Waratahs lose Michael Hooper for four weeks

Editor

Waratahs captain Michael Hooper is set to miss four weeks due to an injury sustained in the Wallabies’ loss to Ireland in Sydney on Saturday.

Hooper, who is also the Wallabies’ captain, hobbled off the field with a hamstring injury during the first-half of his side’s 20-16 defeat to the Six Nations champions.

Waratahs assistant coach Simon Cron told reporters in Sydney on Monday that the openside flanker is unlikely to be fully fit until the Super Rugby play-offs.

“I know our physios are working with the Wallabies physios around the time frames and from what I understand it’s minimum this stage four weeks,” he said.

“We’d hope to have him back in our finals series ideally. It’s very early, so they’ll keep working through it.”

Hooper has not missed a Waratahs match in six seasons with the club, and in fact hasn’t missed a Super Rugby game since he was at the Brumbies in 2011, and hooker Damien Fitzpatrick said it would be strange playing in a team without him.

“It’s definitely going to be a different feeling not having him playing for the Waratahs because it hasn’t happened before, but at the same time he’s confident in the guys around him in that position, he’s prepared them really well and they’ve prepared well,” he said.

“It’ll be exciting to see who gets that seven role and then obviously who gets an opportunity to lead the side.”

Will Miller would be most likely to start in place of Hooper at seven, when the Waratahs return to action against the Rebels in Melbourne on Friday, while Ned Hanigan is an option at six.

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