Northern | US
7 - 50
FT
33 - 24
FT
40 - 7
FT
17 - 21
FT
19 - 26
FT
62 - 15
FT
36 - 17
FT
6 - 21
FT
21 - 50
FT
20 - 35
FT
54 - 17
FT
17 - 20
FT
31 - 19
FT
19 - 26
FT
45 - 0
FT
28 - 27
FT
26 - 14
FT
26 - 60
FT
52 - 21
FT
28 - 32
FT
27 - 46
FT
38 - 17
FT
20 - 6
FT
29 - 21
FT
33 - 19
FT
44 - 20
FT
HSBC SVNS 2 2026
Montevideo
Thursday
13:00
Thursday
22:55
WOMENS
Thursday
23:05
Gallagher Premiership

Tom Hooper casts Wallabies future in doubt with move to England

Tom Hooper of the Wallabies looks on after being defeated during The Rugby Championship match between Australia Wallabies and South Africa Springboks at Optus Stadium on August 17, 2024 in Perth, Australia. (Photo by Paul Kane/Getty Images)

Under fire Exeter Chiefs boss Rob Baxter is set to try and quell fan discontent by strengthening his squad for next season with the signing of the highly rated young Wallaby star Tom Hooper from the Brumbies.

ADVERTISEMENT

Baxter has come under renewed attack from a small section of the Chiefs fanbase following their 69-17 humbling at the hands of Top 14 pacesetters Bordeaux-Begles in the Investec Champions Cup at Sandy Park on Saturday.

The Chiefs are struggling all round this season. They have only won one game in 10 in the Gallagher Premiership and have also been defeated in all three of their games in Europe, conceding 172 points, the most of any team in the competition.

Fans are also unhappy at seeing a succession of big-name players leave the Devon-based club as they have struggled to come to terms with the financial impact of the COVID pandemic.

Fixture
Investec Champions Cup
Ulster
52 - 24
Full-time
Exeter Chiefs
All Stats and Data

But it would appear that they have turned the corner. RugbyPass reported last week that, following several cost-cutting measures, pre-tax losses were reduced by £4.1m in the year ending June 2024 from £ 4.5m the previous year.

The club have slashed £2.7m from their wage bill, meaning that they only made a pre-tax loss of £419,000 in the last financial year, and this will allow Baxter to throw off the financial shackles and be more robust in the transfer market.

His extensive shopping list includes at least one hooker, an outside centre, a tight head and a scrum-half with blindside Hooper who has won 10 Test caps set to be the first new arrival through the door.

ADVERTISEMENT

Hooper, who can also play openside and lock, will join veteran Wallaby Scott Sio, a former Brumbies team-mate at the Chiefs, in what is another blow to Wallabies boss Joe Schmidt.

Schmidt is still reeling from losing back-rower Langi Gleeson to Montpellier next season and has now got the news that Hooper, who played for Australia A against England A in a 38-17 defeat last November, is off as well.

Related

Exeter explain England reason why Feyi-Waboso op has been delayed

England’s opening Guinness Six Nations game is against Ireland on February 1 and the 22-year-old would miss the entire tournament with a post-surgery recovery timescale of 10-12 weeks.

Read Now
ADVERTISEMENT
Play Video
LIVE

{{item.title}}

Trending on RugbyPass

1

Munster to lose Thaakir Abrahams to URC rivals

2

Fissler Extra: The Sale Sharks plea to England over Tom Curry

3

Wallabies appoint former All Blacks defence coach as assistant

5
4

Jeff Wilson on why Ardie Savea must fill All Blacks bench role

22
5

'There's always a lot of chat with them. They're quite mouthy'

10
6

Franco Smith: 'It’s maybe what’s demanded of the game now'

7

'It was always going to be the decision': Pat Lam defends huge Bristol call

1
8

Injury concerns for RG Snyman following Leinster beatdown

2

Comments

1 Comment
Load More Comments

Join free and tell us what you really think!

