Well, that didn’t last long. Former Wallabies skipper Michael Hooper is set to come out of retirement in a sensational move to lace up his boots in Japan.
The 33-year-old is confident he will return to Steve Hansen’s Toyota Verblitz side in the Japanese League One competition.
It comes after two-time World Rugby Player of the Year and two-time World Cup winner Pieter-Steph du Toit suffered an injury.
“There weren’t too many places I really wanted to play. I had great memories of going there a few years ago, so I was right there,” Hooper told Wide World of Sports.
“To be honest, I’ve been really lucky and I’m grateful that Steve Hansen gave me the opportunity.
“I’m not ready for rugby yet. I haven’t made a tackle or actually thrown the ball in quite some time.
“I think I just need to lose 1-2 kilos.”
Hooper, the Wallabies’ most capped captain and a veteran of 125 tests, retired after failing to qualify for last year’s Paris Olympics.
Michael Hooper celebrated his first World Series Sevens in style with a comeback win over Fiji. Photo: World Rugby
Despite having a positive impact on John Manenti’s Australian team throughout the World Series, a minor calf injury dashed his hopes of making the flight.
“It was pretty ripe by the end,” Hooper said Wednesday. “It was because I felt like I was fighting my body for a while and not receiving any compensation,” he said.
“So when I finished 7, I was very much like, ‘Okay, I need a break.’ I don’t know what it will look like. I don’t know if it’s taking over the scene again. It’s okay if you don’t have to go out on the field again.
“But I’m still a little interested in seeing if I can mix it up again. I was really excited. It’s a bit of a Hail Mary that we didn’t see coming. “There were some discussions a while ago, but progress was made in almost a week.”
The disappointment comes less than 12 months after he was sensationally left out of Eddie Jones’ Wallabies squad following a failed World Cup campaign.
“It was a really good ride! “My Olympic journey is over, and with it my Australian rugby career is over,” Hooper wrote on his Instagram.
“I wish you all the very best in the Aussie Sevens team as you become part of a great, helpful and talented group of athletes.
“I would like to thank my family and friends for their unwavering support during my time in Australian rugby. We shared an amazing journey filled with unforgettable experiences, challenges and memories. thank you.”
Hooper has not played in a 15-man match since captaining the Wallabies against the Springboks in their opening match of the 2023 Rugby Championship in Pretoria.
Hooper was due to play against Argentina a week later but the inspirational leader suffered a calf injury at the team’s base in Manly. This week was his final week of winning gold.
Despite Jones selecting several players, including Samu Kerevi and Max Jorgensen, amid an injury cloud, controversial figures included Hooper and Quade Cooper ahead of the World Cup. They made a bombshell of a selection by leaving out other senior figures, including Bernard Foley and Tom Wright. Center Len Ikitau, who suffered a shoulder injury while scoring in a crushing loss to Argentina in Western Sydney, was also excluded.
Speaking at the Cauliflower Club ahead of the Wallabies’ Bledisloe Cup Test last year, Hooper said he had made peace with the fact that he had not achieved a dream finish to his international career.
“I think the trigger point was the loss to Argentina at Parramatta. We definitely had a plan and we were working on that plan,” Hooper said.
“We got our butts kicked in Pretoria, South Africa and ended up becoming world champions. And after the defeat against Argentina at Parramatta, the rhetoric changed completely from that point on. There has been a complete shift in how we are going to do this and what the 23rd World Cup will look like. In Paris.
“I forgave him.
Roar editor Christy Doran traveled to Seattle with VisitSeattle.org to explore the city’s electric sports atmosphere, outdoor adventures and renowned food scene. Click here to see his latest adventures in the Emerald City.
“I just imagine if you could get to the top and do it with a bunch of guys. I thought how great it would be if our last game was to win the World Cup. That would be so unbelievable.
“So I had this picture in my head driving that way, and that was a big factor in why I wanted to get up off the ground and push myself when the door was closed and no one was looking.
“But I don’t step over to answer the phone and that’s okay as a leader. I’ve done some unholy work, a lot of work off the field, and a lot of work in a team environment. “If you make a bad decision, if you make a decision as a leader, you have to stick to it.”
Commenting on the selection overhaul that ultimately backfired, Hooper added: “He called, but I don’t agree with the call.
“And I’m not just talking about me. I don’t think one person could have made enough of a difference to change the direction of the World Cup.
“But I think if we had had a good group of players who had been working together for four years at that point, the outcome would have been different. “Maybe we won’t win the World Cup, but we will definitely be better than we are now.”
Hooper’s return is not believed to have been motivated by the potential carrot of playing against the British and Irish Lions.
But if something were to happen to star flanker Fraser McLight or 2024 representatives Carlo Tizzano and Liam Wright, Joe Schmidt might have thought he could call on Hooper in a similar way to how Robbie Deans dramatically called out George Smith 12 years ago. It will. .
