Hooper provides classy response to Jones ‘role model’ barb

Wallabies great Michael Hooper has declined to engage in a war of words with Eddie Jones after the Australian coach said that the former Test captain, along with Quade Cooper and Bernard Foley, were not the right role models for the team at the Rugby World Cup.

Hooper’s classy response came as a number of former Wallabies, including Stephen Moore and Rob Horne, labelled Jones’ remarks “unfair” and “laughable”.

Hooper, Australia’s most capped Wallabies skipper, and the other two senior rugby figures were the subject of an extraordinary swipe from Jones in an interview with the Herald’s Peter FitzSimons.

Jones, whose position as Wallabies coach is in the air, was asked about the controversial decision to leave out Hooper, Cooper and Foley from his World Cup squad.

“The situation reminded me of when Wayne Bennett let Wally Lewis go,” Jones said. “No one could quite understand why, but Wally Lewis wasn’t a great role model for the rest of the team. And for those guys, I don’t think they were the right role models for the team going forward. Don’t get me wrong, they’re not bad guys. But you need guys – particularly when you’ve got a team like Australia has at the moment – you need guys who are obsessed with winning, obsessed with being good, and those three are past those stages.

“He [Hooper] is a great guy, but the timing is not right for him.”

The comments came as a shock given Jones named Hooper as a Wallabies co-captain in June, alongside James Slipper. Will Skelton was eventually picked as captain for the World Cup but missed most of the tournament due to injury.

Eddie Jones left long-time Wallabies captain Michael Hooper out of the World Cup squad.Credit: Getty

Hooper declined to comment when contacted on Saturday, but was asked on Stan Sport’s Rugby World Cup coverage on Sunday about a potentially awkward meeting with Jones this week when he plays for a Barbarians side that will be coached by Jones and Scott Robertson.

“I don’t know [if it will be awkward]. It’s going to be fun,” Hooper said. “I’ve never worked ‘Razor’ Robertson before. What a track record he’s got. I’m really excited. I’m just looking forward to the week and looking forward to playing at an amazing stadium against a pretty good team.

Asked if he had a response to Jones, Hooper said: “I’ve got no response. He’s entitled to his own opinion as are we all as we’re all fans of the game. He’s a bit more of a fan and he’s very involved in the game. I’ve got nothing more to say. I’m doing what I’ve always done and I’m hoping to do that next week when I play for the Barbarians and potentially sevens next year. I’m going to carry on being the best player I can be.”

Moore, the former Wallabies skipper who played alongside Hooper in the 2015 World Cup final, said he was surprised by Jones’ comments.

“I thought it was a bit unfair to be honest,” he said. “In the context of everything else, I don’t think it’s something that necessarily was needed to be said.

“If you look at someone like Hoops’ contribution to the game since he’s been playing in Australia, that’s the last thing we need to be worrying about.

“If I think about the people that I played with, from the start of my career, he’d be in the top half-a-dozen players that I played with because of his consistency. The way he could back up and compete near his best, we haven’t had enough players like that, full stop, over the last few years.

Quade Cooper playing against the All Blacks in July.Credit: Getty

“I think it’s unfair and I feel strongly about supporting someone like Hoops, who I played a lot with at the Brumbies and Wallabies.”

Horne was also stunned by Jones’ remarks and provided a filtered version of his thoughts to this masthead.

“It’s laughable,” Horne said. “Hoops, Bernard and Quade’s body of work speaks for itself.

Stephen Moore in action in 2013 against the British and Irish Lions.Credit: Dallas Kilponen

“They’re genuinely respected across the world. It would be nice if we treated our players with the respect they’ve earned.”

Wallabies forward Jed Holloway backed Hooper, after also being left out of the World Cup squad.

Many of Hooper’s teammates are reluctant to speak on the record given Jones is still coach, but there is certainly anger and tension about the remarks.

“As someone who has played with Hoops for 10-plus years, no one has been a better role model or more driven for success,” Holloway wrote on social media. “First guy in the building, last guy out, always wanting to help his teammates and challenges them to be the best. This is all getting old, we need to move on.”

Bernard Foley.Credit: Getty

Moore supported Jones’ appointment in January but cannot believe how badly things have unravelled since then.

Jones and Rugby Australia have taken the first steps towards negotiating an exit for the embattled Wallabies coach.

Australia won two of their nine Tests this year, with victories against Georgia and Portugal.

It was the first time the Wallabies have not progressed beyond the pool stage of a World Cup.

“You couldn’t make this up if you tried,” Moore said. “I was excited when Eddie came to coach the Wallabies. There was a lot of positivity there. It just hasn’t worked out that way and it’s very disappointing.

“You can get rid of people and say, ‘We need to change the people and change the culture’, but unless you have got someone who can step into that role, particularly in a World Cup, it’s counterproductive because now we have players who have largely lost every game this year and we’re back where we started really.

“I’d like to see more focus on how we develop more leadership in Australian rugby in terms of the playing ranks. A lot of it has been left to people like Hoops to carry the can because we just haven’t had a strategy for developing on-field leadership across the country. We had six captains this year, so that goes to show you we’re not sure who is the right person for the job. Some of the comments from Eddie might be in reference to the wider problem.”

Another former Wallabies captain, James Horwill, said on the Stan Sport broadcast: “I don’t probably agree with some of the terminology used - and it might have been taken out of context - but moving forward we just have to get some clarity around this situation. There’s too much white noise going on. For Australian rugby, we want to move forward.”

Wallaroos stun France in WXV win

The Wallaroos have pulled off their best win in recent memory, belting women’s rugby heavyweights France 29-20 in a mighty boilover.

Eva Karpani powered Australia with an unlikely hat-trick in Dunedin on Saturday, supported by Georgina Friedrich’s first-half try and five-eighth Carys Dallinger’s superb performance as playmaker.

The win is just Australia’s second in history over France, with no form line suggesting a victory was on the cards.

In the WXV1 opener last week, Australia were thumped by England 42-7, while France inflicted world champions New Zealand’s first loss in three years.

However, Jay Tregonning’s side flew out the gates and kept up the intensity to stun the established order.

Tight-head prop Karpani – who had just one Test try to her name before Saturday – started the rout in the third minute, cashing in after Layne Morgan rode a ferocious tackle.

Carys Dallinger and Kaitlan Leaney celebrate the victory over France.Credit: Getty

Emilie Bouchard finished a counter-attacking move for France after 14 minutes, with Morgane Bourgeois’ conversion tying the scores at 7-7.

Unlike their meeting with the Red Roses, Australia were able to hold on to possession for long spells, with Freidrich sidestepping her way to the team’s second try after 10 phases.

Leading 12-10 at half-time, the Wallaroos didn’t look back, with Karpani breaking through after another spell of long pressure totalling 22 phases.

After a superb line-out drive, Karpani executed a pick and drive to secure her hat-trick, with Arabella McKenzie’s conversion blowing out the margin to 29-10.

Elisa Riffonneau and Gabrielle Vernier scored late tries but there was never a chance of a French comeback win.

“It feels absolutely amazing ... I’m so proud of us,” Karpani said, before accidentally swearing in a broadcast interview, calling it a “f---ing team effort”.

The Wallaroos celebrated wildly after the final whistle, showing the magnitude of their triumph.

It is the first time they’ve beaten a side ranked in the world’s top three.

AAP

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