There were baffling scenes in Australia captain Michael Hooper's last ever appearance for his club side Waratahs as the flanker suddenly walked off the field in the middle of the game.
The Wallabies legend turned out for the Super Rugby side one final time on Friday night but his swansong ended in disaster as the New South Wales side were thumped 41-12 by the Blues in the Super Rugby Pacific quarter-final.
The Waratahs were put to the sword at Auckland's Eden Park in what proved to be Hooper's 142nd and final game in sky blue, with the 31-year-old wearing the captain's armband but unable to inspire his side to victory.
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The loss came less than a week after the flanker's last home game for the Waratahs was ruined by a humiliating 33-24 loss to bottom side Moana Pasifika, who had gone all season without a win in the league.
And things got worse for Hooper early in the second half against the Blues when, with his side already trailing 17-7, he came out of a ruck in obvious pain having apparently suffered a knock to the head and shoulder in an awkward collision
The skipper immediately headed for the sidelines with his teammates and the opposition, as well as referee Ben O'Keefe left bemused as they watched him march off the field of play.
As it later turned out, Hooper was under the impression that the official had ordered him to leave the field to undergo a head injury assessment for a possible concussion.
However, this was not the case and the Wallabies star was soon ordered to return to the pitch. Unfortunately for the Waratahs, his reintroduction did little to sway the direction of the game, with the Blues piling on another 27 points to comfortably win the tie.
With Hooper's decorated Waratahs career - which saw him win the Super Rugby Championship in 2014 - ending in disappointment, former Australia star turned commentator Morgan Turinui said after the game that the 124-cap international would be going through "a little bit of a grieving process".
"The Waratahs have been so much in his life as a human being," he added. "He got the farewell, not the one he wanted last week, and now it's all over."
Hooper is set to lead Australia for the last time at this year's Rugby World Cup as they face Wales in the pool stages, but he recently admitted he was not sure what the future will hold for him beyond 2023 when asked if he would stay with the Wallabies until the 2025 British & Irish Lions series.
“Ahhh, oh, I don’t know,” he told AAP. “You never say never. I’ve travelled a lot and been lucky enough to be able to do this for a long time.
“I have a young family. However that shapes up over the next little bit, and what that takes to get back in a gold jersey in that point in time, I don’t know. It depends. I don’t know what the next six months looks like, let alone the next three years.”
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