Quade Cooper to skipper Barbarians against Wallabies as national career looks over

Wallabies discard Quade Cooper was on Wednesday named to captain the Barbarians against Australia later this month as signs grew that his time with the national team may be over.

The fly half, 29, was previously a regular for the Wallabies but the 70-test veteran was dropped ahead of the ongoing Rugby Championship.

His announcement as Barbarians captain for the clash in Sydney on October 28 was tweeted by former Australia coach Alan Jones, who will mentor the invitational side.

“I’m pleased to announce that @QuadeCooper will captain my Barbarians side against the @qantaswallabies,” said Jones, who is now a radio talk show host.

Cooper said he was looking forward to the challenge and would retain his trademark focus on attacking play.

“I’m going to be out there doing my best to attack from everywhere, attack well and really make it entertaining for yourself and the people watching,” he told Jones in an interview.

“There’s a lot of emphasis these days on defence and that in turn slows the whole game down.

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“Having focus on attack, you can break down defences, you can make it entertaining and it’s always fun to figure out ways to break down defence.”

Jones has promised some other big names in his team, but is keeping their identities under wraps.