Ashley-Cooper’s Bledisloe hunger

Wallabies vice-captain Adam Ashley-Cooper says he’d “trade everything” to end his career in Australian rugby with a drought-breaking Bledisloe Cup series win.

Set to join one of Australian sport’s most elite clubs on Saturday night, Ashley-Cooper has revealed next year’s Rugby World Cup will be his swan song in the gold jumper and he’s eyeing a glorious conclusion .

“I certainly see myself and my girlfriend heading towards Europe after the World Cup,” he told AAP.

“I’m very happy career-wise with what I’ve been able to achieve and I’m pretty keen to get overseas and experience something different.”

Regarded as the Wallabies’ “Mr Fixit” – and so much more – Ashley-Cooper will join George Gregan, Nathan Sharpe, George Smith, Stephen Larkham and David Campese as only the sixth player to make 100 Test appearances for Australia when he tackles the All Blacks in the final trans-Tasman showdown of 2014.

“I remember when it all started that there was no way I thought I’d ever play Super rugby, let alone for the Wallabies and, here I am, on 99 Tests,” Ashley-Cooper added.

As a teenager, Ashley-Cooper wanted to be a tennis star, but his mother talked him out of it and put him on the path to rugby.

Now, instead of dreaming about hoisting the Wimbledon trophy, Ashley-Cooper craves ending a dozen years of misery in 2015 by helping the Wallabies regain the Bledisloe Cup.

While it goes without saying he’d love to bow out as a World Cup winner in his third appearance at the global showpiece, Ashley-Cooper says long overdue trans-Tasman bragging rights is what he covets most.

“It’s going to be 100 hundred Tests this weekend,” he said.

“Hopefully there’ll be a few more. The only thing I really want to achieve before I go is a Bledisloe.

“So I’ve got one more year to do that and that’s next year.

“That’ll be my last crack and, I tell you what, I’d trade everything in for a Bledisloe.

“One, because it means a lot to me and, two, I know how much it means to this country.”

First things first, though, and after back-to-back losses to South Africa and Argentina and with Australian rugby in turmoil, Ashley-Cooper also knows what a win over the All Blacks this weekend would mean.

“With everything’s that going on at the moment, and the results over the last couple of weeks, a win is really, really important for Australian rugby,” he said.

“And, particularly, for our supporters.”

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