Joe Schmidt phone call persuaded Tom Hooper to gamble his future

Tom Hooper is back in love with rugby again after hitting a ceiling in Australia, and he hopes his move to Exeter will see him win a place in the Wallabies squad in time for the World Cup in 2027.

The Chiefs back row admits that it was a gamble to press the reset button on his career two years out from the home tournament, and move 12,000 miles away from the gaze of the Wallabies coaching staff.

Hooper had been in superb form until missing the best part of two months due to the knee injury that he suffered against Bristol Bears at the end of January. But the 22-cap Wallaby picked up where he left off in last weekend’s win over Sale Sharks and is refreshed and ready to put in some more big performances.

“I don’t just come over here for one reason. I came over here because a few of the stars really aligned for me, you know, it’s that time where I’d kind of hit my ceiling in Australia. I needed a new challenge,” the 25-year-old said.

“I just love playing with this group of boys, and honestly, hand on heart, like I feel like I’ve fallen back in love with the game over here, and that can speak volumes by the way that we’re all playing as a team.

“I’m a gambling man. When I came over here, I kind of knew full well that there was a possibility I wasn’t going to be playing for the Wallabies anymore. But my manager and I sat down, and I said, do you back me?

“He said, yes, and then I said, awesome, I’m back myself, and had a phone call with Joe Schmidt, and basically, he said, you know, I’m going to favour picking guys from home soil, but you know, if you’re the clear standout, then I’ll pick you.

“Off on that phone call. I just said, all right, it’s a pretty clear objective for me. I’m just going to make sure that you pick me. So, it was a gamble, but also all the power kind of lies in my court. That’s one of my greatest desires, being picked for a home World Cup,” he added.

Hooper says that he hasn’t spoken to new Wallabies coach Les Kiss recently, but hopes to catch up with him soon, or failing that, give him a nudge after winning a trophy or two.

“We are probably due for a good yarn on the blower, but I definitely need to make sure I’m letting my rugby do the talking first.

“I’ve just got to keep stringing a lot of good performances together before I get too ahead of myself and start talking about the gold jersey.

“We don’t believe in bribery, and I don’t know whether I’d do good or bad if sent a cheeky shirtless pic with a couple of medals around my neck, but hey, it’s worth a shot, anything is worth a shot in this life, isn’t it?”