Wallabies gamble on Quade Cooper’s return for Bledisloe Cup decider
Coach Michael Cheika stands by troubled fly-half for clash in the Auckland cauldron of Eden Park
Australia coach Michael Cheika insists there is method in the madness of selecting Quade Cooper as his starting fly-half at the All Blacks' fortress of Auckland's Eden Park, where the playmaker's career was nearly derailed.
Cheika sprung a surprise on Thursday with six changes to the Wallabies side that inflicted a rare and emphatic defeat of the All Blacks in Sydney last weekend.
What an enormous challenge for [Cooper]. Is he in the right frame of mind, and will he remain in the right frame of mind when all of New Zealand, the country where he was born, again take delight in turning him into public enemy number one?
But it was New Zealand-born Cooper's reinstatement for Saturday's clash that caused the biggest waves on social media.
Branded "Public Enemy Number One" during the 2011 World Cup in New Zealand as part of a media-driven campaign to upset the fly-half, Cooper was jeered relentlessly throughout the country in his matches.
He appeared shell-shocked at Eden Park in the semi-final demolition by the All Blacks, enduring a poor game to the delight of a sell-out crowd.
Days later, he suffered a sickening knee injury in the bronze medal play-off against Wales.