Adam Ashley-Cooper (born 27 March 1984) is a former

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal A ...

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

player who last played for the LA Giltinis of

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 ...

(MLR). He has won 121 caps for

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

, the third most of any Australia player at the time of his retirement. His nickname is "Mr. Versatile". He is currently the senior assistant coach for backs with the LA Giltinis.

Early years

Ashley-Cooper is a descendant of the

Earls of Shaftesbury Earl of Shaftesbury is a title in the Peerage of England. It was created in 1672 for Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 1st Baron Ashley, a prominent politician in the Cabal then dominating the policies of King Charles II. He had already succeeded his fa ...

. He took up rugby as a 15-year-old while living on the Central Coast in NSW. He was educated at the Berkeley Vale Community High School, the same school that produced

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...

and

British and Irish Lions The British & Irish Lions is a rugby union team selected from players eligible for the national teams of England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. The Lions are a test side and most often select players who have already played for their national ...

rugby union player Nathan Hines, and NRL prop and Wests Tigers assistant coach Paul Stringer. He played junior rugby for the Ourimbah Razorbacks on the NSW Central Coast, the same club as Hines. In his teenage years he played both 10 and 12 (fly-half and inside-centre) and says: "I was pretty much all over the shop

ven Ven may refer to: Places * Ven, Heeze-Leende, a hamlet in the Netherlands * Ven (Sweden), an island * Ven, Tajikistan, a town * VEN or Venezuela Other uses * von Economo neurons, also called ''spindle neurons'' * '' Vên'', an EP by Eluveiti ...

in those days."

Rugby career

Super Rugby

Ashley-Cooper joined the Brumbies in 2004 on an ARU development contract. He played all of the Brumbies pre-season trials, and accompanied the team to South Africa. As a 20-year-old Ashley-Cooper spent most of his first year at the Brumbies flying around the globe playing for the

Australian sevens The Australia Sevens is an international rugby sevens tournament that was first played in 1986. Currently hosted as the Sydney Sevens, the event is part of the World Rugby Sevens Series. The tournament was held in Brisbane, in Adelaide, and o ...

. For the 2004

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 ...

final between the Brumbies and

Crusaders The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were in ...

, Ashley-Cooper sat on the bench at Canberra Stadium as the Brumbies 23rd man, his boots at hand but never unpacked. In 2005, Ashley-Cooper made his Super Rugby debut on the wing for the Brumbies at home against the Crusaders. He subsequently played two more games that season, against the Chiefs and the

Queensland Reds The Queensland Reds is the rugby union team for the Australian state of Queensland that competes in the Southern Hemisphere's Super Rugby competition. Prior to 1996, they were a representative team selected from the rugby union club competitions ...

. He was selected for the Wallabies in their second Tri Nations match against the

Springboks The South Africa national rugby union team, commonly known as the Springboks (colloquially the Boks, Bokke or Amabokoboko), is the country's national team governed by the South African Rugby Union. The Springboks play in green and gold jersey ...

and made his debut in

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

. In the 2006 Super Rugby season, Ashley-Cooper played 12 matches for the Brumbies, and scored two tries.

France

Bordeaux

In December 2014,

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

Top 14 The Top 14 () is a professional rugby union club competition that is played in France. Created in 1892, the Top 14 is at the top of the national league system operated by the French National Rugby League, also known by its French initialism o ...

side announced that Ashley-Cooper would join them on a two-year contract after the

2015 Rugby World Cup The 2015 Rugby World Cup was the eighth Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial rugby union world championship. The tournament was hosted by England from 18 September to 31 October. Of the 20 countries competing in the World Cup in 2011, there was on ...

Japan

Kobelco Steelers

United States

Los Angeles

Having originally signed to play for the

Austin Gilgronis The Austin Gilgronis were a professional rugby union team based in Austin, Texas, United States. The team was founded in 2017 as the Austin Elite, and competed in Major League Rugby. History On September 19, 2019, after extensive polling at th ...

prior to the cancellation of the

2020 Major League Rugby season The 2020 Major League Rugby season was the third season of Major League Rugby, the professional rugby union competition sanctioned by USA Rugby. The regular season schedule was released on September 23, 2019, and the regular season itself began ...

, Ashley-Cooper later signed with LA Giltinis for the 2021 season. In August 2021, Ashley-Cooper announced his retirement from rugby union.

