Wallabies flyhalf Quade Cooper is set to start in the Reds’ Super Rugby opener against the Brumbies this weekend despite pain in his neck.
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The Reds playmaker was hospitalised on Friday after taking a heavy knock in the warm-up match against the Melbourne Rebels, but recovered to train on Monday.
Reds coach Richard Graham said that if he could train with the team on Monday, he would be fine to play on Saturday at Canberra Stadium against last year’s Australian conference winners.
“He’s been really positive the whole way along,” Graham said.
“Once he had scans and was cleared of any damage, he’s been really in a good head space and is still very positive and improving,” he added.
Mike Harris is set to take over at flyhalf if Cooper does not recover in time to face Brumbies flyhalf Matt Toomua, but the New Zealand-born utlity back trained at inside centre on Monday with Cooper calling the shot.
The Reds do not expect the Brumbies to deviate from the game that brought them success under South African coach Jake White, and Graham predicted a strong battle up front coupled with a solid kicking game from the home side.
“They will continue to do what has worked for them the last two years – a strong field position game, squeeze teams defensively, use their driving maul, kick goals,” he said.
