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'He's just a freak': Former All Black pays tribute to Wallabies' best

By Sam Smith
Wallaby captain Michael Hooper during the Australia v France, 3rd Rugby Test at Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane, Australia on Saturday 17th July 2021. Mandatory credit: © Jason O'Brien / www.photosport.nz

While the Wallabies may have set an unwanted record in their 57-22 loss to the All Blacks last weekend, conceding the most points ever in a Bledisloe Cup clash, there was one man who continued to play his heart out in the gold jersey.

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Wallabies captain Michael Hooper, in his 110th international appearance, was a constant thorn in the All Blacks’ side, never relenting throughout the game despite his team taking a huge beating.

It was a typically courageous outing for the openside flanker, who’s faced stiff competition to wear the No 7 jersey since first joining the team in 2012, but fighting off the challenges of all and sundry to stake his name as one of the greatest openside flankers of the modern era.

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The Aotearoa Rugby Pod panel discuss the week that was.

And while a 35-point loss never looks great for a captain, it was hard to find fault with Hooper’s performance on the park. Despite his own individual effort, however, Hooper owned the loss following the game, suggesting that he as an individual needed to step up as both a player and a captain.

With a one-man advantage nearing halftime, the Wallabies failed to capitalise on a yellow card to Ardie Savea – and that quickly came back to bite them.

“[It was] our skill error, to not capitalise on that, maybe I should have taken the shot and built on that,” Hooper said following the game.

“Got a good exit and capitalised on them being a man down. I didn’t and it turned out to hurt us.

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“So I take a lot of responsibility for that and I take a lot of responsibility for not being able to rally our guys in order to get a better outcome in that pretty pivotal 10 minutes. It’s something that as captain I’ve got to look at.”

Hooper has been widely praised for his performance, however, with former All Blacks hooker and Super Rugby centurion James Parsons speaking out in favour of the Wallabies No 7.

“He’s just a freak. He’s such a good player to watch,” Parsons said on the latest episode of the Aotearoa Rugby Pod.

“I think [former Wallabies hooker] Jeremy Paul, during the week before this test match, said ‘If he was playing in any other era, he would be held as one of their best players ever’. If he was playing in a winning side or through that era of Larkham and Gregan, like Jeremy Paul was saying, [he would be considered one of the best].

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“He’s just unbelievable. His skillset, his ability to offload in contact, work off the ball…

“His ownership – if you listen to him after the game, he takes a lot of ownership on himself and where he can be better. He never points fingers. Those are the sorts of blokes that you want to follow and you want to get into the trenches with. His level of play on the field is quality. What he’s offering off the field, in terms of leadership, I think’s massive as well.”

Crusaders halfback Bryn Hall agreed, suggesting that Hooper’s attitude and ownership should have Wallabies fans confident their skipper can lead them away from their poor recent results against the All Blacks.

“If you’re an Australian supporter and obviously pretty disappointed with how the result went, you’ve got a captain at the front of it saying ‘We need to be more accountable, I need to be better, we need to be better’, then you kind of accept that as a supporter,” Hall said.

“Dave Rennie’s talked around a lot [how] they want to win – they’re not there just to participate. As a captain, you can be able to give that vulnerability and being able to show your fans and, more so, your group as well, that this is not good enough but as a captain I’m going to take this accountability and somewhat take the heat off the players that are probably going to be getting it a bit in the media.”

The Wallabies are due to host the All Blacks in Australia next weekend but New Zealand’s current Covid outbreak could put that plan at risk.

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J
Jon 4 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

This is the problem with conservative mindsets and phycology, and homogenous sports, everybody wants to be the same, use the i-win template. Athlete wise everyone has to have muscles and work at the gym to make themselves more likely to hold on that one tackle. Do those players even wonder if they are now more likely to be tackled by that player as a result of there “work”? Really though, too many questions, Jake. Is it better Jake? Yes, because you still have that rugby of ole that you talk about. Is it at the highest International level anymore? No, but you go to your club or checkout your representative side and still engage with that ‘beautiful game’. Could you also have a bit of that at the top if coaches encouraged there team to play and incentivized players like Damian McKenzie and Ange Capuozzo? Of course we could. Sadly Rugby doesn’t, or didn’t, really know what direction to go when professionalism came. Things like the state of northern pitches didn’t help. Over the last two or three decades I feel like I’ve been fortunate to have all that Jake wants. There was International quality Super Rugby to adore, then the next level below I could watch club mates, pulling 9 to 5s, take on the countries best in representative rugby. Rugby played with flair and not too much riding on the consequences. It was beautiful. That largely still exists today, but with the world of rugby not quite getting things right, the picture is now being painted in NZ that that level of rugby is not required in the “pathway” to Super Rugby or All Black rugby. You might wonder if NZR is right and the pathway shouldn’t include the ‘amateur’, but let me tell you, even though the NPC might be made up of people still having to pull 9-5s, we know these people still have dreams to get out of that, and aren’t likely to give them. They will be lost. That will put a real strain on the concept of whether “visceral thrill, derring-do and joyful abandon” type rugby will remain under the professional level here in NZ. I think at some point that can be eroded as well. If only wanting the best athlete’s at the top level wasn’t enough to lose that, shutting off the next group, or level, or rugby players from easy access to express and showcase themselves certainly will. That all comes back around to the same question of professionalism in rugby and whether it got things right, and rugby is better now. Maybe the answer is turning into a “no”?

