Lungs burning and lips bleeding, Michael Hooper looked as if he’d endured 80 minutes of mayhem not 127 seconds of gametime. But after a fast and furious debut at the Hong Kong World Series event on Saturday, the Wallabies legend’s second coming as a rugby sevens rookie is at long last under way.
Typically, Hooper delivered from the get-go with a spectacular cameo against Fiji sealing a 12-0 win. Within seconds of taking the field, the 32-year-old crashed back-to-back tackles, then gave away a penalty in his first hit-up, before forcing a crucial turnover with a trademark pilfer at the breakdown.
