Australia Wallabies

It wasn’t quite Quade 2.0 against the Springboks, rather an enhanced prototype of the mercurial flyhalf, with a dose of maturity mixed in.

In a good mindset after an injury-free season to this point, something that has been a rarity for Cooper in the past, the returned Wallabies playmaker said he had managed to add thin

“When I went away before that all I knew was the Reds,” he said.

“Not knowing anything else, not knowing any style of play, but also for me, while I was overseas understanding how I thought about my rugby, I was able to add things to my game.

Halfback Nic White came off the bench to score a penalty and a converted try which settled a contest which had see-sawed back and forth for the best part of 70 minutes, giving the Wallabies a first win over the All Blacks since they won the final Tri-Nations in 2011.

Prop Sekope Kepu and wing Adam Ashley-Cooper also crossed for the Australians, who will win back the Bledisloe Cup for the first time since 2002 if they can beat New Zealand in Auckland next week.