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The ARU chief executive, John O'Neill, who arrived in Pretoria on Friday night, said after several days of drama surrounding Cooper's attack on the culture of the Australian rugby team, including that he did not want to play for the Wallabies, it was necessary to have ''a cooling off period''.
O'Neill plans to talk to Cooper and his management following
the Wallabies' final Rugby Championship match against Argentina in
Rosario next Saturday. ''Hopefully this will give everyone time to
properly think through the situation,'' O'Neill said.
Several senior players have also indicated they are eager to talk to O'Neill about the Cooper issue, and meetings will be put in place next month.
It is clear Cooper has disenchanted numerous Wallabies with his inflammatory remarks. O'Neill, who will next week attend an International Rugby Board meeting in Cape Town, stressed it was important the Wallabies were not distracted any further in the Rugby Championship.
While Cooper has signed a contract with the Reds, he is still
in negotiations with the ARU. Cooper will be unable to play for the
Reds next season if he does not have an ARU contract.
