Wallabies World Cup 'glue' is in place, according to Quade Cooper LONDON: The Wallabies have started putting the World Cup "glue" in place to lay the foundation for a new era and Quade Cooper insists the spring tour of Europe has instilled a stronger work ethic in the team. The Wallabies left London on Sunday after suffering a third consecutive defeat and finishing their hectic year with a 26-17 loss to England at Twickenham. The tour marked the start of Michael Cheika's reign as coach, but the team failed to deliver results and lost three of their four Tests. Rugged tour: Quade Cooper is smashed in a tackle by Brad Barritt. It's a worrying dip in form less than a year out from the World Cup and the 'pool of death' clashes against England and Wales. But playmaker Cooper is adamant the five-week tour has helped fast track the Wallabies development with Cheika's game plan. "The enjoyment is being a part of a team with good culture, seeing the team that's growing," Cooper said. The results aren't what we or the Australian public wanted. But the fact is we're working harder than we ever have. That's shown out in the attitude, each person is trying to improve at training every day and we're working so much harder. You look back and think you used to work hard, but then you get pushed harder and you realise there's more that you can improve on. That's been the best thing about this tour. Cheika's intense training regime served as a huge shock to the majority of the squad. Instead of allowing players time to rest after a long year of Super Rugby and the Rugby Championships, Cheika pushed the team to the limit and exposed them to a tougher environment. It didn't pay dividends on the field, with the Wallabies losing to France, Ireland and England in their last three weeks. But they lost those games by a combined total of just 15 points. The Wallabies finished third at the World Cup in 2011 when Robbie Deans was the coach, losing to Ireland in the pool stages and New Zealand in the semi-final. It's hard to say if [we're better placed this time]. Our mindset and work ethic is a lot better after five weeks on tour," Cooper said. We've been pushing each other. If we continue to grow as a team and build these bonds, that will be the glue that puts us in a good position next year. We've got a hard-edge towards each other. Cheika will return to the NSW Waratahs this week to start preparations for their Super Rugby title defence. He will also finalise the Wallabies coaching structure and start devising a plan to ensure the Wallabies' World Cup campaign does not suffer as a result of his work with the Waratahs. "These guys have got to go out there and bash each other one day and love each other the next," Cheika said. That's what building unity is about. It's about pride in performance that maybe we haven't had enough of, that will lead to good things. No one thing individually will win us games, it's about the collation of a lot of things to build the armour. Cooper is confident that the race for World Cup selection will create a fierce rivalry between the Australian Super Rugby teams. Cheika used 32 players in five games in Europe, including the recalled Kurtley Beale and Jake Schatz halfway through the tour. There's also a host of stars making their comebacks from injury while James O'Connor and Karmichael Hunt will be trying to force their way into a 31-man World Cup squad. Cooper is competing with Bernard Foley for the No.10 jersey. The Queensland Reds five-eighth was public enemy No. 1 at the World Cup three years ago as the Kiwi crowd targeted him. Whether that's right or wrong, I've learnt to deal with it. I think about the worst possible case scenarios at training and look back at 2011 and know I can grow from it," Cooper said. Everyone's trying to get a starting spot, you're not going out to say you're a back-up player. That means we'll push each other to be better. It's that competitive edge that will see us grow. You know whoever you come up against is going hard, we're going to bash each other but that will help gain respect. Total votes: 6499. Poll closes in 62 days.