Quade Cooper stays with ARU

Wallaby playmaker Quade Cooper has settled his differences with the Australian Rugby Union by signing a new two-year deal.
Cooper had earlier rejected an incentive-based contract, which was offered after a turbulent few months during which he criticised the “toxic” environment within the Wallabies and said his rugby career was “on hold”.
But the 38-time capped fly-half will stay with the Queensland Reds until the end of the 2014 for a contract reportedly worth £522,000 a season.
“It’s a very happy moment, to be able to continue my career with the Reds and hopefully the Wallabies is pretty exciting,” Cooper said.
“Now I can concentrate on my footy career and my upcoming boxing fight.”
The deal ends uncertainty over Cooper’s future, with his manager saying last month that negotiations with the ARU had ground to a halt and the player would make his boxing debut in the new year.
The 24-year-old had signed a three-year contract with the Reds earlier in the year but this was contingent on him holding an ARU contract which was due to expire this month.
As negotiations stalled and speculation mounted that he would join a French side, Cooper announced he was preparing for a fight on February 8 on the undercard of a Sonny Bill Williams contest.
Asked how seriously he had considered leaving rugby, Cooper said: “It wasn’t a matter of walking away.
“I expressed my desire to continue to play rugby, but there was no contract at that stage so I had to continue on and deal with what I had.”
Cooper, who suffered two knee injury this since the World Cup last year, said he was confident he would be in peak physical condition and “primed to play the best rugby in my career” by the start of the 2013 season.