ARU breaks silence on Cooper controversy

Updated September 27, 2012 17:20:55

The Australian Rugby Union (ARU) has made a brief response to Quade Cooper's outspoken comments on the Wallabies, claiming they have written to the mercurial five-eighth.

Cooper, who is sidelined with a knee injury, launched a Twitter outburst against coach Robbie Deans last weekend, expressing his frustration at the tactics used by the Wallabies in recent Test matches.

He also spoke to the media about a "toxic environment" within the national team set-up, sparking rumours he might be finishing up with rugby union and possibly contemplating a switch to rugby league.

The ARU issued a brief statement on Thursday saying they had written to Cooper but without elaborating on whether he would be facing any disciplinary action over his comments or not.

The statement also failed to respond to Cooper's claims of problems within the set-up of the game, leaving fans in the dark over whether he has a legitimate gripe or is just venting personal frustration.

"Australian Rugby Union has written to Quade Cooper in relation to social media comments," the statement read.

"However, ARU has no intention of conducting those discussions with Quade in the public arena.

"To that end, we will be making no further comment at this stage."

Meanwhile, Queensland remains confident Cooper will stay with the Reds despite his publicised frustration with the Wallabies and ARU.

Reds chief executive Jim Carmichael issued an open letter on Wednesday night, saying Cooper "has no interest in leaving the Reds".

"He loves playing for Queensland and representing is country and has reaffirmed his commitment to our organisation on several occasions, and again as late as yesterday (Tuesday) afternoon," the letter read.

Carmichael has also rejected suggestions that Cooper's actions are a part of a Reds campaign to "bring about a coaching change at a national level" and have Ewen McKenzie installed as Wallabies coach.

McKenzie is regarded as the frontrunner to take the Wallabies' head coaching role should Deans' contract be terminated.

AAP/ABC

Tags: rugby-union, sport, brisbane-4000

First posted September 27, 2012 16:08:46

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Brumbies gallop back to silence Hurricanes

Updated May 18, 2012 20:01:29

Brumbies fly half Zack Holmes gave his side a big lift towards the Super Rugby play-offs when he guided them to a 37-25 victory over the Wellington Hurricanes on Friday.

Holmes scored a try and slotted 17 points with the boot as the Brumbies seized their limited opportunities and moved to 44 points on the Super Rugby table.

They lead the Queensland Reds, who play on Saturday, by 13 points in the Australian conference.

"To be honest we haven't looked too much at the Reds just yet," Brumbies skipper Ben Mowen told Grandstand.

"We're aware of them, they performed extremely well against the Chiefs, but we'll go into more detail tomorrow."

It was the Canberra-based franchise's first win in Wellington since 2003.

Mowen praised his side's ability to band together and fight through tough challenges.

"We're very united in that fact and it's something we're highly protective of," he said.

"You don't just show up and get a result, it takes a lot of hard work and we've come from scratch so we know what it's like."

The Hurricanes remain in the hunt for a wildcard berth, moving provisionally into seventh position with their four-try effort, but the Highlanders could dislodge them with a win over the Bulls on Saturday afternoon.

Scrum half TJ Perenara, who was considered unlucky to miss out on an expanded All Blacks training squad earlier this week, scored two tries for the Hurricanes, who had a wealth of possession and territory but were outplayed at the breakdown by Brumbies openside flanker Michael Hooper.

The Brumbies had jumped to a 10-0 lead, from a Holmes penalty and converted try to big number eight Fotu Aloulua.

Perenara scored his first try after the Hurricanes had declined a kickable penalty, instead driving the ball into the corner, and the scrum half eventually sneaked over after a sustained attack.

The 20-year-old was heavily involved in Victor Vito's try from a well-worked scrum move that Andre Taylor converted to give the home side a 15-13 lead at the break.

"We started reasonably well in that first half and accumulated 13 points through good field position," Mowen said.

"We moved away from that a little bit and, credit to the Hurricanes, they put us under a lot of pressure with their attack."

Perenara grabbed his second try, a piece of individual opportunism, early in the second half as he picked up the ball from an attacking ruck and shrugged off one defender, sidestepped a second and outpaced a third to the line.

Replacement prop Jeffrey Toomaga-Allen scored the Hurricanes' bonus-point try from a patient build-up to give them a 25-16 lead and the momentum was seemingly with the home side.

The match turned when the Hurricanes midfield misread their defensive assignments and Brumbies lock Scott Fardy burst through and fed his second-row partner Sam Carter to crash over.

Stand-out flanker Hooper then sneaked over before Holmes stepped over following another long-range attack from the visitors.

Brumbies: 37 (F Auelua, S Carter, M Hooper, Z Holmes tries; Z Holmes 4/4 conversions, 3/4 penalty goals)

Hurricanes: 25 (TJ Perenara 2, V Vito, J Toomaga-Allen tries; A Taylor 1/3 conversions, 1/1 penalty goals)

ABC/Reuters

Tags: super-rugby, rugby-union, sport, new-zealand, canberra-2600, act, australia

First posted May 18, 2012 19:21:11

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