Oh, Quade, why do you make it so hard for yourself?
His 10 minutes in the sinbin early in the second half meant there was no way back for Australia tonight - his high tackle on Aaron Smith preventing the little All Blacks halfback from scoring, a penalty try rightfully awarded.
An anomaly in terms of Cooper's performance? No. His was a risky selection by coach Michael Cheika, who has got just about everything else right these past few tests and it was a gamble that backfired big-time.
Richie McCaw's comments on the eve of this test suggested the All Blacks would target Cooper, who has endured a few horror nights here, and they followed through to ensure he had another one.
The All Blacks know the No 10 likes to defend deep away from the firing line so they sent up kick after kick to test his bottle, and the pressure paid off. Cooper fluffed a few and you could almost see the confidence draining from him.
Then came his desperate high shot on Smith following a superb run and pass from the electric Nehe Milner-Skudder, who has almost certainly booked his place on the plane for the World Cup, and that was effectively that. Ma'a Nonu and Conrad Smith also crossed while he was cooling his heels and the score quickly blew out to 34-6.
Cheika, who replaced Cooper with Kurtley Beale once his time in the bin was over, has already promised the New Zealand-born player a place in his World Cup squad. Will he regret that?
There was pressure, too, on Cooper's opposite Dan Carter after the defeat in Sydney last weekend, but he responded with a consistently good performance and a piece of brilliance to unlock the visitors in the first half.
In his final test in New Zealand, he needed to run and he did. The Wallabies defence had been so good for the opening quarter it was an almost surreal sight to see him step his way through the green-and-gold wall.
The Australians were on the back foot due to Julian Savea's charge down the left - capitalising on a brilliant steal by Sam Whitelock in his own 22m area - and then Carter was off, using a clever head fake and then accelerating away.
With Dane Coles in support it seems just about anything is possible, and the hooker reprised his exploits in Johannesburg a few weeks ago with an even better try; helped by Adam Ashley-Cooper's slip such was Coles' lightness of foot.
It was just what the All Blacks needed, for their start was a nervous one, just as it was in Sydney. Brodie Retallick's fall in contesting the kickoff would have created some anxiety in the coaches' box, too, given Steve Hansen's gamble at not carrying a specialist lock on the reserves bench.
Hansen's roll of the dice paid off, though. Cheika's didn't. Bledisloe Cup locked up for another year.