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Australian sevens coach defends Hooper after Eddie Jones’ ‘role models’ dig
Eddie Jones shocked the rugby world for all the wrong reasons late last month after taking a surprising swipe at an exiled trio, including Michael Hooper, after the Wallabies’ pool stage exit at the Rugby World Cup.
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Jones, who has since resigned as Australia’s head coach amidst long-lasting rumours of a return to Japan, said Hooper, Quade Cooper and Bernard Foley weren’t “the right role models for the team going forward.”
Hooper is the most-capped Australian rugby captain in history, and the decorated flanker also won the John Eales Medal for the Wallabies’ Players’ Player of the Year a record four times.
Unsurprisingly, Jones’ comments sparked quite a reaction. It was hard to make sense of it when many would consider Hooper to be one of the best leaders in Australian rugby history.
With Hooper signing a team with the Australian sevens program ahead of an attempt to make the Olympic team, coach John Manenti has become the latest person to hit back at Jones.
“I strongly disagree with those comments and I don’t know why they needed to be said, to be honest,” Manenti said, as reported by The Sydney Morning Herald.
“His (Hooper’s) reputation, if nothing else, has been exactly that – a good role model, a good work ethic, a good training ethic. I know when those comments came out, the amount of players that came out publicly and said things: that told me enough.
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“He is uncompromising around his standards and his beliefs, and that may upset some people. He may upset me at times, too – that’s the reality of guys who are strong-willed and want to be the best.
“So we may butt heads but that’ll be a good thing. You want to be challenged and to challenge each other to be better.”
Hooper has trained a few times with his new sevens teammates, but the former Wallabies skipper won’t officially join the program until the start of January.
With less than four weeks between then and day one of the Perth SVNS which starts on Australia Day (January 26), Hooper will certainly have his work cut out for him as he looks to “earn” his spot.
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“He feels that he still has value to add to Australian rugby and we feel like he still has enormous value to add to Australian rugby,” Manenti told Rugby.com.au.
“It keeps him and his family in Australia rather than potentially overseas where there would have been plenty of offers so I think it’s a win-win for Australian rugby, sevens and ‘Hoops’.
“We’re pretty excited. He’s had a few training runs where he’s done some running with us. I did a group session yesterday with the rehab group and already you see just a few extra per cent by the boys putting in, and wanting to lift their game.
“He’ll have a great effect on the group and it’ll be a great challenge for him because he knows coming into this he’s not going to just turn up and take a place in the team.
“He’ll have to earn it and learn the game… he’s well aware of that and understands this is a challenge and nothing’s given, he’s going to earn his right and he wouldn’t have it any other way.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Amazing. The losing team’s ratings are higher than the winning team’s. Mallia definitely didn’t deserve a y. What game were you watching? Should have got a w or an x. ADP hardly featured in that second half. At one point I wondered when he’d been subbed. Seems to me as if he gets an automatic 9 just for getting onto the team sheet.
1 Go to commentsI’m sorry. That second half was far from enthralling. It was painful to watch.
1 Go to commentsVery generous! If you’d missed the game, reading this you’d conclude that it was the Quins front row that cost them the game. Marler getting a blanket 6 for his demented contribution to the game. Puzzling.
1 Go to commentsCan’t see Toulouse beating Leinster at this rate.
7 Go to commentsADP was having a very average game until winning that penalty for Toulouse, sticking his big head in the way. “The head of God”?
7 Go to commentsHarlequins doing their best to do as little damage as possible with all the possession. Looks like they skipped catch and pass drills this week.
7 Go to commentsSeeing pictures of Jacques high-fiving it with Irish players breaks my heart. Too soon. I need more time.
1 Go to commentsquins is all over the place. The minute they get the ball they panic. Quins can still win tho just need to win all rucks otherwise just don't bother.
