World Cup winner Alan Whetton says the All Blacks shouldn't stand for Quade Cooper's serial baiting of Richie McCaw and someone should "pop" the Wallabies troublemaker to sort it out.

Cooper is playing up his dirty tricks campaign against the All Blacks skipper, gladly accepting his title as “Public Enemy No 1" while in New Zealand for the World Cup.

Cooper's cheap shots include using elbows and knees on McCaw. He escaped a judicial inquiry into the latest incident from the Tri-Nations test in Brisbane two weeks ago to take his place in Aussie’s cup opener against Italy today.

If referees and the authorities are going to ignore Cooper’s cheap shots, Whetton, a 1987 cup-winning hero who never stood for any nonsense during his time in the All Blacks’ back row, reckons it might be time for some old-fashioned justice.

“They are two interesting characters,” Whetton says of the McCaw and Cooper “One experienced, calm and collected, the other who shows his emotion on his sleeve and is prepared to have a crack, put a little bit of niggle in. Good on him if he gets away with it.

“But I expect the All Blacks to stand up to that. If it gets a bit too much someone should say, 'hey', and give a little pop to him (Cooper). Are we allowed to do that these days? Give a little pop to the fellow to make him realise he’s playing the All Blacks."

The dangers are obvious, especially in the heat of a World Cup final which is where the All Blacks and Wallabies are scheduled to meet if everything goes according to plan.

But clearly there’s a feeling around the country and in some old school All Blacks that Cooper needs to be brought into line.

Whetton acknowledges Cooper’s brilliance but also suggests there are question marks about his temperament for the big occasions.

“You have a chance with him ... if he gets put under pressure he doesn’t quite have that fortitude – not yet anyway. We’ll see how that backs up in this World Cup.”