Leave our crown jewel alone, says Wilson

Quade Cooper
Quade Cooper
All Blacks legend Stu Wilson has issued a warning to Wallabies playmaker Quade Cooper: don't you dare touch our prized jewel.

Cooper has hardly endeared himself to the New Zealand rugby public following a series of niggling off-the-ball incidents with All Blacks captain Richie McCaw.

After McCaw received a knee to the head from Cooper in the All Blacks' Tri-Nations decider in Brisbane, the New Zealand-born Australian firmly established himself as "public enemy No.1''.

Every touch of the ball by Cooper on Saturday against Ireland was greeted with boos from the Eden Park crowd.

But Wilson says Cooper can expect nothing less from a fed-up nation.

"Anyone that touches the prize jewel in rugby - which at the moment is Richie McCaw - you start p***ing around like Quade Cooper has done and you have to accept the consequences in this country.''

McCaw is set to make his 100th All Blacks appearance against France this weekend. Wilson says McCaw is key to the team's chances, as shown by his "phenomenal'' winning record - he has won 54 of his 62 matches as captain (87 per cent).

He said Cooper could expect "raspberries for the whole tournament'' if he continued his antics.

"If he doesn't know that, and the Australian Rugby Union doesn't know that, they are dumber than I thought they were.

"The only person who has come out [against Cooper] is Nick Farr-Jones - and he is a World Cup-winning captain for Australia.''

Wallaby great Farr-Jones, who lifted the Webb Ellis trophy in 1991, last week labelled Cooper a "boofhead'' and a "dope'' over the incidents.

He cautioned that constant pestering of the All Blacks captain could come back to haunt the Wallabies.

While Cooper chose to take Farr-Jones' comments in a "positive manner'', Wilson is having none of it.

"You just don't p*** with the crown jewel. Not over here, not in our back yard!''

- The New Zealand Herald

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