Australian sevens coach defends Hooper after Eddie Jones’ ‘role models’ dig

Eddie Jones shocked the rugby world for all the wrong reasons late last month after taking a surprising swipe at an exiled trio, including Michael Hooper, after the Wallabies’ pool stage exit at the Rugby World Cup.

Jones, who has since resigned as Australia’s head coach amidst long-lasting rumours of a return to Japan, said Hooper, Quade Cooper and Bernard Foley weren’t “the right role models for the team going forward.”

Hooper is the most-capped Australian rugby captain in history, and the decorated flanker also won the John Eales Medal for the Wallabies’ Players’ Player of the Year a record four times.

Unsurprisingly, Jones’ comments sparked quite a reaction. It was hard to make sense of it when many would consider Hooper to be one of the best leaders in Australian rugby history.

With Hooper signing a team with the Australian sevens program ahead of an attempt to make the Olympic team, coach John Manenti has become the latest person to hit back at Jones.

“I strongly disagree with those comments and I don’t know why they needed to be said, to be honest,” Manenti said, as reported by The Sydney Morning Herald.

“His (Hooper’s) reputation, if nothing else, has been exactly that – a good role model, a good work ethic, a good training ethic. I know when those comments came out, the amount of players that came out publicly and said things: that told me enough.

“He is uncompromising around his standards and his beliefs, and that may upset some people. He may upset me at times, too – that’s the reality of guys who are strong-willed and want to be the best.

“So we may butt heads but that’ll be a good thing. You want to be challenged and to challenge each other to be better.”

Hooper has trained a few times with his new sevens teammates, but the former Wallabies skipper won’t officially join the program until the start of January.

With less than four weeks between then and day one of the Perth SVNS which starts on Australia Day (January 26), Hooper will certainly have his work cut out for him as he looks to “earn” his spot.

“He feels that he still has value to add to Australian rugby and we feel like he still has enormous value to add to Australian rugby,” Manenti told Rugby.com.au.

“It keeps him and his family in Australia rather than potentially overseas where there would have been plenty of offers so I think it’s a win-win for Australian rugby, sevens and ‘Hoops’.

“We’re pretty excited. He’s had a few training runs where he’s done some running with us. I did a group session yesterday with the rehab group and already you see just a few extra per cent by the boys putting in, and wanting to lift their game.

“He’ll have a great effect on the group and it’ll be a great challenge for him because he knows coming into this he’s not going to just turn up and take a place in the team.

“He’ll have to earn it and learn the game… he’s well aware of that and understands this is a challenge and nothing’s given, he’s going to earn his right and he wouldn’t have it any other way.”