Michael Hooper leaves Force lock hanging with classic handshake snub as Brumbies end rare losing streak
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Michael Hooper left Darcy Swain hanging with a hilarious halftime handshake snub in Canberra on Saturday night.
Wallabies great Hooper was interviewing the big Western Force lock for Stan Sport as they locked horns with the ACT Brumbies in a crucial Super Rugby clash.
Swain was keen to part ways by pressing the flesh but Hooper was laser focused on throwing the chat back to his colleagues.
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Michael Hooper leaves Darcy Swain hanging in his handshake attempt at halftime in Canberra. Stan
The Brumbies won the match 32-15 at GIO Stadium to leapfrog the Queensland Reds into fifth place on the ladder.
Stephen Larkham's side entered the match riding a rare three game losing streak while Simon Cron's men had won their last two.
The Force sent plenty of high kicks for Zac Lomax to chase and the code-hopper also rocked Brumbies No.8 Toby MacPherson with a big first half shot.
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Brumbies captain Ryan Lonergan had another strong game directing traffic from halfback to further bolster his Wallabies claims.
The Force are 10th of 11 teams and are almost certain to miss the top-six finals yet again.
The Brumbies have the bye next weekend while the Force return home to Perth to host the Reds.
"I thought the forwards did a great job tonight," Lonergan told Stan Sport's Justin Harrison.
"They really muscled up and the Force are a real, real gritty team and they stick at it. They're really physical and they're quite hard to break down. We just stuck to our plan of getting in the A zone and then just chip away. Pretty proud of the boys to be able to stick that out.
"I thought we played in mostly the right areas tonight. The force also had a pretty good kicking game there as well, so it was a pretty good battle all around really."
Lonergan scored a try after brother Lachlan darted down the blindside and delivered him the ball.
"I was laughing because jeez, I made it hard," Ryan said.
"He threw me a pie and I nearly spilled it. I was pretty glad to get over there. That's why I was laughing."
Force skipper Jeremy Williams told Stan Sport that the Brumbies were deserved winners.
"Really physical game. We knew they'd come out raring to go. At times we matched them. I do think they won the collisions. Our discipline let them into their attacking zone," Williams said.