Sign up for free
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest Long Reads

LONG READ

How the new-look Brumbies are confounding Super Rugby Pacific expectations

Having lost key personnel and brought through untried youngsters, the ACT side were not predicted to enjoy such a promising start to the campaign.

2
LONG READ

The Six Nations deep dive: How France has the North playing Super Rugby

This year's epic Six Nations proved the ancient championship is no longer the preserve of set-piece grunt and gristle alone.

53
LONG READ

Should England stick or twist with Borthwick? RWC27 clock cannot be used as an excuse

The idea the coach must be given the rest of the four-year cycle because he has been in place for most of it is fanciful.

90

Comments on RugbyPass

S
SB 2 minutes ago
Dave Rennie can't make the same mistake as Razor with the All Blacks



It won’t be his fault if this team doesn’t improve.

The performances should improve otherwise he will have to take responsibility for that. However he will largely be working with a similar group of players I think. So let’s see if it was the coaching holding them back or their true level was being exposed.



...

3 Go to comments
S
SB 3 minutes ago
Everyone has the same fear about Rieko Ioane after latest Leinster showing

He is the best defender in the 13 channel out of all the New Zealand players, regardless of his club form. If he’s not picked, I expect that area of the field to be targeted again from opposition. Just look at Dingwall’s try for England against the All Blacks with Tupaea and Proctor in midfield, embarrassing stuff.

6 Go to comments
S
SB 7 minutes ago
The Six Nations deep dive: How France has the North playing Super Rugby

No to Posolo Tuilagi. I don’t think he wants to do it anyway. He started his first game in a while on the weekend against Lyon and looked good though!

53 Go to comments
K
KwAussie 10 minutes ago
'It’s been awesome': Justine McGregor relishing Black Ferns call-up

awesome story. Good luck with the BF’s this year.

1 Go to comments
S
SB 20 minutes ago
The Six Nations deep dive: How France has the North playing Super Rugby

Yea that is interesting. Although I felt Gardner has very harsh with France at Murrayfield.

Where did you get that stat? I couldn’t find it myself. I would go Cros 6 Darge 7 Doris 8 in my team of the tournament. Jegou was outstanding in his 4 games on the field but maybe the eye gouge makes me not want to pick him. Otherwise I think I’d have no problem picking him at 7 too.



...

53 Go to comments
S
SB 27 minutes ago
The Six Nations deep dive: How France has the North playing Super Rugby

Exactly, they finished last year looking like a worse team than Argentina. When you are right NB, I agree with you! Haha

On Edwards, there is a rumour that he has taken a back seat with the defense and Galthie is more on the training pitch working with the players. This has been the case apparently for the last 8-10 months. Interesting when you think about it. However France’s defense was really good in the first 3 games, including an elite defensive performance against Italy. The only try they conceded that game was when they were recovering from a kick then Ramos flicked the ball back with the ball spilling out of the ruck for Capuozzo to score.



...

53 Go to comments
K
KwAussie 30 minutes ago
Former All Black on what Tana Umaga adds to Dave Rennie’s staff

I think DR has made some great moves with the selection of an almost new set of assistants. I like that he’s kept Holland on because he seems to have worked hard to make the set pieces work. The big thing for all of them will be redefining the player/coach relationship and fixing some of the broken links there.

1 Go to comments
N
NHinSH 38 minutes ago
Dave Rennie can't make the same mistake as Razor with the All Blacks

Couldn’t disagree more, he had some great results and pulled them up from their low prior to him joining. Yes, they lost a couple of games they shouldn't but stats on a screen ignore injuries and rotation.

Unfairly dismissed by an idiot in RA with a misguided agenda



...

3 Go to comments
R
Rugby3 40 minutes ago
The Six Nations deep dive: How France has the North playing Super Rugby

Or the Australian defence was regressing ….

