They’re being written off as serious contenders but Wallabies captain Michael Hooper is adamant his team can bring back the Rugby World Cup from Japan this year.
Bookmakers are offering unprecedented long-shot odds of 17-1 on two-time champions Australia winning the World Cup without sacked superstar fullback Israel Folau and champion flanker David Pocock in doubt with a calf injury.
But Hooper on Wednesday described such odds for the world’s sixth-ranked team as “juicy” and backed Pocock to recover in time to make it to the global showpiece despite retiring from Super Rugby this week.
“I think he’ll be there,” Hooper said at the official unveiling of the Wallabies’ 2019 tournament jersey.
“One thing about Dave, aside from his calf, he keeps himself in amazing condition – and that’s hard to do when one of the main things to run with isn’t functioning.”
After seeing Pocock at a Wallabies camp in Brisbane last week, Hooper said the reigning John Eales Medallist was giving every indication he would be fit for Australia’s World Cup opener against Fiji on September 20.
The skipper also pointed how Pocock won Australian rugby’s most prestigious individual honour last year in his first season back after a year-long sabbatical from the game.
“We saw last year from being out for a while and then how he comes back in and can just pull together some amazing performance from not much rugby,” Hooper said.
“His skill set is such quality and he’s so defined in what he does on the field, he’s able to come in and make an immediate impact.
“So, look, I’m betting he’ll be there.”
But Folau – voted the Wallabies’ best player for three of the past four years – certainly won’t be after having his multim-million-dollar contract terminated this month.
“It opens the door there for someone to take over that No.15 jersey and there’s plenty of guys putting their hand up at Super Rugby level,” Hooper said.
“That position’s always been competitive. Now no one has two hands on it, so it’s going to be pretty hot (competition) to get themselves in that jersey.”