7 Go to commentsGreat wins for the male & female kiwi sides. Ireland not far away..
1 Go to commentsWhy is this dude getting so much coverage? Usually knobs like this get cancelled.
2 Go to commentsWow. What was that? A 3 million word meandering article about what exactly?
2 Go to commentsNice piece of writing. And yes the Sharks pulled a rabbit from the hat and were a little lucky with that penalty try that wasn’t given… however the Sharks (with their resources) should be way more consistent and should be putting teams like Claremont away for breakfast. I expect more from them and hope they kick on now.
8 Go to commentsJust what the Sharks needed to get things going in the right direction Defence on the outside really creates havoc for the whole team and needs to be addressed.
8 Go to commentsWell done guys both teams will be ready to play knockout rugby.
1 Go to commentsSurprised that Ramos isn't starting at 15. But what a squad of galacticos!
2 Go to commentsWhy is it a snub? What journalistic garbage is that? Sure the guy is a great player, but there are plenty of loose forwards and not all of them can be Springboks. Also, I know of no-one who doubts Rassie’s judgment. South Africa has a conveyor belt of loose forwards that just keeps producing, so the competition is intense. I certainly wish him well, but there is no entitlement and there is no snub.
17 Go to commentsSkelton may be brought back for the Wallabies so that would be the only reason that may hinder Wilson. Easily the form, most skilful and game IQ of any Oz 8. Valentini’s best and favourite position is 6, but lineouts may be an issue with Skelton, Valentini and Wilson. Will be interesting what Schmidt goes for but for me Wilson should be picked on form. Schmidt rewards work rate, skill and consistency. All that glitters every so often won’t be in contention. Greely is one of those players that has a knack of making the right decision. A coach is going to love him because he knows week in week out he’s going to get the job done. The second try Greely wasn’t the guy who made the initial break it was Flook, Greely was at the bottom of the ruck when Flook was off along the sideline. Greely got up and made the effort to catch up with play but also read the play nicely and hit the pass from Campbell at pace and then held the pass beautifully to Ryan.
6 Go to commentsSpot on Ben. Dead right. Havili looked great at 10. Easily the highest rugby IQ of any NZ player these days. Getting a kick charged down is a result of getting used to adjusting your depth to the line at 10, which he will sort out with time. But other than that it was an outstanding first effort in that position this year. I think the NZ media has misunderstood this directive from Razor. Havili might rank behind B Barrett this year, but Beuden is 33 this month and won't last much longer. DMaC is great but flaky and not really a test match animal (his efforts in Dunedin versus Aus last year for example). If Razor can't have Mounga, DMaC is too unstructured for Razor (and is just too small for test rugby). Havili will end up our first choice first five, and in partnership with Jodie will be excellent. Two triple threat operators in tandem, and big bodies and tough tacklers to boot. Jordoe will be the ABs goal kicker. I am an Aucklander and Blues (and Warriors) fan, but Havili at 10 is going to be sensational in time… he can be the best first five in the world by the end of this year. No question.
6 Go to commentsSharks deserved to be far further back by the last quarter. Their tackling was awful, their set pieces were disappointing, their defensive organization was poor (especially on the Kok side of the D line), they kept making unnecessary errors, and they never looked like cracking the Clermont defense during those first 60m. Masuku kept them in touch, with some help from the Clermont generosity on penalty opportunities. Agree with the writer of this article. It was belligerence, and ability to raise their pressure game just enough, that turned the last quarter into a Bok-style shutout. Clermont have a reputation of not playing the full 80m, and there was a bit of that for sure. But, quite often when the intensity of a team drops off in the last quarter credit is due to the opponent for tiring them out. At 60m, with the Kok try, you thought that just maybe the game was on. At 70m, with the Mapimpi contribution, one felt that Clermont were fading, while facing a team that would maintain the pressure game through the final whistle. Good win in the end, but the Sharks are still playing way below their potential. And with their resources, and a coach that has had enough time to figure things out, they are running out of excuses.
8 Go to commentsGood riddance
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