Wallaby Cooper to face disciplinary hearing

Outspoken Australian flyhalf Quade Cooper has been charged with bringing the game into disrepute for his critical comments of the Wallabies and coach Robbie Deans, according to reports. The disgruntled star made headlines last month when he lashed out at the Wallabies set-up, saying the environment within the Australian team was "destroying" him. The Queensland Reds playmaker, currently sidelined with a knee injury, reiterated his grievances on a television rugby programme less than a week after first making his feelings known via social media. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation said Cooper was due to appear at a code-of-conduct hearing on Wednesday in Sydney. An Australian Rugby Union spokesman said Saturday the ARU would not be making any official comment at this stage. In interviews Cooper, 24, had expressed frustration about the defensive style of play favoured by Deans and said that he didn't want to be involved with the Wallabies under the current regime. "I'm just trying here to be the best that I can be and that's why I said I didn't want to be involved in that kind of environment," Cooper said in a televised interview last month. "For me to continue to improve as a player and as a person you want to be involved in the best possible environment and I feel that environment is sort of destroying me as a person and as a player." ARU chief John O'Neill said at the time that the ARU was "utterly confused" by Cooper's outburst.