Michael Hooper 'keeping options open' but reveals Wallabies comeback is unlikely

Michael Hooper has revealed it's unlikely he'll be part of Joe Schmidt's Wallabies squad for the Lions series, but hasn't completely ruled out a comeback altogether.

The champion flanker retired from international rugby in June 2024 but has since come back to club rugby via Japanese League One side Toyota Verblitz.

Hooper, 33, has played two matches in Japan this year, one for Toyota's second team and another in the top league.

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Speaking on Stan Sport's Inside Line podcast, Hooper explained there'd have to be "some pretty extraordinary circumstances" for his return.

"I would have to be playing some great footy to be considered, and two, I retired from international rugby. I know a lot of people have changed those plans but there would have to be some significant circumstances that would change that," he said.

"The level of commitment to play at Test level is very, very high, and I am unsure if I have that level of commitment to put the body on the line and have the intent that you need to have to be a part of that series.

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"... it's great to be competing in 15s, I struggled in sevens on multiple levels, it's a bloody hard game. To come back to 15s, I was rusty but it felt like home being on the 15s field.

"The intention isn't to come up here and reboot a career so I am taking this very much a week at a time which we need to do up here on a team level ... definitely keeping options open but I haven't come up here with a set agenda."

Hooper added the communication with Schmidt has only been a "brief text" when he signed with Verblitz.