Hooper masked feelings ahead of shock Wallabies walkout
Coach Dave Rennie has revealed skipper Michael Hooper had masked his feelings in the lead-up to his shock withdrawal from the Wallabies’ Rugby Championship Test against Argentina 24 hours before kick-off.
Hooper will miss two Tests against the Pumas after he announced he wasn’t in the right mindset to lead or represent the country and would instead fly home.
A mainstay of the national team for the past decade playing 121 Tests, flanker Hooper had been captain a record 68 times and appeared an indefatigable figure through the sport’s lows.
Rennie said there was no inkling of Hooper’s personal struggle as they prepared for the Mendoza Test on Sunday morning (AEST) until the 30-year-old sought help from the Wallabies team doctor Sharron Flahive, who put the wheels in motion for his return home.
He will travel back to Sydney with his Waratahs teammate Dave Porecki, who is unavailable for both Tests due to a training head knock.
Rennie said it was a courageous decision by father-of-one Hooper, normally a very private character, to admit he needed help.
“Nothing that was evident to us in how he trained – how he contributed around the team, around leadership was excellent – but clearly he’s been struggling a bit and masking that pretty well,” Rennie told reporters from Argentina on Saturday (AEST).
“Obviously he’s been able to suppress things over the past handful of weeks and so we certainly weren’t aware of anything but he’s such a professional and he was able to get on and do the job.
“He addressed the team today which took an enormous amount of courage to let them know that he’s not OK and that he felt it was best for himself and for the team that he gets home.
“It was an easy decision to let him go home where he will get plenty of support around him.”
Fellow Test centurion James Slipper will captain the side, while Fraser McReight will replace Hooper in the No.7 jersey to earn h is third Test cap.
Rennie said that McReig ht was match-ready after recently playing in the Australia A Pacific Cup series.
“He’s had three 80-minute performances so conditioning-wise it’s not an issue,” Rennie said.
“They use the same structures as us and he has been in our group in the past and so he’ll fit seamlessly.”
Hooper skippered Australia during their recent series loss to England which raised some questions about whether he was still the best man to lead the Wallabies.
Assistant coach Scott Wisemantel said at the time that Hooper was “adored” by his teammates.
“You look at his position, how other teams rate him, he’s world-class,” Wismantel said.
“He’s a strong leader. He’s a great listener.”
Retired cross-code star Karmichael Hunt said his former teammate was in the top five greatest players across the three football codes he played.
“His courage, toughness, dependability and care for this mates is what stands out above all … wishing him nothing but the best,” Hunt tweeted.
The Wallabies, who have a World Cup in France next year, return to Australia for Rugby Championship Tests against South Africa and New Zealand beginning later this month.
Rennie said Hooper hadn’t given any indication regarding his playing future and they didn’t have a timeline for a return to action.
He praised his player for being a role model for men.
“It’s not uncommon in life, is it? It’s a cross-section of society and often men will say bugger all and suffer in silence so it took a lot of courage to address the group,” Rennie said.
“He has a huge amount of respect from everyone and we want to get him home and get him as much support as we can.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Why cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
4 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
30 Go to comments