Hong Kong Rugby Sevens: Michael Hooper endures ‘crash course’ learning as Australia stumble
Australia fell short in their bid for a knockout blow in Michael Hooper’s first international Sevens outing - but the former Wallaby earned some almighty lessons across a frantic weekend.
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Michael Hooper missed out on landing the big prize at his first go at international sevens when the Australian men finished fourth in Hong Kong but he’s more convinced than ever that he did the right thing putting his hand up for Olympic gold in Paris.
The former Wallabies captain played strongly in his debut tournament at the spiritual home of Sevens, starting for the first time in Sunday’s third place playoff against Ireland after the Aussies went down to New Zealand in the semis.
The Australians also lost to Ireland, 14-5, but Hooper said he was certain he had made the right decision by having a crack at making the Olympics after his 15-a-side career ended when Eddie Jones left him out of the World Cup squad
“I’ve loved the whole experience in Hong Kong and it’s really just solidified the decision to come in and try a new challenge. It’s been really, really exciting for me to try something new,” he said.
“This was an absolute crash course for me and how I can try and impact this game and contribute to our team.
“There are a lot of nuances to the game that I’m getting used to and will probably get ironed out pretty quick once I just get more time.”
Hooper is racing the clock to be selected for Paris after injuries delayed his Sevens debut. The squad has only two more official tournaments - in Singapore and Madrid - before the final squad is picked in July.
He’s been on a steep learning curve but said he had no regrets at all,” he said.
“It’s just an absolute roller coaster. One minute you’re winning, the next you’re losing, then it’s quarter-finals and semi-finals.
“It just moves really quick even though it’s three days worth of competition so I love that.
“In terms of what I need to work on, I just need to find where I can fit into this game because I was running around like a madman some of the time on the field.”
Australia’s women saved their best for last to finish third, coming from behind to beat France 24-21 after a heartbreaking semi-final loss to the Kiwis.
They are now level with New Zealand at the top of world rankings but head coach Tim Walsh said the Aussies would be much better for the loss.
“They hate losing so they’re obviously disappointed but it was a great game. It was a ding dong battle that could have gone either way and I’m really proud of the performance,” he said.
“You either win or you learn and we can learn a lot from that experience.
“We had opportunities and there were a lot of 50-50s that didn’t go our way but that’s what happens against New Zealand, if you miss out on one and they get it then you’re fighting it.
“But you can’t just keep on winning and winning and winning and winning it’s just not going to happen.”
EARLIER: FAMILIAR FOE IN HOOPER’S WAY
By Julian Linden
Just when Michael Hooper thought he had seen the last of those dreaded New Zealanders, the Kiwis are once again threatening to rain on his parade.
After quitting the 15-a-side game, Hooper is suddenly on the verge of achieving something extraordinary in his first international Sevens tournament after helping Australia reach the semi-finals in Hong Kong.
But the team standing in his way is a familiar foe, New Zealand, who the Aussies will face for a spot in Sunday’s final.
Hooper has made only limited appearances off the bench during his debut but has done everything he’s been asked to, boosting his chances of being selected in the Australian team for this year’s Paris Olympics.
The Australian coach John Manenti has tried to lessen the pressure on Hooper by telling him not to expect miracles straight away but said he would learn a lot from the experience of playing in the sport’s biggest competition outside the Olympics.
“He knows there’s no expectation. He’s not going to earn that this weekend,” Manenti said.
“It’s his first tournament. It’s a learning experience. He’s going to make mistakes and he’s going to be better for them. The more exposure we give him, the more he’s going to learn.
“Yes, he’s going to make mistakes. Yes, he’s going to fail but he’s going to be better for it and we’re going to be better for it.
“Our focus here is to win this tournament, and give all the boys exposure and the opportunity and Hoops is one of them.”
Winning the Sevens title in Hong Kong is a tantalising feat so rare that Australia have managed it just once in the last 39 years, but they are in with a real shot after beating South Africa 15-0 in Saturday’s quarters.