International career

Ashley-Cooper played in all but four of the 56 Tests played by Australia between 2008 and 2011, and missed just one of 42 through 2009 and 2011. His five tries at the

2011 Rugby World Cup The 2011 Rugby World Cup was the seventh Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. The International Rugby Board (IRB) selected New Zealand as the host country in preference to Japan and South ...

saw him finish in the tournament's top five try-scorers. In Ewen McKenzie's second year in charge as Wallabies coach, McKenzie named Ashley-Cooper as Wallabies vice-captain for the 2014 three-test June series against France. Ashley-Cooper was selected for the Wallabies' 31-man squad for the 2015 Rugby World Cup and played the full 80 minutes of every knockout match on the right wing. He was named Man of the Match in the semi-final against Argentina on 25 October, scoring the second hat-trick of his career in the 29-15 win. This brought Ashley-Cooper's career try tally to 37 and his World Cup tally to 11. Ashley-Cooper's last match for Australia was a 29-9 loss to New Zealand on 27 August 2016 during that year's Rugby Championship. Ashley-Cooper was subbed off in the 16th minute for a concussion test and didn't return to the field, being replaced by debutant

Reece Hodge Reece Hodge (born 26 August 1994) is an Australian professional rugby union player for the Melbourne Rebels in Super Rugby. A utility back, Hodge can play fly-half, outside centre, wing or fullback. Hodge completed his secondary Education at M ...

. In November 2018, Ashley-Cooper was again selected by Australia for their game against Italy, after a break of more than two years.

Player profile

Versatility

Ashley-Cooper has been nicknamed "Mr Versatile", and sometimes

Australia's Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by a ...

"Mister Fix It", as is a utility player who can play centre, wing, or fullback. Fairfax journalist

Greg Growden Greg Growden (1959/1960 – 14 November 2020) was an Australian sports journalist, author and biographer. Life Growden was born in Adelaide, the son of Port Adelaide Football Club player Kevin Growden. The family moved to a rice farm at Coleamb ...

suggested that if Ashley-Cooper was asked: "What position do you expect to play this week?" he would answer: "I wouldn't have a clue." According to Growden, Wallabies ex-coach

Robbie Deans Robert Maxwell Deans (born 4 September 1959) is a New Zealand rugby union coach and former player, currently the head coach of Japanese club Panasonic Wild Knights. He was head coach of the Australian national team between 2008 and 2013. Deans ha ...

thinks Ashley-Cooper's versatility is part of what makes him invaluable. Against

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

, USA,

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring coun ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island coun ...

, and

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

at the

Ashley-Cooper played outside centre, on both wings, and at fullback. Similarly, at the

2007 Rugby World Cup The 2007 Rugby World Cup was the sixth Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. Twenty nations competed for the Webb Ellis Cup in the tournament, which was hosted by France from 7 September to 2 ...

he covered the centres against

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

and

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consis ...

, and right wing against

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

, and

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

. On occasion he played for the Waratahs at inside centre.

Honours

Waratahs

Champion:

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wa ...

* Australian Conference Winner (2):

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the April ...

* Super Rugby CenturionCarter to play his 100th Super Rugby game for the Crusaders Video by Carter to play his 100th Super Rugby game for the Crusaders

LA Giltinis

Champion:

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...

Australia

Rugby World Cup The Rugby World Cup is a men's rugby union tournament contested every four years between the top international teams. The tournament is administered by World Rugby, the sport's international governing body. The winners are awarded the Webb ...

runners up:

bronze medallists:

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrates ...

* Tri Nations/

The Rugby Championship The Rugby Championship is an international rugby union competition contested annually by Argentina, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. These are the four highest ranked national teams in the Southern Hemisphere; the Six Nations is a ...

champion:

References

External links

Wallabies Profile

Waratahs Profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ashley-Cooper, Adam 1984 births Ashley-Cooper family Australian rugby union players Australia international rugby union players ACT Brumbies players New South Wales Waratahs players Rugby union centres Rugby union fullbacks Rugby union wings Sportsmen from New South Wales Australian people of English descent Living people Rugby union players from Sydney Union Bordeaux Bègles players Australian expatriate rugby union players Australian expatriate sportspeople in France Expatriate rugby union players in France LA Giltinis players New South Wales Country Eagles players Kobelco Kobe Steelers players Austin Gilgronis players Australian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate rugby union players in the United States