Josh Rakic of The Dominion Post slates the performance of Australia's fly-half in Sunday's World Cup semi-final defeat by the All Blacks.
"If that was Quade Cooper's best game ever, as captain James Horwill fearlessly declared it would be on match eve, then one can only wonder what his worst has been.
"Try as he might, the extremely talented but enigmatic Cooper looked rattled for confidence from the onset and aside from a drop goal late in the first half he looked anything but the player that led the Queensland Reds to the Super Rugby title and inspired Australia's dominance of Italy only five weeks ago.
"Cooper and his team-mates insisted the pressure hadn't taken its toll on the New Zealand-born playmaker. Anyone in a gold jumper was willing to jump to his defence.
"But after last night's performance and on the back of his horror showing against the Springboks and the Wallabies' loss to Ireland, even coach Robbie Deans and the man himself would find it difficult to put a positive spin on his performance on the world stage, when it mattered most."
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