England-based Wallabies forward Tom Hooper says he is fresh and ready to pull on the gold jersey against Ireland on Saturday – and fellow offshore stars Len Ikitau and Taniela Tupou are both in the same camp.
Hooper, Ikitau and Tupou all arrived back in Australia on Friday after successful seasons in the English Premiership and France’s Top 14 competition.
Tupou made it to the semi-finals of the French league with Racing 92, and Hooper and Ikitau were both prominent in Exeter making to the Premiership grand final last weekend at Twickenham.
Exeter fell to Northhampton in the decider, but the Australian pair walked away with reputations strongly enhanced. Hooper was named as the blindside flanker in the prestigious Premiership Team of the Season.
Tupou, Ikitau and Hooper were all named in the Wallabies’ squad for three Nations Championships Tests in July, which begins against the Irish at a sold-out Allianz Stadium on July 4.
The trio trained strongly with the Wallabies at North Sydney Oval on Saturday but whether they will play against Ireland remains unclear, after assistant coach Laurie Fisher last week indicated the overseas-based players would not have enough training time to be considered for selection.
Fisher said it would be a “skinny” window for the Hooper, Ikitau and Tupou to re-acclimatise into the Wallabies system, as per the timelines observed by Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt in the past, and as recently as last year’s spring tour.
But Hooper was bullish about his readiness to play when asked if he would put his hand up for selection in the Wallabies’ first Test team.
“That hand will be up until you drag me off the rugby field, really,” Hooper said. “My hand will always be up for Wallaby gold. Anytime I get the opportunity to pull on the threads, I’d be very privileged to. I think I speak for Lenny and Taniela, they’d probably echo that sentiment as well. We’re definitely ready to go.
“We wanted to get out on the training pitch today and put our best foot forward. I was certainly happy to have a rotation in there, with Jez Williams and Josh Canham. But it was good to get out and get the cobwebs out before a big week next week.”
Though he played mostly No.6 for Exeter, Hooper’s rotation indicated he is being looked at as a second-rower, where he also played occasionally for the Wallabies last year.
Ikitau appeared to slot back into a what appeared to be first-choice team during training, with Ben Donaldson spending more time at No.10 than Carter Gordon. But Hunter Paisami also trained fully after a fitness test on his injured knee, and Josh Flook also spent time at inside centre.
Tupou played off the bench for Racing 92, and would likely do the same for the Wallabies behind Allan Alaalatoa.
Hooper also said he understood the coaches had the final say, and would make the best decision for the team.
“They’re going to do what’s best for the team. So if they think Lenny, myself and Teddy are ready to pull on the gold threads next week, we’ll do it, and we’ll do a job,” he said.
“If not, whoever’s in our place will certainly do a job. So we just have full faith in the selections and the team. And you look at all the young boys that have come in.”
The versatile big man said his first year at Exeter has been an outstanding experience, despite missing out in the grand final.
“It’s good to add a few different strings to your bow and be able to play different brands of rugby,” Hooper said. “We fell just short of the cherry on top of lifting the trophy, but very proud of our efforts there.
“Myself and Len knew that we wanted to turn our focus pretty quickly onto the Wallabies. So it was nice to celebrate with those guys, a couple of cold Powerades and then straight back on the plane and into camp this week.”
The 25-year-old said he had returned from the UK as a better athlete.
“I went over there a little bit on the pudgy side and had get in the gym and work hard,” he said.
“It was cold outside, so there’s no sacrifice. There’s no beaches to be missed, so I just hopped in the gym. I worked pretty hard, and came back an athlete. Now I’ve got to look after my body if I want to play long seasons. So I learned certainly in that regard.
“And I think that’ll put me in good stead for these upcoming test matches.”
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Iain Payten is a senior sports reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via X or email.
