‘I strongly disagree’ – Australia Sevens coach slams Eddie Jones’ comments on Michael Hooper

Split with John Manenti, Michael Hooper and Eddie Jones.
Australia Men’s Sevens coach John Manenti has taken aim at former Wallabies head coach Eddie Jones over comments made about Michael Hooper before the Rugby World Cup.
Jones controversially left Hooper out of his 33-man World Cup squad earlier this year, claiming the Wallabies’ most-capped skipper was “not the right role model” for the team.
The comments were also reserved for fellow veteran Quade Cooper, who also missed out on the global showpiece. The decisions made by Jones backfired as the Wallabies failed to make it out of the pool stage for the first time in history.
Hooper has since signed for Australia Sevens with the hope of fulfilling his dream of becoming an Olympian in Paris 2024.
Praise for Hooper
Manenti, who will be guiding the veteran Australian through his transition to Sevens, defended his latest signing, declaring that Jones’ claims about Hooper were far off the mark.
“I strongly disagree with those comments and I don’t know why they needed to be said, to be honest,” Manenti told the Sydney Morning Herald.
“His (Hooper’s) reputation, if nothing else, has been exactly that – a good role model, a good work ethic, a good training ethic. I know when those comments came out, the amount of players that came out publicly and said things: that told me enough.
“He is uncompromising around his standards and his beliefs, and that may upset some people. He may upset me at times, too – that’s the reality of guys who are strong-willed and want to be the best. So we may butt heads but that’ll be a good thing, you want to be challenged and to challenge each other, to be better.”
Hooper is looking to navigate the transition between the two different forms of the game and Manenti has earmarked the Perth event at the end of January as a possible tournament for the Test centurion to make his mark on the Sevens game.
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