Tom Hooper (rugby union)

Last updated

Tom Hooper
Date of birth (2001-01-29) 29 January 2001 (age 24)
Place of birth Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia
Height1.99 m (6 ft 6 in)
Weight112 kg (247 lb; 17 st 9 lb)
School St Stanislaus' College
Rugby union career
Position(s) Flanker, Lock
Current team Exeter Chiefs
Senior career
YearsTeamApps(Points)
2021–2025 ACT Brumbies 53 (5)
2025– Exeter Chiefs 0 (0)
Correct as of 23 August 2025
International career
YearsTeamApps(Points)
2023– Australia 15 (5)
2024 Australia A 1 (0)
Correct as of 23 August 2025

Tom Hooper (born 29 January 2001) is an Australian professional rugby union player who plays as a flanker for Premiership Rugby club Exeter Chiefs and the Australia national team. [1] [2]

Contents

Club career

Hooper was named in the Brumbies squad for the Super Rugby Trans-Tasman and the following 2021 Super Rugby AU season. [3] He made his debut in round 1 of Super Rugby Trans-Tasman in the match against the Crusaders and played all 5 games, coming off the bench for all games. [4] In 2021 Hooper made 12 appearances including 2 starts in the finals series. [5]

In the 2023 Super Rugby Pacific season Hooper started the season injured, making his season debut in Round 11, playing the remaining 7 games of the season including 2 games in the finals.

Hooper will leave the Brumbies at the end of the 2025 season to join the Premiership club Exeter Chiefs in England. [6]

International career

In July 2023 Hooper was selected for the Australian Wallabies, starting at number 6 against South Africa. [7] He earned another 2 caps against New Zealand, scoring a try in the second Bledisloe Cup test and leading the tackle count in both tests. [8]

In August 2023 Hooper was named in the Wallabies squad for the 2023 Rugby World Cup and would start in the back row for all four of the Wallabies pool matches. [9]

Hooper would be a fringe player in 2024 under new coach Joe Schmidt, making only two appearances off the bench against Georgia in a mid-season test and South Africa in the Rugby Championship. He would be selected in the greater squad for the Grand Slam Spring Tour, however only featured in the two matches for Australia XV/Australia A against Bristol and England A and therefore not adding to his test count. [10] [11]

After a superb 2025 Super Rugby campaign where he would finish runner up in the Player of the Year Award [12] , Hooper would again break into the national first-team contention, gaining selection on the bench for the Wallabies opening test again Fiji. He would also feature prominently in the 2025 British and Irish Lions Tour, gaining selection on the bench in the first test and concluded with a player of the match performance in the Wallabies' victory in third and final test. [13]

Personal life

In 2024, Hooper was a guest on Guy Montgomery's Guy Mont-Spelling Bee .

References

  1. ↑ "Tom Hooper". Ultimate Rugby. Retrieved 15 May 2021.
  2. ↑ "Hooper re-signs with ACT Brumbies and Australian Rugby". wallabies.rugby. Rugby Australia. 19 June 2024.
  3. ↑ "Plus500 Brumbies Finalise 2020 Super Rugby Squad" (Press release). Brumbies. 6 January 2021. Retrieved 6 January 2021.
  4. ↑ "Fainga'a, Simone reach 50, as Kata returns for Plus500 Brumbies". Brumbies. 13 May 2021. Retrieved 15 May 2021.
  5. ↑ "Tom HOOPER profile and stats". all.rugby. Retrieved 17 August 2023.
  6. ↑ "Exeter confirm signing of Wallaby Tom Hooper". www.rugbypass.com. 14 January 2025. Retrieved 14 January 2025.
  7. ↑ "Late Super charge clinched Tom Hooper's Wallabies debut". The West Australian. 6 July 2023. Retrieved 17 August 2023.
  8. ↑ Coetzee, Dylan (5 August 2023). "Australia player ratings: Tom Hooper shines again in tough Bledisloe II loss". PlanetRugby. Retrieved 17 August 2023.
  9. ↑ "Hooper's determination rewarded with spot in Rugby World Cup squad". Western Advocate. 11 August 2023. Retrieved 17 August 2023.
  10. ↑ Baber, Andy (8 November 2024). "Report: Bristol Bears 10-10 Australia XV". Bristol Bears Rugby. Retrieved 4 August 2025.
  11. ↑ "England A overpower Australia A | Rugby Football Union". www.englandrugby.com. Retrieved 4 August 2025.
  12. ↑ "Ardie Savea crowned 2025 Super Rugby Pacific Player of the Year". Super Rugby Pacific. Retrieved 4 August 2025.
  13. ↑ "Wallabies avoid whitewash after stunning Lions on wet and wild Sydney night in statement victory". The Roar. Retrieved 4 August 2025.
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