Wallabies great Michael Hooper has revealed the reasons why he rejected a farewell match against the Lions on their Down Under tour.
Speaking on Stan Sport’s Inside Line show, Hooper made it clear he didn’t think he would be physically up to the challenge of playing the tourists.
“I’ve played the Lions before,” Hooper said.
“I know that they’re a week out from a three-game Test series and you’ve got probably a fully fit starting team who’s going to play against the Wallabies a week later, chomping at the bit, battle hardened.
“And I looked at myself and I thought, ‘well, I’ve had a good time in Japan.’ They pour a good Asahi, they make a nice rice ball at the local ‘conbini’ (convenience store).
“I’m about eight weeks, 10 weeks out of being battle hardened, in not a Test environment. So I’d have to come home now, train by myself, maybe try and get a run for Manly, which would have been cool as well. But come up against those guys in a team that you pull together for a week.
Michael Hooper. Photo: World Rugby
“And as a young guy, perhaps two years, four years, five years, six years ago, oh my God, how good.
“As an almost 34-year-old who made a fleeting comeback, no, it didn’t sound like a game that would be a fairytale ending for me. Not that I was ever after a fairytale ending. So it was an easy decision.”
While the clash isn’t a part of the three-match Test series, the game is shaping as a full blooded preparation for the tourists.
The match will be the first time in 36 years a combined Australian and New Zealand team has taken to the field, with the Lions previously beating them 19-15 in 1989.
Just who plays in the Invitational side – coached by Les Kiss and Ian Foster – remains to be seen as they try to pull together a 23.
Foster previously said All Blacks great Aaron Smith and star fly-half Richie Mo’unga were targets.
While it’s understood Smith isn’t keen, his long-time understudy TJ Perenara has put his hand up.
Whether Mo’unga, who, despite a broken hand, led Brave Lupus to back-to-back Japanese League One titles on Sunday with an 18-13 win over Bernard Foley’s Kubota Spears, features remains to be seen.