Maurice Longbottom, one of the survivors from the Australian team that broke the drought by winning in Hong Kong in 2022, was again the star performer, scoring a try and landing a conversion and a long-range penalty.
He said he would love nothing more to win a second title in Hong Kong but wasn’t taking anything for granted.
“It’s actually quite special. It’s the home of Sevens, it’s the mecca of Sevens. You can’t really put it into words. It’s just a phenomenal achievement and I’m lucky enough to have done that,” he said.
“At the moment we’re building quite nicely. We’re hitting our straps here and hopefully we can keep building to the final.
“But our competition is ridiculous. No one’s guaranteed anything. Everyone’s got to scratch and claw just to get into the semis, then you’ve got to go and win another two games after that.”
TRY-SAVERS WORTH MORE THAN TRIES: LEVI
If Australia’s world beating women can win their first Hong Kong Sevens title this weekend, you can bet Maddison Levi will play a big part in it, but not for the reason most people think.
Arguably the best attacking player in the international game, Levi’s try scoring feats are simply phenomenal, but don’t try telling her that.
Coming into Hong Kong, the main dress rehearsal for this year’s Paris Olympics, the 21-year-old from the Gold Coast has chalked up a staggering 121 tries from just 18 World Cup tournaments.
She has helped herself to another five tries at the famed Hong Kong stadium, one against Fiji, two against Ireland and two against South Africa in the pool matches.
And she’s not finished yet, with the Aussies safely through to Sunday’s semi-final against their arch rivals New Zealand after a hard fought 12-0 win over Japan in the quarters.
But while Levi’s lightning speed with the ball in hand has set the tournament alight, she’s possibly the only one not keeping count of her rising tally because that’s not what she judges her performances by.
“I’m actually more focused about how many effective tackles I make than how many tries I score,” she said.
“People think of me as an attacking player but I actually take more pride and spend more time on my defence.”
By any measure, Levi is a strong tackler but she has had to curb her enthusiasm after running foul of officials.
Because she’s taller than most of her opponents, Levi has to adjust her technique to avoid making contact with their heads after being red carded at the second round of the World Series in South Africa in December.
“My height really helps with my attacking game and restarts but sometimes it can become ineffective when I’m in defence,” she said.
“So I just have to be very mindful of when I’m tackling, just to make sure I’m dipping and driving through and getting under.
“Line speed comes with great responsibility so I just have to make sure that when I am shooting up, I’m steadying my feet so that I’m in a better position because me doing an effective tackle is better than me getting a red card and going off the field.”
The Australian coach Tim Walsh has been working hard with Levi on her technique and says that when she gets it right, she is the complete package.
“When you look at Maddie across the board, she’s very good in the air and winning those restarts and if you give her some space, she’ll finish,” Walsh said.
“And defensively, she’s very, very reliable and puts herself in a good position so she ticks a lot of boxes as a world class sevens player.”
Levi, whose younger sister Teagan is also in Hong Kong carving it up, is also desperate to win the most prestigious title outside of the Olympics before it moves to a new venue in 2025.
“It’s such a huge event. Growing up, you all hear about the beginning of sevens and the home of sevens being the Hong Kong crowd,” she said.
“To just fall short last year, gives us even more motivation and even more energy to come here and take it home, especially being the last one in this stadium. We want to leave a mark being the last winners to ever win here.“
OLYMPIC DREAM ON TRACK
Michael Hooper’s wild Olympic dream is alive after the former Wallabies captain ticked all the boxes in a stunning international debut against Fiji at the Hong Kong Sevens on Friday.
Thrown into the cauldron against the reigning Olympic champions, a nervous Hooper did everything that was asked of him and more to help the Aussies secure a shock 12-0 win over the Pacific Islanders.
Hooper was sent on with less than three minutes left on the clock but was out there longer because of a couple but he looked completely at home, making two repeat tackles and winning a vital turnover in his first 30 seconds against the game’s great entertainers.
“I was bloody nervous on the sideline,” Hooper said.
“It’s just so different and completely new. The fans were going nuts… so to come on with four minutes to go with the game in the balance, it was tough stuff.”
