Cooper steers Qld XV to Baa-baas win
QR Reds flyhalf Quade Cooper pulled out the whole box of tricks in steering his side to a comfortable 61-17 win over an Australian Barbarians side at Ballymore, putting on a show to match the extroverted jerseys the home side wore for the match.
Cooper scored two tries of his own and set up a number of others using his sleight of hand, precision passing and nimble footwork as the Queensland side ran in nine tries to three, most scored in the second half when the Barbarians' conditioning ran out.
Replacement wing Luke Morahan also cashed in on the tryfest with a hat trick, while fellow teenager Aidan Toua scored two from fullback and bombed a third with the line wide open.
The match was the last for David Croft in a red jersey - albeit one with a floral motif to match the carnival atmosphere - and he marked the occasion with three kicks at goal, all successful conversions of tries under the post.
The Barbarians were well served by Brumbies lock Sitaliki Timani, who impressed Barbarians coach Alan Jones with his talent.
"As good as you'll see anywhere," was Jones' assessment.
Former Reds No 8 Toutai Kefu was a crowd pleaser with a couple of big hits and trademark bullocking runs, while hooker Jeremy Paul snagged a brace of first half tries.
The crowd of 4,969 began arriving early for the traditional boot parties and barbecues on the creek bank and lingered after fulltime for the free concert by James Reyne.
Queensland XV 61 (Luke Morahan 3, Aidan Toua 2, Quade Cooper 2, Morgan Turinui, Leroy Houston tries; Quade Cooper 3, David Croft 3, Matt Brandon 2 cons) d Australian Barbarians 17 (Jeremy Paul 2, Sam Cordingley tries; Ben Gollings con).
