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.