Quade Cooper could handle the tackling demands of the NRL if he decided to try his hand there, says Wallabies defence coach and former league star Phil Blake.

Blake has been charged with fixing Australia's defensive wobbles on their European tour and Cooper has been the former league journeyman's pet project.

The Wallabies five-eighth has begun attracting opposing sides' ball-runners after a bad day out in the loss to England.

Cooper toyed with the idea of joining the Parramatta Eels earlier this year before re-signing with Australian rugby until the end of the 2011 World Cup.

Blake, who played for seven rugby league clubs before beginning a coaching career in union, said Cooper would handle the relentless barrage of the 13-man game.

"I think he can but he'll be doing a lot more tackling in league than the five or six that you do in union," Blake said.

"Once you're in that channel they just target you."

Blake said defence in rugby was now "as strong" as that in league, but there were still differences.

"With league you've got that 10 metre gap between the sides so the collisions are a bit more forceful," he said.

"Because someone's got a 10 metre gallop on you, your initial contact's got to be pretty spot on."

The 45-year-old, who has a torn hamstring after a trademark chip-and-chase went wrong in a recent game of touch footy, is confident Cooper's days of being targeted in rugby will soon be over.

He said Cooper had been getting his head into the wrong position, effecting his momentum in making a tackle.

"If it's a perceived weakness it doesn't go away in a week, you've got to continually keep fronting up each week and showing it's not a problem for it to go away," Blake said.

"It's not about the contact, that's not the problem, it's just a few little technical things.

"It worked well on Saturday (against Italy) because, not only no misses, but he came up with a couple of nice tackles.

"If you do your first one and your second one you get your confidence and it just flows through."

Blake said stopping the emotional energy generated by French No.8 Sebastien Chabal would be the Wallabies' biggest defensive challenge at the Stade de France on Saturday night (0645 Sunday AEDT).

"He gets the players going, he gets the crowd involved," Blake said.

"If you can cut him down and cut him down and cut him down and keep fracturing his belief in running to (a point) where he's sick and tired of getting up off the ground, that would go a long way."

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