Departing Brumbies enforcer 'not fussed' about route to Super Rugby glory

Tom Hooper has already been rewarded for a stand-out season, but the only gong the Brumbies’ big man cares about is winning the Super Rugby Pacific trophy.

The Wallabies forward finished third in the Super Rugby Player of the Year voting behind All Blacks superstars Ardie Savea and Damian McKenzie.

He was also named blindside flanker in the honorary inaugural team of the year.

Hooper has been making the most of his last season with the Brumbies after signing a two-year deal with UK club Exeter and is determined to go out with a bang by lifting the Super trophy for the first time in 21 years.

“I don’t really care too much about the individual accolades and even if I did, Ardie smashed me in the comp – I think he won it about five weeks ago – he’s an absolute freak,” Hooper said of Moana Pasifika skipper Savea.

“I enjoy playing with this group of blokes and they’re some of my best mates, so yeah, to be able to play my role for the team is the most pleasing thing.”

The Brumbies host the Hurricanes in a qualifying final on Saturday night, and unless Queensland upset the Crusaders in Christchurch, it’s set to be their last match in Canberra for the season.

Should the Reds win on Friday night, a victorious Brumbies outfit would play a semi-final at home rather than in New Zealand, where they have lost in the play-offs in the past three seasons.

Making his debut back in 2021 and earning 51 caps, Hooper says he’s planning to “rip in”, in case it is his last in Canberra.

“I haven’t really thought about it being my last, and I’m sure after I rip in on the field, there’ll be a couple of waterworks with my family and the crowd,” he told AAP.

“Hopefully the Reds can do us a favour and win, or if not, we’ll just have to win one over there so we’re not too fussed.

“Whether it’s at home or across the ditch, it doesn’t really change, we’ll be rip-roaring into the finals.”

The Brumbies have had the wood on the Hurricanes until round 11 this season, winning five of their past six and are unbeaten at home since 2017.

They were starved of possession in that 29-35 loss and missed a whopping 40 tackles, with barnstorming winger Kini Naholo steamrolling his way to two tries.

Suffering an ACL last month, he will miss the match.

Hooper, who has been starting at lock recently, said they couldn’t afford to let the Hurricanes win the physical battle and needed to be firing from the opening whistle.

“They came roaring into that Anzac match knowing that they’d lost a few on the trot against us, so we have to make sure that we kind of nullify them a bit better,” the 10-Test Wallaby said.

“They got the jump on us last time, and we’ve got to make sure that our eyelids are wide open and we’re not asleep at the start of this game.

“We’re just going to make sure that we rip into every moment we can on game day and make sure it’s an 80-minute performance.”