53 Go to comments
S
SB 41 minutes ago
The Six Nations deep dive: How France has the North playing Super Rugby

Yea, except one lost by 33 in a record defeat where the team gave up. In my opinion the best test teams don’t do that. France showed their togetherness to come back in the game against Scotland, sure the Scottish had some injuries and had to reshuffle but what’s not talked about is the French also had Depoortere playing 25 minutes with an injury which obviously didn’t help. He tried to get through it with the adrenaline but it wasn’t possible, now he’s out for the rest of the season.

Don’t worry, we’ll see how many tries happen later on in the year!



...

53 Go to comments
S
SB 43 minutes ago
The Six Nations deep dive: How France has the North playing Super Rugby

Hounkpatin will never be included, I think he’s declared for Senegal anyway. Not because of performance but because of off field matters. Bamba/Colombe are interesting profiles but both will need to improve their scrum work. They are still not old for a tighthead prop so let’s see.

53 Go to comments
S
SB 44 minutes ago
The Six Nations deep dive: How France has the North playing Super Rugby

He played on the weekend and looked good, fingers crossed he can get some rhythm then go with the national team in July!

53 Go to comments
R
Rugby3 44 minutes ago
Dave Rennie can't make the same mistake as Razor with the All Blacks

Rennie was very very poor at coaching the Wallabies. I know a lot of kiwis think that was just because all Australian players are useless but it’s simply not true.

He was very poor with selections and tactics and being able to inspire the team. It was essentially aimless.



...

3 Go to comments
R
Rugby3 51 minutes ago
All Blacks announce three new assistant coaches to join Dave Rennie

Not at the moment they aren’t. Maybe they will eventually learn on the job.

10 Go to comments
J
JD Kiwi 53 minutes ago
The Six Nations deep dive: How France has the North playing Super Rugby

So good to see Europe embracing the Super Rugby mindset. I'm sure that Rennie will more than Razor did.

Rassie seems to have gone a bob each way - for all their Brownball the Boks showed against France and Ireland that they can still win by obliterating the opposition pack.



...

53 Go to comments
J
JD Kiwi 58 minutes ago
All Blacks announce three new assistant coaches to join Dave Rennie

Big question is whether any of the new coaches are truly world class, like Rassie has at his disposal. Time will tell.

10 Go to comments
J
JD Kiwi 1 hour ago
All Blacks announce three new assistant coaches to join Dave Rennie

Certainly improved the Blues defence. Parsons was effusive in his praise on the Aotearoa pod this week.

10 Go to comments
J
John 1 hour ago
Aussie Super Rugby takes: Don't doubt the Brumbies, Hurricanes the joker in the pack

Cheers NH! The Reds forwards did a lot of heavy work in horrendous heat and humidity. Yep, Drua knew what they were doing.

4 Go to comments
J
John 1 hour ago
Aussie Super Rugby takes: Don't doubt the Brumbies, Hurricanes the joker in the pack

Very true, but the Brumbies spanked the Crusaders at home, putting 50 points on them. And the sides that the Highlanders have come close to, the Brumbies have beaten. So while I agree the Highlanders are no pushover, and the Canes are in a rich vein of form, they can not be said to have been tested yet.

4 Go to comments
J
JD Kiwi 1 hour ago
Ben Kay: 'I’d put my money on Ollie Chessum being the next England captain.'

It was Irish fans who talked about kiwi and Saffers’ views on Irish arrogance. But obviously it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks if it conflicts with your own delusions which just keep coming. POM not a dirty player? You're entitled to your opinion of course but the weight of rugby fans are against you on that one. I suspect that Welshman whose face was rearranged by POM’s flying forearm when helpless in a ruck would disagree too.

As for going on about promotional material or the idea that our objective in TRC shouldn't be to win it, what planet are you on?



...

69 Go to comments
Close Panel
Close Panel

Edition & Time Zone

{{current.name}}
Set time zone automatically
{{selectedTimezone}} (auto)
Choose a different time zone
Close Panel

Editions

Close Panel

Change Time Zone

Search Timezones
Close
ADVERTISEMENT