Quade Cooper has dodged a World Cup ban but will have to be at his evasive best if the Wallabies meet the All Blacks in a dream tournament final.

Cooper has put a massive target on his head by getting away with a knee to the head of Richie McCaw that has upset an All Black outfit who see him as a cheap-shot merchant.

The Wallabies five-eighth breathed a huge sigh of relief on Sunday when SANZAR judicial officer Jannie Lubbe dismissed a striking charge from Australia's Tri Nations triumph at Suncorp Stadium.

The unsavoury back-play incident, continuing a long personal battle between Cooper and McCaw, occurred in the second half of the 25-20 victory when they came into contact at the bottom of a ruck.

Cooper admitted his knee struck the New Zealand skipper's face but testified it was accidental as he was attempting to get off the ground and return to play.

Lubbe accepted the evidence and wasn't satisfied striking laws were breached.

The news didn't go down well in the All Blacks camp as coach Graham Henry and back-rower Victor Vito noted Cooper had built a reputation for taking cheap shots.

"I was disappointed (with the incident)," Henry said on Sunday morning. "I thought it was outside the spirit of the game.

"It's happened before, it creates an irritation obviously."

Vito said: "I didn't get much of a view of it but apparently it was more than once anyway.

"Some of the guys are starting to say that sort of stuff about him."

The flashpoint was the latest in the running feud between Cooper and McCaw dating back to Hong Kong last October.

Cooper shoved the open-side flanker in the head after James O'Connor scored a last-gasp try but explained his emotions bubbled over following a match full of niggle.

The niggle has continued in the four matches they have opposed each other this season.

The quality of Saturday night's encounter suggests the trans-Tasman rivals are on track to meet in the October 23 World Cup decider in Auckland, when NZ-born Cooper would play the role as arch-villain.

Cooper, however, was quick to praise McCaw as a "living legend" and rejected any notions of bad blood.

"I don't see any history there," he said. "It's rugby and blokes are coming into contact belting each other week-in week-out, and it just so happens two blokes come into contact more often than not.

"Richie's a flanker and his job is to slow down our ball and do anything he can to disrupt our momentum and my job is to keep our team on the front foot.

"We've both got jobs that oppose each other so we both have to be mindful of the rules."

Coach Robbie Deans, who initially feared the worst, certainly ensured Cooper would be more mindful when the Wallabies' World Cup campaign kicks off against Italy on September 11.

He made no bones that the 23-year-old playmaker needed to clean up his act.

"There's a next generation of kids watching that game and it's important that the way we play the game is something we're proud of and something that we leave behind that they want to follow," Deans said.

"The World Cup comes around only every four years and a lot of good players never get the opportunity to play in one so it would have been a bitter pill to swallow."

"If one suffers we all suffer."

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