Tom Hooper returns to France, a country that brings him bittersweet memories after his participation in the 2023 Rugby World Cup with the Wallabies, where they experienced a tournament to forget.
Under coach Eddie Jones, the Australians suffered a heavy blow, being eliminated in the group stage for the first time in the tournament’s history.
Two years later, the Wallabies face a similar situation, with the possibility of setting a new negative milestone.
After falling to England, Italy, and Ireland, Australia will seek to redeem itself on its spring tour with a victory over France in Paris.
However, another defeat would mean a record of 10 defeats in a year and their first winless European tour in four matches in 67 years.
Hooper says the atmosphere in the Wallabies camp is very different under coach Joe Schmidt, who has been criticized for the team’s current poor performance.
The burly player was part of the Australian team humiliated by Wales (40-6) in Lyon, which practically confirmed their elimination from the World Cup.
“He doesn’t really sleep, he’s always working for us, so when it comes to team meetings, the message is clear,” Hooper said of Schmidt, who will leave the post in mid-2026.
Tom Hooper“He still believes in us, which is amazing from a head coach.” “Immediately after in that locker room on the weekend, he got us all on our feet, shook us up, connected us as a group and gave us a clear message, and that is that he still believes in us”. “We have to believe in what we are doing and, as Joe said, these results haven’t favored us, but they will make us better.”Schmidt’s selections and game plan have also been criticized, but Hooper stated that it depends on the players to better execute their skills, with their lineout and aerial game particularly fragile in the defeat to Ireland (46-19) last week, where they conceded six tries.
“We completely believe in what Joe is building here, and we’ve all completely bought into that program and the system he had implemented,” said Hooper, who has been one of Australia’s best players all year. “Over the weekend, there were a couple of times that their system and their program would have worked, but we simply didn’t execute as players.” “So we fully believe in their ability and in the ability of the entire coaching staff, the way they are preparing us has been wonderful.” “Ultimately, it only depends on us to make sure we take the tools we’ve been given during the week, that we are calm, serene and then perform on the weekend.”
