'Got to get our s*** together': How Wallabies captain Michael Hooper plans to celebrate 100th test with win over All Blacks
By the time the Wallabies run out onto Sky Stadium in Wellington to kick-off their 2020 campaign in just under three weeks, it will have been 358 days since they last played a test match.
When they make their first appearance of a disruptive year, though, newly reinstated captain Michael Hooper will be hopeful of overturning a poor run of results against the All Blacks on October 11.
The match, the opening fixture of the Bledisloe Cup series, not only acts as a chance for the Wallabies to register just their sixth victory over their trans-Tasman neighbours since 2010, but it will also be Hooper’s 100th test for Australia.
For a player that has given his all for his country since debuting as a 20-year-old in 2012, there would be no better way to celebrate such a significant milestone than by picking up a win on Kiwi soil for the first time in 19 years.
As deserving as Hooper is of reaping such rewards, the veteran flanker is refusing to lose focus on what looms as the dawn of a new era for the Wallabies under the guidance of new head coach Dave Rennie, noting that his side has “to get our s*** together”.
“It would be nice, wouldn’t it,” Hooper said shortly after the announcement of his retention as Wallabies skipper on Wednesday.
“There’s a lot of stuff that goes into a win across there [in New Zealand]. Look, I think that it’s something that you know you’re on 99 [tests], but there’s a lot to do right now.
“That’s something that after the game you’re able to reflect on and I don’t want to get too caught up in that. There’s a lot to do at hand.
“Yeah, that’s nice for myself and my family, but there’s a lot of stuff that’s much more important, and that’s how we come together in that first game.”
Just how the 44-man Wallabies squad, which features a whopping 16 uncapped players, gels together leading into the Bledisloe Cup and Rugby Championship remains to be seen.
However, Hooper believes Friday’s trip to New Zealand, whereby his side will undergo a two-week quarantine period in Christchurch, will go a long way to bringing his teammates up to speed with one another.
Tasked with assigning roommates for his squad’s stay in the South Island, Rennie has chosen to pair his senior team members with less-experienced players, with Hooper sharing a room with young Reds loose forward Fraser McReight.
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The uncapped 21-year-old was a standout for Queensland in their run to the Super Rugby AU final, and will likely act as a direct competitor to Hooper for the openside flanker role, with Rennie confirming that he sees his captain strictly as a No. 7.
Hooper is excited by the blend of youth and experience within the Australian camp, and highlighted McReight as a youngster that could make a hefty contribution to Australian rugby moving forward.
“I think the guy’s got huge potential,” he said of McReight. “You can really learn a lot in this environment quick.
“We have the opportunity to make both of each other better and improve as players, so we’ll be looking to do that.
“Being in such close proximity on and off the field, with the quarantine that we spoke about, we’ll have a lot of time with our counterparts.
“There’s a lot of us, 44 [players], so you’re having like three guys, maybe even more, in one position, so we’ll treat this two to three months as a real chance to improve all of our abilities.”
That optimistic sentiment was one that Hooper reinforced when looking ahead to Australia’s first-up clash with the All Blacks in the New Zealand capital.
“We’ve got to focus on ourselves. We are focussing on ourselves at the moment and how we can grow our game,” he said.
“Like I said, we’ve got a short period of time, so our focus needs to be dedicated to what we can control and everything like that.
“We’ve got a little journey to get us to that first Bledisloe, and that’s a really unique challenge that none of us have experienced before.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Does a blitz defence not have a weekness against a well-placed grubber kick, perhaps angled cleverly. All the defence is up and the full-back can only cover so much ground. Thoughts?
28 Go to commentsWhile Iose is destructive in the Canes set-up, he is not big for an international 8 and could struggle against the top teams. With his speed, he could be developed into a seven but, as Ben points out, he doesn’t show a scavenging game with the Canes or make dominating tackles. Sotutu has shown a step up this year and attitude plus motivation seems to be the big areas of growth. Deserves another AB shot imo.
3 Go to commentsNaholo is my only question mark for this side. He wasn’t the only one who had a forgettable game against the Brumbies but he was passive, defensively poor and generally lacked energy. Needs to get a whole lot busier for me. I would have liked to see Sullivan on that wing with Higgins on the bench (if staying with a 6-2 as BeegMike points out on here!)
3 Go to commentsWell, I am sure that Eben said exactly what he meant to say, exactly how he meant to say it. Does he strike you as a man that doesn't know arrogance when he sees it. He should know it because he has shaken the arrogance out of many foes before.
130 Go to commentsPls get it into your thick arrogant heads that the final was played by two Southern Hemisphere teams. The best against the best and that Argentina was just unlucky otherwise non of the Northetn Hemisphere teams would have seen the light of day.
130 Go to commentsAs long as New Zealand youth are involved in sport they are passionate for, and are well supported, it’s all good. I love league as well as rugby. NRL clubs have long since scouted the First 15 competitions, the NH and Japan scout super rugby and NPC. It’s a miracle there’s any players left for the all blacks to pick from.
4 Go to commentsI'm a Bok fan, so I don't say this lightly, but he is one of my all time favourite players. I am really going to miss watching him play. Thanks for many great memories. You are a true legend of the game.
3 Go to commentsBest way to deal with all of this is to play another game.
130 Go to commentsIt’s 12-15 games Luke. Ringrose has barely played in 2024 and Henshaw and Keenan have also been out for spells in the same time period. There are always injuries and for younger players to play with the likes of Barrett will be great for them. It’s just looking for negatives where there are none.
5 Go to commentsAndy Goode pushing his own agenda with very dubious considerations on refereeing performances. Luke Pearce speaking a bit of French doesn’t make him a good and adequate referee for the Champions Cup final; his latest refereeing performance in particular was not so great.
4 Go to commentsJordie knows that he has to earn the right to put on the jersey, whatever that jersey might be.
5 Go to commentsThe best outside centre in the world at one point. He will be greatly missed.
3 Go to commentsYip his great for the big moments when needed as a safa really enjoy watching him
4 Go to commentsOne that will start to come up from now on is penalties for back pushes during kick chase scrambles. Very difficult to detect. In Croke Park if you replay the Hendy NH try, you will see Furbank push Porter in the back, who collides with Larmour knocking the ball across into Hendy’s path to dot down. A more significant example was in the RWC QTR final where Arendse pushes Fickou into two other French players for the ball to spill into Arendse’s path for him to gather and run in to score SAs first try. Not cheating if you are not caught and very difficult to spot but with kicking becoming so critical I feel its an area that will referreeed/TMO-ed more.
4 Go to commentsWhat a pathetic little twit Andy Goode is, as if we care what he thinks…..😂
130 Go to commentsFoxy has been a wonderful player for the Scarlets and Wales.
3 Go to commentsNika the Georgian is the best referee in the world at the moment. Luckily we will be spared the shite SH refs and Barnes will hopefully remain retired given how shite and embarrassing he was at the RWC.
4 Go to commentsThis is the most exciting game of the summer imo, as we really won’t know in advance how both teams are going to play. - Will Robertson just reproduce his Crusaders tactics from last year, or will there be a conscious effort to borrow from the Hurricanes and Blues, and from the aspects of the ABs world cup strategy that worked well? - England under Borthwick have put in some good performances playing attacking rugby, and some good performances playing kick-oriented defensive rugby. Will Borthwick try to merge them together into a single all-court game, or will he continue switching between different approaches depending on the strengths and weaknesses of the opposition?
1 Go to commentsI’m predicting an aggregate points difference of no more than +/-10pts across both matches this series.
1 Go to commentsI’m predicting an aggregate points difference of no more than +/-10pts across both matches this series.
9 Go to comments