Rugby-Wallaby Hooper named to face Lions for Brumbies
SYDNEY (Reuters) -ACT Brumbies loose forward Tom Hooper has been named to face the British & Irish Lions in Canberra on Wednesday despite coming on as a replacement for the Wallabies against Fiji on Sunday.
The 11-test flanker, who is leaving the Brumbies for England at the end of the season, will line up in a team missing several test players but including plenty of the side that made it to the Super Rugby Pacific semi-finals this season.
The Brumbies are expected to give the Lions their toughest match before the test series, especially given their track record against the tourists.
The Lions needed a conversion from Matt Dawson deep into stoppage time to beat the Brumbies 30-28 on their 2001 tour and went down 14-12 the next time they visited Canberra Stadium 12 years later.
Hooper is one of three Wallabies in the pack along with lock Cadeyrn Neville and hooker Lachlan Lonergan, while the back three of Andy Muirhead, Corey Toole and Ben O'Donnell have a mixture of guile, blinding pace and experience.
Lonergan's brother Ryan captains the team from scrumhalf, while Hooper's sibling Lachie, also a loose forward, has been named on the bench for what could be his Brumbies debut.
"It's been amazing to watch the growth of both Tom and Lachie over the past few years, and it's special that they may get the opportunity to play alongside each other in a Brumbies shirt on Wednesday night," said coach Stephen Larkham.
"Not only that, but it's against a world-class team in the British & Irish Lions ... they'll be chomping at the bit to contribute positively to the team."
Larkham was an assistant coach at the Brumbies in 2013 and Australia's flyhalf in the first two tests against the Lions in the 2001 series, which the Wallabies won 2-1.
"The boys have been back in training for a couple of weeks and they are aware of how big an opportunity this is for them to take on the Lions," he added.
"We're under no illusions of the challenge that lies ahead."
Brumbies team: 15–Andy Muirhead, 14–Ben O'Donnell, 13–Ollie Sapsford, 12–David Feliuai, 11–Corey Toole, 10–Declan Meredith, 9–Ryan Lonergan (captain), 8–Tuaina Taii Tualima, 7–Rory Scott, 6–Tom Hooper, 5–Cadeyrn Neville, 4–Lachie Shaw, 3–Rhys van Nek, 2–Lachlan Lonergan, 1–Lington Ieli.
Replacements: 16–Liam Bowron, 17–Cameron Orr, 18–Feao Fotuaika, 19–Lachie Hooper, 20–Luke Reimer, 21–Harrison Goddard, 22–Jack Debreczeni, 23–Hudson Creighton.
(Reporting by Nick Mulvenney, editing by Peter Rutherford)
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