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Sydney - Australia flyhalf Quade Cooper will make his long-awaited return from injury this weekend after being named in the Reds team for Saturday's Super Rugby clash against the Force in Perth.
Cooper, who is pondering a lucrative offer from French club Toulon for next season, has played just two matches for the Reds this year after fracturing his collar bone in pre-season and a shoulder blade in early April.
"Quade was given the all clear 10 days ago but we wanted to keep working on his strength and bulk just to ensure we didn't compromise his return," said Reds coach Richard Graham.
"He has been training with the squad now for about three weeks and will have no problems returning to play at this level."
The 27-year-old has just three more Super Rugby matches to prove his form and fitness to Wallabies coach Michael Cheika ahead of the Rugby Championship and World Cup in England later this year.
Cooper missed most of last year's international season because of injury and slipped behind Bernard Foley in the pecking order for the number 10 shirt.
Teams:
Force
15 Dane Haylett-Petty, 14 Luke Morahan, 13 Marcel Brache, 12 Kyle Godwin, 11 Nick Cummins, 10 Sias Ebersohn, 9 Ryan Louwrens, 8 Ben McCalman, 7 Matt Hodgson (captain), 6 Angus Cottrell, 5 Adam Coleman, 4 Steve Mafi, 3 Tetera Faulkner, 2 Nathan Charles, 1 Pek Cowan
Substitutes: 16 Heath Tessmann, 17 Chris Heiberg, 18 Guy Millar, 19 Sam Wykes, 20 Kane Koteka, 21 Alby Mathewson, 22 Luke Burton, 23 Patrick Dellit
Reds
15 James O’Connor, 14 Chris Feauai-Sautia, 13 Karmichael Hunt, 12 Samu Kerevi, 11 Lachie Turner, 10 Quade Cooper, 9 Will Genia, 8 Jake Schatz, 7 Liam Gill, 6 Adam Thomson, 5 James Horwill, 4 Rob Simmons, 3 Greg Holmes, 2 James Hanson, 1 James Slipper (captain)
Substitutes: (one to be omitted): 16 Andrew Ready, 17 Pettowa Paraka, 18 Sam Talakai, 19 Ed O’Donoghue, 20 Beau Robinson, 21 Nick Frisby, 22 Jake McIntyre, 23 Ben Tapuai, 24 Jamie-Jerry Taulagi