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j
john 7 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

But here in Australia we were told Penney was another gun kiwi coach, for the Tahs…….and yet again it turned out the kiwi coach was completely useless. Another con job on Australian rugby. As was Robbie Deans, as was Dave Rennie. Both coaches dumped from NZ and promoted to Australia as our saviour. And the Tahs lap them up knowing they are second rate and knowing that under pressure when their short comings are exposed in Australia as well, that they will fall in below the largest most powerful province and choose second rate Tah players to save their jobs. As they do and exactly as Joe Schmidt will do. Gauranteed. Schmidt was dumped by NZ too. That’s why he went overseas. That why kiwi coaches take jobs in Australia, to try and prove they are not as bad as NZ thought they were. Then when they get found out they try and ingratiate themselves to NZ again by dragging Australian teams down with ridiculous selections and game plans. NZ rugby’s biggest problem is that it can’t yet transition from MCaw Cheatism. They just don’t know how to try and win on your merits. It is still always a contest to see how much cheating you can get away with. Without a cheating genius like McCaw, they are struggling. This I think is why my wise old mate in NZ thinks Robertson will struggle. The Crusaders are the nursery of McCaw Cheatism. Sean Fitzpatrick was probably the father of it. Robertson doesn’t know anything else but other countries have worked it out.

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A
Adrian 9 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

Thanks Nick The loss of players to OS, injury and retirement is certainly not helping the Crusaders. Ditto the coach. IMO Penny is there to hold the fort and cop the flak until new players and a new coach come through,…and that's understood and accepted by Penny and the Crusaders hierarchy. I think though that what is happening with the Crusaders is an indicator of what is happening with the other NZ SRP teams…..and the other SRP teams for that matter. Not enough money. The money has come via the SR competition and it’s not there anymore. It's in France, Japan and England. Unless or until something is done to make SR more SELLABLE to the NZ/Australia Rugby market AND the world rugby market the $s to keep both the very best players and the next rung down won't be there. They will play away from NZ more and more. I think though that NZ will continue to produce the players and the coaches of sufficient strength for NZ to have the capacity to stay at the top. Whether they do stay at the top as an international team will depend upon whether the money flowing to SRP is somehow restored, or NZ teams play in the Japan comp, or NZ opts to pick from anywhere. As a follower of many sports I’d have to say that the organisation and promotion of Super Rugby has been for the last 20 years closest to the worst I’ve ever seen. This hasn't necessarily been caused by NZ, but it’s happened. Perhaps it can be fixed, perhaps not. The Crusaders are I think a symptom of this, not the cause

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T
Trevor 12 hours ago
Will forgotten Wallabies fit the Joe Schmidt model?

Thanks Brett.. At last a positive article on the potential of Wallaby candidates, great to read. Schmidt’s record as an international rugby coach speaks for itself, I’m somewhat confident he will turn the Wallaby’s fortunes around …. on the field. It will be up to others to steady the ship off the paddock. But is there a flaw in my optimism? We have known all along that Australia has the players to be very competitive with their international rivals. We know that because everyone keeps telling us. So why the poor results? A question that requires a definitive answer before the turn around can occur. Joe Schmidt signed on for 2 years, time to encompass the Lions tour of 2025. By all accounts he puts family first and that’s fair enough, but I would wager that his 2 year contract will be extended if the next 18 months or so shows the statement “Australia has the players” proves to be correct. The new coach does not have a lot of time to meld together an outfit that will be competitive in the Rugby Championship - it will be interesting to see what happens. It will be interesting to see what happens with Giteau law, the new Wallaby coach has already verbalised that he would to prefer to select from those who play their rugby in Australia. His first test in charge is in July just over 3 months away .. not a long time. I for one wish him well .. heaven knows Australia needs some positive vibes.

21 Go to comments
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