mens
Gallagher-Prime Minister
Exeter Chiefs boss Rob Baxter has been boosted by news that Wallabies winger Tom Hooper has been left out of Les Kiss’s squad for the two Tests with New Zealand and will return to the country to make his first appearance of the season against Newcastle Red Bulls next weekend.
Baxter said that Hooper, who was a key player for Bosses in their run to the Gallagher PREM final last season, is not available for tomorrow’s trip to the Rec to face Bath but will be back in the country in time for the Red Bulls’ visit to Sandy Park a week on Sunday.
Hooper, 25, who featured in the Wallabies’ 42-38 win over the Springboks in Perth, was replaced by uncapped forward Toby Macpherson for the two games against All black people after Baxter reached an agreement with Kiss, who will make him available for the Nations Championship.
“Tom will be back next week so there is the potential for him to be available against Newcastle next week. When you have players with a 30-game limit, which Tom has reached, we sit down and have a lot of communication with Les Kiss about how we manage his program over the next 12 months.
“I have to say Australia they were fantastic about where they were willing to give Tom a few periods of rest. He actually increased his rest periods because of that relatively minor shoulder injury. We have proposed a process to Premiership Rugby on how Tom will be managed. That includes the rest we give him and the rest Australia gives him.
“One of the things we agreed was after his last Test, under Rule 9. The reason Tom was withdrawn is because these next games are outside of Rule 9. Our agreement around Tom’s rest was that he would then have a break now after the last international, come back and be available for us and then come back to Australia in November.
“Then they will have an extended break during Six Nations period, so then he will almost have a full break before the season. All we really did was move his preseason to another time of the year. This is all agreed with Rugby Australia, Premiership Rugby and ourselves. I think everyone was very, very good in the process, including Tom,” Baxter said.