Michael Hooper still taking hits for Waratahs over Israel Folau even though he’s not captain
Michael Hooper may not be Waratahs skipper any more but he’s still getting asked the most ticklish questions. PLUS: Coronavirus shift proves boon for NSW south coast. It’s Rugby Confidential!
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The strain of having to talk about the Israel Folau situation so often last year clearly took a toll on Michael Hooper.
As captain of the Wallabies and the Waratahs, Hooper had to front up to the media at least once a week where he was invariably quizzed about his absent teammate.
Players quickly become adept at sidestepping questions they don’t want to answer, but although Hooper was never comfortable talking about the Folau saga, he did respond.
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“I’ve got no regrets, none at all,” Hooper said.
“It’s our choice to stand here and speak or not.
“And I stood there and spoke and I’m standing here today, so no, none at all.”
No longer skipper of the Waratahs after passing the duties over to Rob Simmons, it was deja-vu for Hooper when he greeted the press at the team’s training centre on Thursday and immediately was quizzed about The Daily’s Telegraph’s exclusive report that Sekope Kepu and Samu Kerevi said they had been gagged because they supported Folau’s Christian beliefs.
“I was never in those conversations,” Hooper said.
“But with this stuff you are the person that gets up and speaks or chooses not to speak.”
BENEFITS OF CORONAVIRUS SHIFT
South Coast rugby folk are buzzing with whispers that next weekend’s historic Waratahs Super Rugby clash against the Chiefs at Wollongong’s WIN Stadium is about to become a monster double header.
And Rugby Confidential can exclusively reveal the extra match will be the game between the ACT Brumbies and the Sunwolves, which was supposed to be played in Osaka next Friday but has to be moved because of the coronavirus outbreak.
Things have been happening so quickly that even some rugby officials can’t keep up but our rugby snouts in the Illawarra say the double header is a lock in for March 6.
SANZAAR officials still need to work out what to do with the Sunwolves’ other matches, both in Japan and Singapore, but the switch to Wollongong will buy them some extra time and provide a massive boost for fans of all the teams with Canberra just a few hours down the Hume Highway and Sydney an hour away on the Princess Highway.
CORONAVIRUS ON AGENDA
World Rugby officials are meeting in Dublin next week and the one thing you can be sure that the one item being hastily added to the agenda is the coronavirus outbreak.
The spread of the disease has already had a massive impact on the game with matches and tournaments cancelled; and there is more uncertainty on the horizon.
It started with the postponement of the Sevens World Series rounds in Hong Kong and Singapore and has now spread to Europe and the Sunwolves.
Italy’s Six Nations matches in Ireland have been postponed because the Azzurri can’t travel because of an outbreak in the north of the country which has shot down two entire regions and forced neighbouring countries to start shutting down their borders.
JOHNSON KEEPS ALLIES CLOSE
Rugby Australia’s director of rugby Scott Johnson will be attending the meeting and while he’s there, he plans to catch up with any Australian coaches, including Stephen Larkham and Andy Friend.
One of the big criticisms RA has to deal with since the appointment of so many overseas coaches is that not enough is being done to keep homegrown talent and Johnson is keen to change that.
Larkham and Friend are locked into deals in Ireland so there’s no suggestion Johnson is on a recruitment or even reconnaissance mission but he wants to reopen the lines of communication with some of Australia’s best rugby brains overseas.
Closer to home, RA is about to launch a new program to help educate and recruit coaches at grassroots level.
As part of National Coach Week, the program will make more than 300 videos available online — everything from developing skills to running a training session — so coaches can access the information in their own time.