The heartbreaking reason Wallabies great Michael Hooper could miss the Olympics after Eddie Jones ruined his World Cup dream

Michael Hooper could suffer a second heartbreak in the space of a year, with a groin injury threatening his bid to compete at the Paris Olympics.

Wallabies great Hooper, 32, was brutally excluded from Eddie Jones’ Australian squad for the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France, with the outspoken coach choosing to prioritize youth over experience.

That campaign ended in disaster, with the Wallabies eliminated in the group stage and Jones quit Japan, while Hooper turned his back on sevens rugby.

However, his hopes of competing at the Paris Olympics are in doubt as the veteran suffers from osteitis pubis. He was left out of the men’s team for the World Sevens Series finals in Madrid next week, which would have been the perfect opportunity to secure his place in the Paris team.

Instead, Hooper faces a race against time to be in a position to be selected at the end of June.

Hooper has proven to be a reliable sevens player while playing in Hong Kong, solidifying his chances of making the national team before his latest setback.

Australian coach John Manenti admitted the timing of Hooper’s injury is not ideal, but that doesn’t mean his Olympic dream is totally derailed.

“We had to make a decision (for Madrid): there’s enough there that he can’t run fast, which he obviously has to do,” Manenti said. ‘We thought we’d push it back a little bit. We have friendly games against Fiji in a few weeks and we will be able to withdraw him with the intention of releasing him there and having one last chance to try to make the team.

“He’s working very hard, unfortunately they are overuse injuries and they essentially come from running.” The running load we’ve put him through and the speed is considerably more than he’s had to do in a long time.

“He’s had it (osteitis pubis) before in XV, but it’s also one of those things that if you don’t control it you can end up with discomfort for a long time.”

Hooper was at an event in Sydney on Wednesday where he was appearing as a commentator at the Olympics for Stan Sport, but he wasn’t shy about revealing that his main goal is to compete, not commentate.

The Wallabies great has suffered a groin injury and his place in the squad is in doubt

“He’s been doing everything he can, he made very good progress from his first tournament to his second,” Manenti continued. .

‘He still has things to achieve; The hardest thing is that he is programmed by the things he has done his entire career and we are trying to get him to do things differently. That’s not easy, so you need time.

‘But he’s already started to show signs of progress around (his injury). We’ll get him running again and rebuild him, and we’ll give him every opportunity to perform in Fiji for those final selection trials.’

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