Wallabies co-captain James Slipper has backed debutant Tom Hooper to deal with the pressure-cooker Pretoria environment in Australia’s Rugby Championship opener in opposition to South Africa.
The 22-year-old Brumbies ahead will begin at blindside flanker at Loftus Versfeld Stadium on Sunday morning (AEST) in his debut Test
Fellow Brumby Slipper has seen Hooper’s improvement first-hand and has no doubts his membership – and now nationwide teammate – will rise to the event because the Wallabies chase their first win in Pretoria in opposition to Springboks.
“He’s got a really level head on his shoulders and he just wants to be the best teammate he can possibly be for the group,” Slipper stated.
“For us right now, he’s the perfect fit and worked extremely hard to get where he is.
“He just goes at it. He throws his body into everything.”
Hooper fought again from a foot harm within the pre-season to complete the Brumbies’ latest Super Rugby Pacific marketing campaign strongly.
“It’s really pleasing to see him in the team because he’s had a rough start to the year, so it’ll be good to see run out there for his debut,” Slipper stated.
While happy for Hooper. Slipper admitted it had been a “challenging week” for himself after struggling a knee harm at coaching.
“I had a bit of a mishap on Tuesday … but I’m pretty confident I’ll be fine,” he stated.
The match is Eddie Jones’s first in control of the Wallabies for the reason that begin of his second tenure as nationwide coach in January.
Jones wasn’t involved about South Africa’s resolution to ship 13 high gamers to New Zealand early to organize for subsequent weekend’s conflict in opposition to the All Blacks and subject a weakened aspect in opposition to Australia.
“We’re really only worried about ourselves,” Jones stated.
“We’re a new team, we’ve come together, we want to play our style of rugby and we know whatever team that runs out at Pretoria is going to play with the pride of South Africa behind them and we need to meet that challenge.”
The Springboks aspect contains Stormers fly half Manie Libbok, who will begin a Test for the primary time for South Africa.
“I know they (the Wallabies) will target me, but I’ve made peace with that and the pressure,” Libbok stated.
“The main thing for me is to control what I can control. I’ll have a few experienced players around me, which is also a bonus.
“This is a big opportunity for me … but I just want to go out there and contribute in my role as much as possible, and hopefully we can get the desired result.”
Originally revealed as Debutant ahead Tom Hooper is the ‘perfect fit’ for the Wallabies
Source: www.news.com.au
