What's on the menu? Hooper confident Wallabies have recipe to beat Ireland
Wallabies captain Michael Hooper admits this week hasn’t been all smooth sailing in the Australian camp but insists players and coaching staff have devised a plan they believe can give then a tactical edge over Ireland in the first Test.
Australia made a late change on Friday to their bench, with Tom Robertson replacing Allan Alaalatoa, who hurt his ankle at training on Thursday. It is a minor change that won’t affect the make-up of the side given Robertson played in 11 of 14 Tests last year.
Limited preparation has meant the Wallabies have had get to work quickly this week. Set plays have been mapped out, lineout calls remembered, but more importantly, they have settled on an overarching style of rugby - an identity.
“It's been challenging,” said Hooper of the one-week preparation. “It hasn’t been smooth sailing the whole week and that has been enjoyable in the fact we’ve had to come to resolutions on things and work through some stuff.
“Physically and mentally, we’re footy ready."
For months, Michael Cheika, Nathan Grey, Stephen Larkham and Mick Byrne have been working around the clock to come up with a plan for the Wallabies to beat Ireland.
Coming into camp, Hooper said the coaches presented a "menu" of ideas and it was the players' job to settle on a recipe they felt could give them the best chance of knocking off the grand-slam Six Nations champions.
While this might have taken time during the week to sharpen up, Hooper is confident everyone is on the same page for the blockbuster at Suncorp Stadium on Saturday evening.
“The coaches don't want to just say: 'this is how we are going to play', they want players to buy in so they are sitting down with the game managers, the lineout callers and saying: 'this is what we can do, what do you like in this menu?'," Hooper said.
“It's a real collaborative venture, almost, to try and put together the best play sheet for what we think is coming up tomorrow, rather than it being a dictatorship.
“Credit to the coaches in allowing the players to do it and it's going to be a good test tomorrow night to see how we've taken to that challenge."
It will be interesting to see what brand of rugby the Australians implement against the Irish, a side known for their ability to sustain pressure for long periods of time.
Don’t expect them to err too far away from what they have done in recent years though.
“We’d be silly not to run the ball with some of the strike power we’ve got,” Hooper said. “We’ve got a really fit team, forwards who want to work and can get over the advantage line with a mobile back row. We’ve seen through Super Rugby some of the damage that the backs can do and some of the form our playmakers are in. We’ve got to be smart with how we do it.”
Hooper has backed the Wallabies’ three debutants - starters Brandon Paenga-Amosa and Caleb Timu, as well as Pete Samu off the bench – to do their jobs to the best of their ability.
“Caleb unfortunately did a bit of damage to us in the Reds-Waratahs game, so his ball carrying is outstanding and he has a great story, again, to be here,” Hooper said. “Then Brandon; his enthusiasm has been great and his throwing has been really strong all week. Not knowing much of him I have been really impressed by his throw and his temperament there.”
From a Waratahs perspective, Hooper also expressed his dismay that Samu had slipped through the cracks of Australian rugby and been poached by the Crusaders, who have turned him into an excellent blindside breakaway.
“You think back and [wonder] how we could have lost him at the time,” Hooper said. “Coming back to Australian rugby is a huge benefit for us and again, pushing that competition has been great this year in Super Rugby.
The return of David Pocock for the first time in a Wallabies jersey since December 2016 is something that brings a smile to Hooper's face.
"I love playing with Dave," Hooper said. "With Dave, [he has] exceptional work-rate, leadership skills and then his ability to turn over the ball. I know that we can really help each other around how we can impact the game."
Ireland captain Peter O'Mahony, who will lead his country for the fifth time, paid Hooper and Pocock the ultimate compliment on Friday, saying they were the best in the business and foreshadowed a tough encounter.
"[Australia have] probably one of the best, if not the best, back row in the world," O'Mahony said. "That in itself is an incredible challenge for us. They're always adding things and I thought some of their performances over the last while have been very impressive. Their ability to carry ball, their general rugby ability is probably second to none. We certainly know it’s an area we’re going to have to contain and stop their strike plays.
"Every year we come up against Australia, they've gotten better and the last time they played here they beat the All Blacks. The physicality they showed that day was second to no team in the world."