Global rugby stars make Olympic sevens bid
All BlacksNovember 16, 2023
Rugby heavyweights Antoine Dupont of France and Michael Hooper of Australia are lining up for a shot at Olympic Games Sevens gold medals at the Paris Games next year.
Hooper has signed up with the Australia Sevens squad for 2024 and will play in the HSBC World Sevens series, which opens in Dubai on December 2-3. Tournaments follow in Cape Town, Perth, Vancouver, Los Angeles, Hong Kong, Singapore and Madrid.
Hooper, who has played 125 Tests and who first played for the Waratahs in 2010 in Super Rugby, is to join the Sevens squad in January and hopes to make his Sevens debut in the Perth Sevens tournament on Australia Day weekend, starting on January 26.
Hooper told australia.rugby, "The transition is something I have thought a lot about, and I'm extremely motivated by the challenge of playing Sevens and trying to earn my way into this team.
"I've started making a few changes to my training in preparation and can't wait to get started in January."
Australia's Sevens coach John Manenti said Hooper's signing was a positive in his side's bid to win their first Olympic Games medal.
"Michael is an outstanding rugby player and a great leader, so we're thrilled to have him join our programme.
"We know he's got a strong skillset for Sevens and a big engine, and we're looking forward to helping him transition quickly to the format.
"He is a player with big-game experience and to have someone like Michael in our set-up can be a point of difference for us next year."
Meanwhile, Dupont is expected to be one of four French Test players to play Sevens. The others are centre Arthur Vincent, loose forward Sekou Macalou and either of wings Damian Penaud or Louis Bielle-Biarrey.
French rugby newspaper Midi Olympique reported it was expected the players would be available for the French Sevens team from the Los Angeles tournament on February 25-26.
However, the French Federation is discussing the players who make the switch. It informed Midi Olympique on Sunday that it only had the financial means to compensate the clubs for one player, and as a result, Dupont was the only one seen as a certain candidate at this stage.