Hooper’s bid to make the Australian team for this year’s Paris Olympics has been the talk of Hong Kong, the most prestigious Sevens tournament in the world.
A legend in the 15-a-side code, his planned debut in Sevens has been delayed by an ongoing achilles injury, leaving the 32-year-old with precious little time to press his claims but it’s a case of so far, so good.
“Look, I came on and did what I had to do,” Hooper said.
“I think our starters did a great job at shutting that down. I just had to come on in and finish it off for us.
“I’ve got a wealth of games under my belt, so I’m trying to lean into that.
“The fact is, I’m completely new at this so finding out where I can impact the game, coming up against Fiji round one is pretty daunting. So I’ll just take it step by step from here.”
The Australian coach John Manenti said it was far too early to say whether Hooper would make the squad for the Olympics, but he said he made a good impression.
“He did well,” Manenti said.
“He came on and did what he does pretty well, pilfer, so that was pretty significant.
”He’s been working really hard to get here. We said from the start, nothing was going to be given, he had to earn everything.
“You could see the boys that were on before him playing pretty good footy so he’s going to have to keep fighting and keep proving himself.
“He doesn’t want anything given but the only way we’re going to find out is putting him out there and keep testing him.
“So we’ll keep challenging him and I’m sure the champion he is, he’ll keep turning up and doing his best.”
AUSSIE WOMEN FIRE
Australia’s champion women are safely through to the quarter-finals of the Hong Kong Sevens after unearthing an exciting new star who only got her chance to shine on the sport’s biggest stage when Madison Ashby was sent off and suspended for three matches.
Making her international debut, teenager Ruby Nicholas scored a try with just her third touch of the ball as the Aussies trounced Ireland 35-0 after earlier clawing their way back to beat Fiji 19-12.
Ranked number one in the world, the Aussie women have automatically qualified for the knockout stage at the spiritual home of Sevens rugby, regardless of whether they win their final pool game or not, but their progression was not without high drama.
Ashby will be sidelined until at least the semi-finals after she was slapped with a three game back for a dangerous head clash with ultra versatile Fijian Ana Namisi, who has represented her Pacific island nation in rugby, netball and cricket.
Ashby’s dismissal initially took the shine of the women in gold, who overcame a 12-0 deficit to beat Fiji thanks to tries by Nathan Faith, Maddison Levi and 36-year-old Sharni Smale, the team’s oldest player who keeps getting better with age.
Although Ashby’s high tackle was unintentional, it fell foul of the sport’s clampdown on dangerous tackles.
The Australians have had a lot of problems with discipline this season and coach Tim Walsh said it was imperative they fix things heading into this year’s Paris Olympics.
“We’re not the only team. Every team’s getting their red or yellow cards and warnings,” he said.
“But we’ve obviously had probably more than most and we are addressing it.
“It’s a contact sport, but they’re the rules and that’s the safety so we’ve just got to be better. “
Smale, one of the survivors from the Australian team that won the Olympic gold medal at Rio in 2016, said the thing that impressed her most was how her team mates all kept their cool when they were reduced to six players on the field.
“It was really calm and collected, especially these young girls coming through,” Smale said.
“You normally see them panic and try to do too much but Walshy has really distilled into us to know our role and just really keep calm.”
While Ashby watched the second match against Ireland from the sidelines, her withdrawal allowed Walsh to select 19-year-old Nicholas, who was listed as the 13th player so didn’t take the field against Fiji.
Hailing from a rugby family on Sydney’s North Shore, Nicholas watched the Hong Kong Sevens from the South Stand in 2023 and was originally to play in the ten-a-side competition before Walsh called to say he wanted her for the Sevens after fellow young gun Heidi Dennis withdrew with an ankle injury.
“It’s so surreal. It doesn’t even feel like I’m here,” Nicholas said.
“It’s not what I expected at all. I thought I was just going to get a run maybe and hopefully catch the ball.
“Just training and playing alongside some of these great platters just gives me so much confidence. When I got the ball I heard them saying just back yourself and run and then it just opened up.”
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