Reds playmaker Quade Cooper should be fit in time to start in Australia’s Tri Nations opener against South Africa despite missing training on Friday.
The fly-half was forced to sit out after suffering with flu as his international team-mates were put through their paces ahead of their showdown with the Springboks on Saturday, but Wallaby skipper Rocky Elsom remained confident that Cooper would be ok come kick-off.
If he's not feeling that well, it's best that he just gets better and feels better tomorrow," Elsom told AAP. "It was probably a good move not to train, but I think he'll be fine tomorrow."
Cooper has been in inspirational form of late and helped the Reds win the Super Rugby final against the Crusaders earlier this month.
The Australian side have been preparing for the game in poor weather conditions, with the rains that have hit Sydney predicted to continue over the coming days.
Elsom believes Cooper will have few problems in adjusting his game to the slippery conditions, and added his natural running game could benefit from them.
"Quade is a good enough player to be able to adapt to the conditions," Elsom commented. "He's no veteran, but he's played a fair bit so he'll know what he's doing, [no matter] where he's playing."
