Mike Averis

Gareth Cooper claims not to know the whys and wherefores or what kind of deal, if any, was done, just that after training with Gloucester on Monday, thinking only of the upcoming league match with Northampton, he was told to pack his kit and head across the Severn Bridge. Gloucester had stopped playing hard ball over their scrum-half and he was available to play against Australia on Saturday .

The fact that practically everyone to the west of Offa's Dyke subsequently rained pleasantries on anyone to the east, when club-versus-country rancour had ­previously polluted the air, was neither here nor there. Cooper, the man in possession of the Wales No9 shirt, was heading for his 40th cap and relieved to be so.

Nobody knows more than him that missing one Test for whatever reason can spell the end of an international career or possibly mean another long spell on the sidelines.

Before the current run of autumn internationals, the last time Cooper partnered Stephen Jones at half-back for Wales was during the 2004 Six Nations and there have been times when it looked as though he would be lucky to get a look-in again. In the last four seasons Cooper had made but a handful of starts — none of them in the spring internationals — as first Dwayne Peel and then Mike Phillips found favour while he spent too long in the sick bay.

At the age of 29, lesser men might have resigned themselves, especially as things were not always going Cooper's way with Gloucester either, while the then new Welsh coach, Warren Gatland, had indicated that he wanted all his players playing at home, not in the Guinness Premiership.

ThenPhillips and Peel got injured and, three days before the grand slam champions announced their squad for this summer's tour, Cooper got the letter telling him he was heading for South Africa. He says he was thrilled, though he never doubted that one day he would be back in the red shirt of Wales.

"Before I went to Gloucester I spoke to [the then Wales coach] Gareth Jenkins and cleared it with him and he said that as long as I was playing and playing well I would not be overlooked. When I saw the newspapers and read that Warren wanted everyone back in Wales I was a bit concerned at the time, but when I had the letter saying I had been selected for the summer tour I wasn't surprised and I really enjoyed it out there.I thought I played OK in the first Test, but gained a lot of confidence from that and had a good second Test which acted like a springboard for me to improve my performances for Gloucester and Wales," he said. "At the start of the autumn internationals I was pretty confident as the man in possession that I might get the chance again."

He started against South Africa and New Zealand and Stephen Jones agrees with Cooper that the scrum-half improved with every game although he is slightly puzzled why Wales are not scoring tries. "We made some chances so we'll just have to keep knocking on the door," said Jones. "Coop's got a very good pass and he's very, very sharp around the fringes which means the back row aren't so concerned about me. They have to look after the nine, before they can move on to me. It's been a while since we were first-choice together, but he is playing well and regularly for his club now and that helps."Cooper feels that one more good game against Australia and he will be the man in possession again when the Six Nations comes around even though Phillips should be fit and playing again. And by then, if the whispers are true, he might be heading home, with Cardiff Blues the favourites.

Such a move would no doubt please Gatland and improve Cooper's Welsh prospects further. The former Dragons scrum-half, who has also played with Bath, is diplomatic. Asked if there had been any "feelers" he stonewalls. "Not at the moment," says Cooper.

"I'm still under contract with Gloucester to the end of June and we'll see what happens over the next couple of months. Either I'll renegotiate with Gloucester or, if they don't want me, I'll see what else there is. Gloucester have the first chance to sign me, otherwise I'll be looking elsewhere."