Both players will be going head to head in the bronze medal match on Friday with the Wallaby utility back fully aware of the threat the big Blues midfielder poses.
“Personally, I think Jamie Roberts has been player of the tournament,” he said. “He has had a fantastic campaign. He’s a great player, and it is going to take a lot of us to stop him.”
“We’re in the same boat as Wales,” he added referring to the fact that both sides had missed out on the coveted final which will instead see firm favourites New Zealand take on France.
“We are both hurting, we’re both in the same position. They are a great team, they are a young team like us and I am sure they’ve got exciting things ahead.”
Ashley-Cooper conceded he was still coming to terms to the semi-final defeat against the All Blacks.
“I took it personally, absolutely. I think all of us did. We were extremely upset, and I don’t think we were upset for ourselves – we were upset for the country.
“We knew we had a lot of support leading into the game, and everyone was behind us. To let ourselves down is one thing, but to let the supporters down, the fans and the country down is another.”
“Friday is another opportunity to put on the Wallabies jersey and nobody is going to take that for granted. There is a bronze medal on offer and everyone is pretty excited.
“It’s the industry we’re in – you win some, you lose some. We’ve got to put that behind us, and even though it was a significant loss and we are not competing for the World Cup, it’s still another Test match.
“I think both teams will have a crack. Both teams really don’t have too much to lose, so there’s not too much expectation or pressure put on us.
“That will make for a really exciting game and an open game. Our supporters need to know that the collective group here representing the country care a lot.
“Obviously, we suffered a pretty significant loss on the weekend and everyone was very upset by it and everyone took it personally. We’ve got an opportunity to turn things around, and we really want to win this game.”
