Rugby-Cooper says revamped Wallabies combination worked 'well'

MELBOURNE, Sept 1 (Reuters) - Quade Cooper has stamped his approval on the Wallabies' new play-making combination, despite its lack of influence during the loss to the All Blacks in Wellington. Starting at flyhalf, Cooper resumed his once successful partnership with scrumhalf Will Genia, with regular number 10 Bernard Foley shifting back to inside centre in place of the injured Matt Giteau. With Australia subject to another one-sided defeat by the All Blacks in the second Rugby Championship match, it was hard to gauge the effectiveness of the set-up. Cooper, however, who announced a new three-year deal tethering him to Australian rugby after a year playing in France, was sold. "I think it worked quite well," Cooper told the Australian Associated Press on Thursday. "It was quite a physical game, a lot of set piece issues and stuff like that but I found our combination was fine. "With anything, if you have the support of your peers and your coaches, that's the most important thing. We'll continue to work at it." Having lost the Bledisloe Cup to New Zealand for another year, Australia will hope to restore some badly wounded pride against South Africa in the next Rugby Championship match in Brisbane on Sept. 10. Following a 3-0 series whitewash by England in June, their first ever on home soil, Australia are riding a six-match losing streak and coach Michael Cheika is under huge pressure to stop the rot. "Whenever there's pressure, it's on everyone," Cooper said. "We'll support each other as a team, whether you're a player, staff member or coach. "But it's not just about a one-off win and sitting back and saying 'the pressure's off us'. "We need to do that week in, week out and make sure we set a good example for ourselves." South Africa were below their best in a 26-24 away defeat to Argentina last week and Cooper said he expected the Springboks to respond at Lang Park. "We're not banking on them coming off the back of a bad performance and them getting worse," he said. (Writing by Ian Ransom; Editing by Sudipto Ganguly)