Cooper faces test of discipline in Cheika showdown

Quade Cooper's transformation from risky bet to safe pair of hands was a surprise boost for Australia last season but the flyhalf's self-discipline faces a test against Michael Cheika's Argentina on Saturday.

Unable to play in the series defeat to England due to a calf injury, Cooper is back in the number 10 jersey that Cheika was loath to give him through five years coaching the Wallabies.

While Dave Rennie has all but anointed Cooper as his starting flyhalf for next year's Rugby World Cup, his predecessor Cheika preferred Bernard Foley at the 2015 tournament in England and left Cooper out of his squad entirely for Japan in 2019.

The snub did not go down well with Cooper, who showed a touch of schadenfreude when Cheika resigned in the wake of the Wallabies' quarter-final exit from Japan, their equal-worst result at the global showpiece.

"If he cared about Aus rugby he would have done it a while ago," he tweeted.

It was a sentiment shared by quite a few home fans as the Wallabies stagnated during Cheika's final years.

But others endorsed Cheika for freezing out Cooper, given the playmaker's high-risk game was prone to unravel under pressure.

Former Wallabies coach Robbie Deans also found a younger Cooper too hot to handle, leaving him out of the British and Irish Lions series in 2013.

Three years on from the World Cup, both Cooper and Cheika are enjoying fresh starts in vastly different environments.

Having joined Mario Ledesma's Argentina staff in the past two seasons, Cheika succeeded him in the top job this year and last month guided the Pumas to a 2-1 victory over Scotland in his first series in charge.

'THE CHEIKA THING'

Cooper returned to the Wallabies fold under Rennie last year, helping them sweep South Africa and