'So stoked to have him back': Waratahs excited by Michael Hooper's return
After a two-year absence from Super Rugby, Wallabies captain Michael Hooper returned to action for the Waratahs in their 38-14 win over the Fijian Drua on the Gold Coast on Friday.
Absent from last year’s winless campaign as he enjoyed a season-long sabbatical with Toyota Verblitz in Japan’s Top League, Hooper helped propel the Waratahs to their fourth victory of the season with a try-scoring appearance from the bench.
The 30-year-old flanker cashed in on some brilliant drawing and passing by his teammates about 12 minutes after his introduction to the match, dotting down right by the posts to score his side’s fifth and penultimate try.
It was an apt way to mark his first outing in the revamped Super Rugby Pacific, even if he was fortunate to have scored the try after having misread the slick move that illustrated the deft distribution skills of the Waratahs forwards.
The soft hands of No 8 Will Harris and stand-in captain Jed Holloway were enough to put first-five Tane Edmed into a gap, which he burst through with Hooper hanging just outside his right shoulder in support.
However, Hooper appeared to look for a short ball by running a tight line rather than staying out wide, which was where most of the space was.
Nevertheless, Edmed was still able to suck in two Drua defenders and slip the ball into the hands of Hooper, who had a clear run to the line from close range.
“Funnily enough, it was Jed’s beautiful little ball to Tane [that created the try], and I’ll get into Hoops later because he ran the wrong line,” Waratahs head coach Darren Coleman joked after the match.
“He didn’t even know that play. He didn’t know the call. It was a play he hasn’t seen or practiced yet. He was meant to bounce out, not come in, but luckily it still worked. He popped up in support.”
Despite Hooper’s evident lack of cohesion with his teammates after having missed the first part of this season due to extended leave, Coleman remained excited about having his star man back on deck for the remainder of the season.
“Jed’s probably better to comment what he adds around the group on the field, but I know he was excited and he was nervous, and at half-time, he wasn’t missing anything. He was bouncing around, getting warm, ready to play, so it’s great,” Coleman said.
“I think he’ll grow from that and he’ll get more confident, more match fit and he’ll be a trojan for us like he has been for everyone else he’s played for.”
Holloway, who played alongside Hooper at Toyota Verblitz last year, joined Coleman in expressing his optimism about the prospect of having the 2021 World Rugby Player of the Year nominee back in a playing capacity.
“As well as what he offers on the field, just another steady head around helping me out, leadership and guiding these young guys around,” Holloway said post-match.
“After spending a year with him in Japan, and really spent a lot of time with him, I’m so stoked to have him back around the squad. What he adds in terms of experience and leadership is invaluable, so it’s just exciting.
“Exciting that he’s getting in some minutes and he’s fresh, he’s had 16 weeks off, even though he’s not getting too much sleep at the moment with the little one, but he’s itching to get some more minutes up his sleeve. Can’t wait to play with him more.”
This weekend’s win elevates the Waratahs to fourth place leading into next week’s bye, before they face the Western Force in Perth in what will be their final match against an Australian team ahead of six straight matches against Kiwi opposition.
Those six matches, which will close out their regular season, will be difficult to snare victories from given the dire record Australian franchises have against their New Zealand counterparts.
The Waratahs, for example, haven’t won against a Kiwi team since their victory over the Crusaders in March 2019.
For that reason, Coleman understands the importance of securing wins against fellow Australian outfits, and the Fijian Drua, before heading into their trans-Tasman fixtures, which get underway during Melbourne’s Super Round in three weeks.
“We come back from the bye and we’ve got [the Force] in Perth. For us, that’ll be closure on the Aussie leg of it, or our pool, or whatever you want to call it, and then we go into the final [six] games against the [New Zealand] pool,” Coleman said.
“Really important we get the win in Perth. We get the win, that’ll take us to 5-3 into the Kiwi leg. It’ll just take a little bit of pressure off.
“We’re obviously going to need a win or two in that Kiwi leg to make the playoffs, but I’d prefer to be only chasing one or two wins in that rather than three or four.
“For the moment, I just want the boys to enjoy the night. They’ve got a few days off now, so it’s awesome for them. They’ve been going hard for a while.
“Have a beer tonight, enjoy themselves and enjoy the bye, and then we’ve got to get over to Perth and win that one. That’s crucial.”
Comments on RugbyPass
The 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?
3 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
3 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
3 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 commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to comments