TRU Exclusive with Foley and Hooper: A New Era

Fresh from lifting the NSW Waratah’s first-ever Super Rugby title back in August, it’s fair to say that Michael Hooper and Bernard Foley were two men with plenty to feel good about heading into Australia’s Rugby Championship campaign and European tour.

Roll the clock on three months though and things are quite different.

The Wallabies managed only two wins in the southern hemisphere’s premiere international competition, consigning them to a disappointing third place, whilst their subsequent trip north has already seen them lose to both France and Ireland, with their most bitter rivals, England, waiting on the imminent horizon.

New head coach Michael Cheika will be looking to the likes of Hooper and Foley, whom he trusts from his time with the ‘Tahs, to help right the ship at Twickenham on Saturday.

Speaking exclusively to TRU, both Hooper and Foley gave us an insight into the mood around the Wallaby camp, how their tour has gone so far and what needs to be done for them to finish on a high against England.

Hooper, Australia’s captain, reflected on his side’s performances so far this autumn.

“It’s been a sort of up and down type of tour, I mean, the nature of it was always going to be tough with the new staff coming in a week before our first game with the Barbarians over here so it was never going to be easy, but what we’ve managed to do is, as a group, set up a really nice way of how want to train and want to play.”

“Unfortunately that hasn’t reflected in all of our performances, we’ve had inconsistent performances. We’ve improved from the French to the Irish game and now looking to go again this weekend in a really tough match,” added Hooper.

 Foley also gave us his opinion on his opposite number, and England’s new fly-half, George Ford.

“I haven’t seen too much, he’s very new on the international scene, he’s a different type of player to the traditional English 10. He offers a bit more in attack, likes to take on the line, likes to back his running game. He brings to the new style of how England want to play, they want to diversify, add a bit of variation to their game, so yeah, he’ll be a great challenge.”

Since coming north, Australia have enjoyed both possession and territorial dominance against Wales, France and Ireland, whilst also matching the set-piece prowess of their northern hemisphere opponents. Where the Wallabies have come undone however, is in their defence, where Cheika is currently trying to employ a new, Rugby League-esque system which aims to minimise the defensive exposure of their fly-half. If the system can be implemented successfully, then it could be a big boost for the Wallabies long-term, but right now the transition has been anything but smooth.

They face an England side on Saturday that is licking its wounds after three lacklustre performances so far this autumn. For all the difficulties they have faced over the last three weeks, there can be little doubt that they will be fired up to get one over on the Wallabies, in arguably the fixture that is most eagerly-anticipated in the English rugby calendar.

Both teams have endured disappointing autumns, but another loss, especially against a Rugby World Cup pool opponent, would signal a full-blown disaster. With the RWC less than a year away, there’s far more than just pride at stake at this point.

For more insight into the Wallaby camp, what they think about their IRB ranking and who they believe are England’s danger men, check out our exclusive interview with Hooper and Foley in its entirety.