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'We don't fear them': Hooper weighs in on Bledisloe war of words

(Photo by Fiona Goodall/Getty Images)

Straight-shooter Michael Hooper has put an end to the Bledisloe war of words, encouraging his Wallabies to be bold and claim a famous victory over New Zealand on Saturday night.

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The Australia captain stepped in front of the camera on the eve of the second Bledisloe test – one the Wallabies must win to keep the series alive – and at the end of a week of verbal barbs.

Wallabies winger Andrew Kellaway’s suggestion the All Blacks had lost their aura was received badly in Aotearoa.

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Will Jordan named to start for the All Blacks in second Bledisloe Cup test against the Wallabies

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Will Jordan named to start for the All Blacks in second Bledisloe Cup test against the Wallabies

So too was Jordan Uelese’s attempt to put pressure on series leaders New Zealand when he said “No one wants to be the first All Blacks team to lose at Eden Park … the pressure’s on them”.

Hooper, not one for monkey business, wouldn’t engage in the malarkey.

“We do respect New Zealand and the All Blacks. But we don’t fear them,” he said.

“Yeah, a lot’s been made of it but, always doesn’t these sort of weeks, isn’t it?”

“We’re going out there to impose our game on these guys … and I can’t wait to get out there on the field.”

Hooper said he was confident his team had would shut the pre-game chat out of their minds come kickoff.

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“The stuff we’ve been talking about is leaving a mark,” he said.

“We play for a lot of reasons. We talk about those often in our team rooms. A common and big factor is for our people.

“It’s great when the jerseys come out the next morning, there’s people walking their dogs wearing the Wallabies gold.”

Dave Rennie has swung four changes for the match, which also doubles as the Rugby Championship series opener.

In comes backline pair Matt To’ouma and Marika Koroibete at Jordan Petaia and Len Ikitau’s expense, while in the forward pack, Matt Philip and Lachie Swinton return for Harry Wilson and Lukhan Salakaia-Loto.

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Koroibete, suspended for Bledisloe I for a late night drinking session, looms as Australia’s game changer.

“It was tough for him sitting in the stands last week … I can’t wait to see him with ball in hand or without ball in hand,” Hooper said.

In contrast, the All Blacks have made just one injury-enforced change, bringing in winger Will Jordan for centre Anton Lienert-Brown.

New Zealand are yet to truly hit their strides under second-year coach Ian Foster, and were pilloried in the local press for their poor start against Australia last week.

“We expect them to grow again and be better. They always are, second test of the year,” Hooper said.

The Wallabies head to Eden Park very aware of their rotten record at the ground: no wins against New Zealand in the last 21 clashes, dating back to 1986.

This week there will be one major difference.

A rescheduling of the series due to New Zealand’s border controls prompted NZ Rugby to place a second test at Eden Park, and ticket sales have been poor.

Despite a ‘kids go free’ promotion and cheap Air New Zealand flight-ticket combos from Wellington, where the test was to be played, the colosseum will be around half-full.

Maintaining his poker face, Hooper denied that would advantage Australia.

“We haven’t even thought about it,” he said.

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Tom 4 hours ago
Will Bristol's daredevil 'Bears-ball' deliver the trophy they crave?

Also a Bristol fan and echo your sentiments.


I love watching Bristol but their approach will only get them so far I think. Exeter played like this when they first got promoted to the prem and had intermittent success, it wasn't until they wised up and played a more balanced game that they became a consistently top side.


I really want Bristol to continue playing this brand of rugby and I don't mind them running it from under their posts but I don't think they need to do it every single time. They need to be just a little bit more selective about when and where on the pitch they play. Every game they put themselves under so much needless pressure by turning the ball over under their posts trying to do kamikaze moves when it's not required. By all means run it from your goal line if there is a chance for a counter attack, we all want to see Bristol running in 100m tries from under their posts but I think until they learn when to do it and when to be pragmatic, they are unlikely to win the premiership.


Defense has been a real positive from Bristol, they've shown a lot of improvement there... And I will say that I think this kamikaze strategy they employ is a very good one for a struggling side and could be employed by Newcastle. It's seems to have turned around Gloucester's fortunes. The big advantage is even if you don't have the biggest and best players, what you have is cohesion. This is why Scotland keep battering England. England have better individuals but they look muddled as a team, trying to play a mixed strategy under coaches who lack charisma, the team has no identity. Scotland come out and give it full throttle from 1-15 even if they struggle against the top sides, sides like England and Wales who lack that identity drown under the relentless will and synergy of the Scots. If Newcastle did the same they could really surprise some people, I know the weather is bad up there but it hasn't bothered the Scots. Bristol can learn from Scotland too, Pat is on to something when he says the following but Scotland don't play test matches like headless chickens. They still play with the same level of clarity and ambition Bristol do but they are much better at picking their moments. They needed to go back to this mad game to get their cohesion back after a couple of seasons struggling but I hope they get a bit wiser from matches like Leinster and La Rochelle.


“If there’s clarity on what you’re trying to do as a team you can win anything.”

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