Rugby’s equivalent of Hollywood’s famous “Brat Pack” went on show before a packed media contingent in downtown Wellington this morning, and while best mates James O’Connor, Kurtley Beale and Tatafu Polota-Nau attracted their share of interest, the spotlight was drawn to Quade Cooper, arguably the biggest gun in the World Cup west and certainly the Most Wanted.

The gifted Wallabies playmaker has the celebrity girlfriend in Australian swimming champion Stephanie Rice, he has the rogue streak (he was arrested two years ago for breaking into an apartment and stealing an ex-girlfriend’s laptop), he has committed the two worst sins possible in New Zealand – choosing to play for Australia when he is Kiwi-born and, worse still, assaulting His Lordship, Richie McCaw in a Bledisloe Cup match a few months ago by nudging a knee into the prone captain’s head. (Miraculously, a South Africa-chaired judiciary cleared him on the grounds that intent could not be proven. Four million New Zealanders were outraged, and each time he has touched the ball in this World Cup a cacophony of boos has broken out).

But this morning Cooper revealed another side to his personality when he was both erudite and charming in answering questions about Sunday’s quarterfinal.

Asked about how he feels about the Boks’ obsession with shutting him down, he answered: “If they are pinpointing me as the focal point of the team, then I’ve got to take that as a compliment. But I can’t let that control my ego. Just because all the focus is on you doesn’t mean that everyone is focusing on you. It could be a part of their tactics – maybe they are looking to attack the team elsewhere?

“You have to be careful not to read too much into comments about you, whether they are negative or positive, because if you do then you have lost the battle,” he said, flanked by Beale on one side and O’Connor and Polota-Nau on the other. “For me it is about not worrying about what the opposition/public/media is worrying about and focussing on what I can do for the team to make us play better.”

And that will mean waving his magical wand each time scrumhalf Will Genia sends the ball down the backline.

“We will stick to what we are good at and play to our strengths,” Cooper confirmed.

“I am not going to shelve anything because of the hugeness of the occasion – I will turn up in the frame of mind to do my bit for the Wallabies as I know best. We must not go into our shells because of what is at stake. There are certain things we are good at and which give us confidence, and if we go away from that we would be playing into the hands of the Springboks.”

In other words Cooper is going to empty his box of tricks, weather permitting, and the forecast is that the week-long rain here is going to lift at the weekend.

Cooper was asked if it bugged him that Kiwis were giving him such a hot reception (he is regarded here much as Sean Fitzpatrick was in South Africa in the 90s).

“It’s been an experience, to say the least,” he grinned. “It’s obviously had its moments, but this is a competition that comes around once every four years so you’ve got to make the most of it and soak up the good with the bad.

“Let me put it this way: I was sitting on the bus on the way home from training yesterday when I had a bit of a ‘moment’. I was just having a gaze out the window and thinking how privileged I am.

“Despite all the opinions of me, the bottom line for me is I’m very lucky to be a Wallaby at the World Cup. I had this feeling of wanting to take it all in. Whatever happens against the Boks on Sunday I will remember this for the rest of my life. It has been massive.”

Cooper ended off his headline performance with a touch of humour when answering a question about the drop in volume of his tweets.

“I’ve slowed down, probably because we seem to spend so much time on the bus going back and forth. If I tweet ‘going to training’ or ‘on the way back home from training’, I’m sure a lot of people will un-follow me!”

The Springbok team announcement has been brought forward to tonight (SA time) with wings Bryan Habana and JP Pietersen due to underdo fitness test later today. – Cape Argus