{"id":162604,"date":"2025-06-06T09:38:18","date_gmt":"2025-06-06T09:38:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/162604\/"},"modified":"2025-06-06T09:38:18","modified_gmt":"2025-06-06T09:38:18","slug":"why-michael-hooper-turned-down-fairytale-ending-against-lions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/162604\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Michael Hooper turned down \u2018fairytale ending\u2019 against Lions"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Wallabies legend Michael Hooper<\/a> won\u2019t suit up for the AUNZ Invitational XV against the British & Irish Lions<\/a> on July 12, turning down a \u201cfairytale ending\u201d in this historic fixture, which will be held at Adelaide Oval.<\/p>\n

Former All Blacks<\/a> coach Ian Foster, who will work under Les Kiss as assistant of the AUNZ side, name-dropped Hooper earlier in March as a potential candidate for this team. This highly anticipated match loomed as a fitting farewell for an all-time great of Australian rugby.<\/p>\n

Hooper came out of retirement to play for Foster\u2019s Toyota Verblitz<\/a> in Japan<\/a> Rugby League One this season, even captaining the team that featured legendary All Black and former Sydney Roosters flyer Joseph Manu.<\/p>\n

\"Video \"Video <\/p>\n

With Australia<\/a> and New Zealand<\/a> set to combine forces on the rugby field for the first time since the late 1980s, Hooper\u2019s selection seemed likely, until the Sydney Morning Herald revealed earlier this week that the former Wallabies captain won\u2019t take part.<\/p>\n

Hooper has since opened up about that decision, having reportedly told Rugby Australia about his decision last week. With this match taking place one week before the first Test between Australia and the Lions, \u2018Hoops\u2019 explained why \u201cit was an easy decision.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, I won\u2019t be playing in that fixutre,\u201d Hooper said on Stan Sport\u2019s Inside Line. \u201cIt sounds like a great game, it is going to be a great game, really intriguing on a lot of different fronts\u2026\u00a0I\u2019ve played the Lions before.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know that they\u2019re a week out from a three-game Test series and\u2026 you\u2019ve got probably a fully fit starting team who\u2019s going to play against the Wallabies a week later, chomping at the bit, battle hardened.<\/p>\n

\u201cI looked at myself and I thought, \u2018Well, I\u2019ve had a good time in Japan.\u2019 They pour a good Asahi, they make a nice rice ball at the local [convenience store].<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m about eight weeks, 10 weeks out of being battle hardened, in not a Test environment, so I\u2019d have to come home now, train by myself, maybe try and get a run for Manly, which would have been cool as well. But come up against those guys in a team that you pull together for a week.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a young guy, perhaps two years, four years, five years, six years ago, oh my God, how good. As an almost 34-year-old who made a fleeting comeback, no, it didn\u2019t sound like a game that would be a fairytale ending for me. Not that I was ever after a fairytale ending.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t need this to be that type of a moment so it was an easy decision.\u201d<\/p>\n

Former All Blacks Richie Mo\u2019unga and Aaron Smith<\/a> have both previously expressed their interest in playing for the AUNZ team, although The Roar has since reported that Smith won\u2019t be involved, with TJ Perenara<\/a> instead believed to be in the mix.<\/p>\n

Smith told RugbyPass earlier this year that not only was he interested, but \u201cthree or four other All Blacks\u201d were also keen. Mo\u2019unga has also opened up about potentially playing, revealing he has spoken with Foster.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, Foz has spoken to me about the game,\u201d Mo\u2019unga told\u00a0RugbyJP.com<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m really interested in playing, it\u2019s with my agents now.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll have to ask Toshiba for permission to play next.<\/p>\n

\u201cI miss the big Test match setting, the big arenas. This will be the closest I\u2019ll get to it while I\u2019m in Japan.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Wallabies legend Michael Hooper won\u2019t suit up for the AUNZ Invitational XV against the British & Irish Lions…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":162605,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4102],"tags":[4151,79,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-162604","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-rugby","8":"tag-rugby","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114635754953208965","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162604","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=162604"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162604\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/162605"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=162604"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=162604"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=162604"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}