Mourad Boudjellal & Quade Cooper

The latest instalment in the Quade Cooper transfer saga has been an exchange of words between the Toulon boss and the Australian coach.

Toulon owner Mourad Boudjellal launched a relatively tasteless tirade against the Australian Rugby Union (ARU) and its prized asset Quade Cooper, whom he threatened would end up as “the 2nd most indebted State after Greece”.

The eccentric Frenchman said that the 150 000 Euros that has been mooted as Cooper’s buyout of his contract was in fact for the promise of a contract – Boudjellal claims that Cooper has actually put pen to paper, which would make that void and has allegedly threatened legal action if Cooper does not show up for his medical soon.

Boudjellal told Midi Olympique: “The moron of the Australian federation who does not understand the case needs to know that the promise of employment is no longer the question.”

“150 000 Euros was to pay for the release of the promise of a contract, but Cooper has signed his contract – I can produce it if necessary.

“The contract promise is now obsolete. At the present time, if Cooper withdraws, he will have to pay the amount of the contract. It could make him alone, the 2nd most indebted State after Greece.”

Australia coach Michael Cheika, meanwhile, has hit back at Boudjellal for using the state of Greece as a joke to make his point.

“I don’t think it’s necessary to have that type of language,” Cheika said on the Wallabies’ arrival home from Argentina on Tuesday night.

“He said they’re going to be as broke as Greece. Well, I don’t think that’s an issue to be joking about, to be honest. There’s a lot of people struggling over there. So I don’t think it’s very funny, saying any of that type of stuff.

“He’s entitled to say what he likes about what he wants to do. That’s fine, but I don’t think those analogies are really necessary.”

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