{"id":289020,"date":"2023-04-23T23:11:47","date_gmt":"2023-04-23T23:11:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=289020"},"modified":"2023-04-24T04:00:22","modified_gmt":"2023-04-24T04:00:22","slug":"coopers-puzzling-one-minute-return-to-rugby","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=289020","title":{"rendered":"Cooper's puzzling one-minute return to rugby"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rugby World Cup<\/a> hopeful Quade Cooper<\/a> has made a puzzling return to rugby, taking to the field for just one minute.<\/p>\n

Cooper suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon<\/a> just a few minutes prior to the Rugby Championship<\/a> opener in 2022 and has been recovering since.<\/p>\n

His return for the Kintetsu Liners in Japan's Rugby League One competition on Saturday was apparently less about game time and more about eligibility criteria.<\/p>\n

Watch the 2023 Super Rugby Pacific and Super W seasons on the home of rugby, Stan Sport.<\/strong><\/em> All matches streaming ad free, live and on demand<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Under the competition's rules, players must take to the field at least once in the regular season to qualify for the two-part replacement battle \u2013 a promotion\/relegation series in May.<\/p>\n

\"Samu<\/p>\n

Cooper's Kintetsu Liners were beaten 43-26 by the NEC Green Rockets, which cemented their spot at the bottom of the first division.<\/p>\n

It means Cooper's team will face Urayasu D-Rocks, a team that features former Wallabies player and controversy king Israel Folau.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Folau's side beat Mie Honda Heat to top the second division and now have a chance to break into the top league.<\/p>\n

\"Quade<\/p>\n

Prior to his competitive return, Cooper took to social media to detail his recovery.<\/p>\n

"Coming back from injury is never easy, but it's an opportunity to grow mentally, physically, and emotionally," he wrote.<\/p>\n

"From the day I got injured I knew I was ready for the challenges this journey would provide.<\/p>\n

"For me it's never about reaching the finish line or ticking off boxes, it's about embracing the process and the challenges that come with it.\u00a0<\/p>\n

"The work doesn't stop just because I'm nearing the end of the injury process. In fact, that's when the real work begins.<\/p>\n

"The goal is always progress not perfection."<\/p>\n

https:\/\/omny.fm\/shows\/between-two-posts-1\/cult-heroes-wallabies-squad-changes\/embed?style=Cover<\/a><\/p>\n

Cooper joined the Wallabies for their recent camp at Sanctuary Cove on the Gold Coast.<\/p>\n

Should he be fully fit, Cooper is a contender for a starting spot in the team for this year's Rugby World Cup.<\/p>\n

Earlier this year, Jones said he was eager to see "where he can take us in the World Cup."<\/p>\n

For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by<\/strong><\/em> clicking here<\/strong><\/em><\/a>!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rugby World Cup hopeful Quade Cooper has made a puzzling return to rugby, taking to the field for just one minute. Cooper suffered a ruptured […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":289022,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/289020"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=289020"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/289020\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":289025,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/289020\/revisions\/289025"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/289022"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=289020"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=289020"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=289020"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}