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Rob Baxter explains reason behind Tom Hooper’s Wallabies release
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Exeter Chiefs boss Rob Baxter has received a boost with the news that Wallaby flanker Tom Hooper has been left out of Les Kiss’s squad for the two Tests with New Zealand and will be back in the country to make his first appearance of the season against Newcastle Red Bulls next weekend.
Baxter said that Hooper, who was a key player for the Chiefs in their run to the Gallagher PREM Final last season, isn’t available for tomorrow night’s trip to the Rec to face Bath, but he will be back in the country in time for the visit of the Red Bulls to Sandy Park a week on Sunday.
Hooper, 25, who played in the Wallabies’ 42-38 victory over the Springboks in Perth, has been replaced by uncapped utility forward Toby Macpherson for the two games against the All Blacks after Baxter struck an agreement with Kiss, who will have him available for the Nations Championship.
“Tom will be flying back next week, so there’s the potential for him to be available against Newcastle next Sunday. When you have players with the 30-game limit, which Tom has reached, we sit down and have a lot of communication with Les Kiss about how we’re going to manage his programme over the next 12 months.
“I have to say Australia have been fantastic in terms of where they were prepared to give Tom some rest periods. The rest periods he had actually increased because he picked up that relatively minor shoulder injury. We put forward a process to Premiership Rugby about how Tom would be managed. That included the rest we give him, and the rest Australia give him.
“One of the things we agreed was post his last Test, under Regulation 9. The reason Tom has been stood down is that these next games are outside the Regulation 9 window. Our agreement on Tom’s rest was that he would then have a break now after the last international, come back and be available for us, and then return to Australia in November.
“He’ll then have an extended break during the Six Nations period, so he’ll almost have a full pre-season break then. All we’ve really done is shift his pre-season to a different time of the year. That’s all been agreed with Rugby Australia, Premiership Rugby and ourselves. I think everyone has been very, very good with the process, including Tom,” said Baxter.
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