Michael Hooper's dream of playing in the Olympics is looking good as he joins Australia's squad to face Fiji next week. Hooper missed the SVNS Grand Final in Madrid due to a pelvic injury (osteitis pubis), but resting him has paid off.

“We got really good bang for our buck out of resting him. He’ll talk about the new mattress but probably the decision not to travel was the big breakthrough," coach John Manenti “He’s trained really well the last couple of days and (has) no symptoms at this stage.”

Manenti emphasized the importance of pushing Hooper in Fiji. “The reality was he wasn’t going to be a big-minute player in Madrid and he was always going to play reasonably big minutes in Fiji. The decision to rest him and get him to 100% was the best chance rather than playing under stress and fatigue.”

Hooper will be joined by Wallaby Mark Nawaqanitawase and Western Force's Max Burey. Nawaqanitawase has Sevens experience from the 2022 Commonwealth Games, while Burey helped Australia win their first Sevens title in 2021-22.

“Mark has been with us before and Joe’s (Schmidt) decision not to take players that aren’t going to be around next season has freed him up," Manenti said. “Max is that instinctive player that can give us some creativity. He’s keen to have a crack at it and see what he can do.”

Aussie 7s Squad to Face Fiji

Dally Bird

Max Burey

Tim Clements

Ben Dowling

Connor Hickey

Michael Hooper

Michael Icely

James McGregor

Mark Nawaqanitawase

Henry Palmer

Henry Paterson

Dietrich Roache

Hayden Sargeant

Josh Turner

Source: [AU7s Website] https://au7s.com/news/big-breakthrough-as-hooper-nawaqanitawase-set-to-play-in-sevens-warm-up