Greg Cooper in action for the All Blacks against a World XV, in 1992. Photo / Photosport
It’s uncommon that becoming an All Black is a professional rugby player’s second greatest achievement.
It’s also uncommon when you’re essentially edged out of the black jersey by a member of your own family.
But both were a reality for Gisborne-born Greg Cooper, who is now on the verge of coaching Major League Rugby’s Utah Warriors to their first championship win.
At the age of 15, Cooper was diagnosed with Ewing’s sarcoma, a rare form of cancer that affects connective tissue such as muscles and bones.
His parents were told he had only six months to live – a harrowing discovery that they kept from him at the time.
“I suppose, for me, it’s probably a good thing I wasn’t told, because there was never one moment where I didn’t think I was going to live,” Cooper told the Herald.
“I was like most young New Zealanders at the time ... I was really into my rugby in a bad way and then, all of a sudden, you’re sick.”
The survival rate of a Ewing’s sarcoma diagnosis in the early 1980s was understood to be less than 10%.
“We obviously didn’t have the internet back then, but I read a bit about Ewing’s sarcoma and I knew that it was bad. But again, I suppose when you’re 15, you’re naive [and] I just started to work out what was good for me.”
And so began a gruelling recovery process, with chemotherapy and a short period of radiotherapy. But those weren’t the only methods Cooper used.
“Rather than thinking, ‘I’ve got cancer, I’m going to die’, it was, ‘Okay, what can I do to get well again? What can I do to become an All Black?’ So that sort of became my focus.
“One of the things I heard about was [that] cancer cells don’t like oxygen. I basically ran and lifted weights every day ... Clearly, there were times I couldn’t run, because I was pretty messed up.”
Cooper said his monthly chemotherapy would spark 14 hours of sickness.
“[I would] have treatment on Monday, get food into me on Tuesday, start running probably Wednesday and go to first XV training on Thursday, pretty bad.
“Friday I’m better because I’ve had more rest and recovery, and then Saturday I’d play for the first XV – not particularly well, but I played.”
He would improve over the rest of the month before going back to treatment. It was a gruelling cycle that lasted for two years before ending early in 1983.
“I’d be skin and bone to start with, then I’d build up and then I’d get whacked again.”
Throughout his lengthy recovery, Cooper said he would have vivid dreams of wearing the All Blacks jersey.
“I’d seen guys on TV arm-in-arm around their teammates and singing the national anthem. That was my dream and that was my emotion.”
He would have to wait only three years for that dream to become a reality, making his international debut in 1986 as many top All Blacks served suspensions for their participation in the Cavaliers tour to South Africa.
Running on to what was then Lancaster Park in Christchurch, the 21-year-old, wearing the No 15 jersey, was one of 10 uncapped players in the “Baby Blacks” picked to face a strong French side.
“I looked at my silver fern and I’m singing the national anthem and, to be straight up, I honestly thought I’d been there for so many years, dreaming.
“I had a dream and that dream became reality.”
The Baby Blacks upset the French, prevailing 18-9 in front of 24,000 spectators. Cooper contributed eight points, kicking a drop goal, a penalty and a conversion.
The fullback went on to earn six more test caps between 1986 and 1992, scoring a total of 63 points before his international career came to a halt.
But he could hardly be upset about his replacement: younger brother Matthew, who is now president of New Zealand Rugby.
“I don’t think it’s happened that often that a brother has replaced another brother in a test,” Cooper said.
“I remember being told that I’m out – I sort of knew Matthew was in. When he was named, I rang him up [and] clearly he was feeling a little bit uncomfortable.
“Strange as this may seem, I was feeling pretty happy about it. Disappointed with missing out, but really happy. My best mate, basically, had become an All Black, the family’s got two All Blacks.”
Cooper said that, in the lead-up to his younger brother’s first test, he helped him study the Irish side that he had played just a week earlier. And it paid off, with Matthew scoring a then-world record of 23 points on his test debut, including two tries.
He went on to play 26 games for the All Blacks and one more test than his older brother, with eight. Matthew Cooper was elected president of New Zealand Rugby last year.
The brothers, who remain best mates, still look back and laugh about their fight for the black jersey.
While his international career was fairly short-lived, Greg had considerable success at a provincial level with Hawke’s Bay, Auckland and Otago. By the end of his career in 1996, he had amassed a record 1520 points for Otago.
He made three appearances for the Blues in 1996, the first year of the Super 12 competition.
After his playing days, he established a professional coaching career, with stints for Otago, the Blues, Highlanders, New Zealand Under-21s, French Top 14 side Stade Français and Japan’s Mitsubishi DynaBoars.
Most recently, he has been at the helm of the Utah Warriors in the United States’ Major League Rugby competition for the past three years – and has led them to the Western Conference finals this year.
He said that, during his playing career, he kept quiet about his cancer diagnosis and recovery because he “just wanted to be that young fella who was playing good rugby because he’s playing good rugby, not because he survived cancer”.
“But then I realised there were a few people potentially on the way I could maybe help, so then I opened up a little bit more.”
The 60-year-old said it was important to realise that everyone’s story was different and nobody’s was better than anyone else’s.
“I’m not just talking cancer, I’m just talking life. But I think sometimes, when there are stories of similarities, they actually can be quite a good conversation with the people concerned.
“I never, ever say to anyone that I know what they’re going through, because I don’t. I don’t know their families, I don’t know their situation. I know my story, and my story might resonate with them, so if I can help, I always try and help.”
Benjamin Plummer is an Auckland-based reporter for the New Zealand Herald who covers sport and breaking news. He has worked for the Herald since 2022.