Gregory John Luke Cooper (born 10 June 1965) is a New Zealand
rugby union former player and current coach. A
fullback Fullback or Full back may refer to:
Sports
* A position in various kinds of football, including:
** Full-back (association football), in association football (soccer), a defender playing in a wide position
** Fullback (gridiron football), in Americ ...
, Cooper represented
Hawke's Bay,
Otago
Otago (, ; mi, Ōtākou ) is a region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local government reg ...
and
Auckland at a provincial level and the in
Super Rugby
Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Building on various Southern Hem ...
.
In the Rugby Almanack of New Zealand, Cooper was selected as one of the "Five promising players" from the 1984 season and one of the "Five players of the year" for the 1991 season.
He was a member of the New Zealand national side, the
All Blacks, in 1986 and 1992, and played seven matches, all of them tests, for the team. he holds the record for the most points scored for Otago.
Cooper was appointed coach of the Otago team for the 2003 and 2004 seasons.
In 2022 Cooper was named coach of the
Utah Warriors in the
Major League Rugby
Major League Rugby (MLR or USMLR) is a professional rugby union competition and the top-level championship for clubs in North America. In the 2022 season it was contested by thirteen teams: twelve from the United States and one from Canada. Off ...
competition.
[https://www.warriorsrugby.com/news/utah-warriors-hire-greg-cooper-as-head-coach/ ]
References
1965 births
Living people
Rugby union players from Gisborne, New Zealand
New Zealand rugby union players
New Zealand rugby union coaches
New Zealand international rugby union players
Hawke's Bay rugby union players
Otago rugby union players
Auckland rugby union players
Blues (Super Rugby) players
Rugby union fullbacks
People educated at St John's College, Hastings
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