Tom Hooper returns to France, a country that brings him bittersweet memories after his participation in the 2023 World Cup with the Wallabies, where they had a forgettable performance.
Under coach Eddie Jones, the Australians hit rock bottom, being eliminated in the group stage for the first time in the tournament’s history.
Two years later, the Wallabies once again face an undesired historical situation.
After falling to England, Italy and Ireland, Australia will seek to redeem themselves on their spring tour with a victory over France in Paris.
However, another defeat would mean a record of 10 defeats in a calendar year and their first winless European tour in four matches in 67 years.
Hooper insists that the atmosphere in the Wallabies camp is very different under the direction of coach Joe Schmidt, who has been heavily criticized for the team’s current poor performance.
The burly forward was part of the Australian team humiliated by Wales (40-6) in Lyon, which practically confirmed their elimination from the World Cup.
“I know that for the Australian fans, at the moment it seems like we’re very down. We are mentally, but physically and in terms of our belief and our psyche towards where we can take this team and where we are going to take this team, it has never been stronger. And the key driver of that has been Joe Schmidt,” Hooper stated from Paris. Hooper also mentioned that the New Zealand mentor works tirelessly to help the Wallabies overcome their losing streak.I was in a changing room in 2023 after the defeat against Wales, where we really didn’t throw any punches at all. The progress we’ve made since then has been amazing.
Tom Hooper
Schmidt’s selections and game plan have also been the subject of criticism, but Hooper pointed out that it depends on the players to better execute their skills, especially in the line and aerial game, which were particularly weak in last week’s defeat to Ireland (46-19), where they conceded six tries.He doesn’t really sleep, he’s always working for us, so when it comes to team meetings, the message is clear. He still believes in us, which is amazing from a head coach.
Tom Hooper
We completely believe in what Joe is building here, and we’ve all completely bought into that program and the system he had implemented. Over the weekend, there were a couple of times where his system and his program would have worked, but we just didn’t execute as players. So we fully believe in his ability and the ability of the entire coaching staff, the way they’re preparing us has been wonderful. Ultimately, it just comes down to us making sure we take the tools that they’ve given us throughout the week, we’re calm, we’re composed, and then we perform on the weekend.
Tom Hooper
