Sun 8 Nov 2015 | 01:44
Quade Cooper no-look kick ahead sets up try on Toulon debut

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Quade Cooper had a quiet World Cup but took center stage again yesterday as he made his debut for powerhouse European outfit, Toulon. Cooper impressed with his usual tricks, which included setting up this lovely try with a neat no-look dab through.

Cooper guided his new team to an emphatic 58-8 win over Montpellier in his first Top 14 showing on Saturday. It wasn't all plain sailing though, as he also threw a loose pass that resulted in an intercept try for Julien Malzieu.

It was Montpellier's only try of the day, while former Reds flyer Lachie Turner scored a brace, with the second of his two coming from this very neatly executed grubber through by Cooper.

Winger Josua Tuisova picked up a hat-trick, as Cooper enjoyed some space to free up the backs while the likes of Matt Giteau, Drew Mitchell, Bryan Habana and Frederic Michalak watched on.

"I'm very excited to be here and to start off with a win like that you can only dream of,"  Cooper told AFP. "Personally I've been in some big games, but that was very special."

"As a team we had ambitions and the goal to go out there and win with a bonus point. The way we went about that was to play a hard game at the start and then use the backs. I'm not saying it was a surprise but it was something we worked all week to achieve."

Cooper touched on being disappointed to only play one game for the Wallabies at the World Cup, as the form of Bernard Foley kept him off the park.

"I was disappointed not to play more at the World Cup. I'd been training for 12 weeks to play games so I was keen to come here as soon as possible to play.

"It was very special to experience my first game for Toulon in an atmosphere that is unique."

Former Northampton Saints lock Samu Manoa scored his first try for the club, while former England flanker Steffon Armitage also crossed as Toulon racked up eight tries in total.

You can see the try here, and below that, a short compilation of Cooper's highlights on debut and then a full highlights wrap from the match.

credits: bucks tv, rugbyxv, bowserx4

14 Comments

  • drg
    4:56 PM 13/11/2015

    Agree even further than before...

  • drg
    4:56 PM 13/11/2015

    Agree even more

  • drg
    4:56 PM 13/11/2015

    Totally agree :)

  • oliver
    8:03 AM 13/11/2015

    My favorite player to watch in world rugby. Pretty excited to see him coming to France....
    And still a little disappointed we saw so little of him in the WC! I thought the Wallabies should have used him in the final's second half.

  • oliver
    8:02 AM 13/11/2015

    My favorite player to watch in world rugby. Pretty excited to see him coming to France....
    And still a little disappointed we saw so little of him in the WC! I thought the Wallabies should have used him in the final's second half.

  • oliver
    8:02 AM 13/11/2015

    My favorite player to watch in world rugby. Pretty excited to see him coming to France....
    And still a little disappointed we saw so little of him in the WC! I thought the Wallabies should have used him in the final's second half.

  • drg
    5:38 PM 12/11/2015

    He's played something like 160 odd professional games... so I'd imagine as you said, there aren't a massive amount of 'bloopers' so chances are most of his stuff is pretty sound. I'd have him on my team...

  • stroudos
    11:54 AM 11/11/2015

    Indeed. High risk, high reward. Reasonably high chance of making a tit of yourself and putting your team in trouble. But on the balance of probabilities, I reckon Quade Cooper achieves a far higher level of reward than cockups.

  • drg
    1:54 AM 11/11/2015

    "On the middle video above, around 1:10 that positioning allows him to commit three defenders and still give a perfect scoring pass."

    Thought you were taking the piss there, at about 1:03 he commits about 3 defenders then throws an intercept scoring pass... Didn't realise you meant the next clip after that...

  • stroudos
    6:16 AM 10/11/2015

    I don't think I've seen another flyhalf who gets away with playing so high up. Gives himself no time or space, but has the speed of thought and execution to get away with it, especially with the comedy bounding sidestep that makes him look like a demented kangaroo. On the middle video above, around 1:10 that positioning allows him to commit three defenders and still give a perfect scoring pass.

    On a different note altogether, 4:08 on the bottom video - that is a hideous swan dive by Tillous-Borde - completely bottled it and practically kneecapped himself. Almost makes the Ash splash look elegant.

  • drg
    2:54 AM 10/11/2015

    I'd agree to a point, as I have recently had a grumble about George Fords attitude and I'm certainly no fan of Owen Farrell, but I feel QC has got this extra thing about him.. he will make you look silly, he is as niggly as a 9, or a forward, as dancing feety as any good wing but has all the vision of a great 10.

    Yet he doesn't play like a conventional professional 10. I'd liken him more to a club level 10 in his style, i.e. tries shit out because, hey, I'm giving up my Saturday and like **** will I plod about the field kicking sodding field position and playing a boring game. It's the sort of style that shouldn't get him anywhere in a professional field, yet somehow he does it and does it well.

    Sort of going back to his ego, I think that is part and parcel of his style, he plays cocky rugby and not only that, his cocky attitude makes players want to hurt him, that then goes past the standard game and into a psychological game... do you cloud your head to try and hurt QC?..then when you're trying your best to hammer him, he does something daft like this and you end up looking like a lemon..

  • stroudos
    11:16 AM 09/11/2015

    I've always been a fan of Quade Cooper, even if he does look exactly like a massive turkey.

    As our Spanish-speaking colleague mentions above, he does tend to make mistakes, however I'm not convinced that's a pressure thing, more just probability - you try that many audacious moves, something's going to go wrong now and again. But this guy creates so much and pulls off such amazing individual pieces of flair that he's always entertaining to watch.

    Give me a mercurial talent over a ten that constantly hoofs the ball to the opposition fullback any day.

  • drg
    7:43 PM 08/11/2015

    What a brilliant exciting player!

  • feddderico
    4:53 PM 08/11/2015

    I think he could make you win a game either as make you loose it.