Cooper has been named to start at No 10 for the Wallabies for the first time since 2017, when he made the last of his 70 test appearances against Italy in Brisbane.
Since then, the 33-year-old has endured a turbulent four years that saw him dropped from the Queensland Reds by Brad Thorn in 2018, which was followed by a one-off spell with the Melbourne Rebels a year later.
Cooper’s move south wasn’t enough to win a re-call to the Wallabies squad for the 2019 World Cup, though, and that was enough for him to take up a deal abroad with the Hanazono Kintetsu Liners in Japan.