," Cooper said. "Every day you turn up to training, we're putting ourselves in positions where we're challenging each other for starting positions; every single player.

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"Whether you get your opportunity in the game, you have to be ready to take that. At the same time, every day you have to be prepared when you turn up to training. If you don't put your best foot forward and don't do a good job at training, then how do you expect to get a start in a game?" Cooper was sidelined for the Wallabies' World Cup opening victory over Fiji on Wednesday, with Bernard Foley preferred at five-eighth to partner Will Genia.

That combination was successful, if slightly unpolished, in a performance which potentially opened the door for Cooper to put Uruguay to the sword and firm up his first-team chances going forward, but Coper, Genia's Super Rugby partner at the Reds, wasn't upset by Michael Cheika's team choices.

"We're all here as a team to do the one job, which is to win the World Cup," he said.

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"The overall [goal] is to win the World Cup - not to play in games or be the guy who said 'I started every game at the World Cup'. We're here to win it, and whether someone else gets the opportunity to start we've got to support them and the coaches in their decisions to start guys and have faith in each other to get the job done.

"This week, I get an opportunity so I have to go out there and get the job done not only for myself but for my team-mates and all of the supporters back home to make sure this team can keep winning."

Cooper suffered a cruciate ligament injury against Wales in the third-place play-off four years ago, but he refuses to dwell; rather he says the memory merely reminds him of the fickle nature of professional sport - and why he should approach every day as if it is his last.

"The last World Cup I was in could have been my last so the next game could be the last I ever get to play - you never know what's going to happen," he said.

"There are injuries and I've been injured a few times. Every time I step on the field, I approach it like it is my last. I know a lot of footballers say that, but, when you love something so much, every time you go out on the training paddock you have to go out there like it's the last time you'll train.

"This time is going to be no different."

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