‘Grieving’ Michael Hooper holds onto slim Rugby World Cup hope

Australia’s most capped captain, Michael Hooper, is doing everything he can to keep in shape in case he is called on during the Rugby World Cup in France.

The veteran flank was one of the notable omissions from Eddie Jones’ World Cup squad, which was named not long after Hooper was named one of the squad’s co-captains.

Hooper took a break from the game in 2022 for personal reasons and has not quite reached the heights since, particularly with a badly timed calf injury that did his selection prospects no favours.

Big decisions

Jones is never shy of a big decision and decided to go to France with a very youthful squad as he searches for the first win of his second stint at the help that has seen five losses on the bounce.

The Australian star admits it was difficult being left out of the squad as his focus now shifts to maintaining his fitness in the case of injury.

“Of course, I was disappointed,” Hooper told WSFM.

“This is my final year of my contract, really had been a bit of a pinnacle of where my career would be, and finishing up on that note. But hey, like, I’ve been on the right side of the stick a lot with selection and being involved in teams, and it wasn’t to be this time.

“I’ve had the whole grieving period, you know, and coming out the other side, and now it’s turning into excitement to watch it all kick-off and trying to stay fit secretly. So, you know, if there’s a chance, I might be there.”

Hooper admits his calf injury was not ideal and was not the kind of injury one can play through. He underlined that being ready if called upon is his main goal at the moment.

“It wasn’t as clean, probably, as some injuries are. Usually, with an injury, you can push through the pain a bit. What I learned with this is not a type of push-through-pain situation,” he told Wide World of Sports.

“So in terms of timing, in terms of selection, all those things – my only regret will be not being ready if I’m called upon. So, I’m pretty much there now.”

Olympic dream

Hooper will shift his attention to a different form of the game as he is set to sign a contract with Australia Sevens in a bid to push for a spot on the Paris 2024 Olympic side.

“The idea of an Olympics is just really a new challenge and exciting challenge,” he told WA Today.

“So that certainly turned up the volume a bit. And aside from this calf, this season, I felt really fit, really healthy through my Waratahs season this year. [My] body felt really good.

“So the nervousness around sevens is usually, ‘What type of load does that take?’ But I think that from my understanding, the physical load in terms of contact is going to go down. Certainly, the running and the repeat speed stuff will increase, and I’m OK with that. I don’t mind that sort of stuff.”

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