11-year-old gap Flanker duo; Aoki and Hooper make their season debut.

On February 14th, during the Mirai match against the Shizuoka Blue Revs at the sports center, a spirited young player and a global legend paired up as the Flankers Keito Aoki, who joined from Teikyo University as an early-entry player wore the No.6 jersey. Wearing the No.7 jersey was Michael Hooper, an Australian rugby legend with 125 caps. Aoki is 22 years old and Hooper, 33 years old, forms a Flanker duo with an 11-year age difference.

Hooper rejoined Toyota Verblitz after four seasons serving as a medical joker for No.8 Pieter-Steph du Toit who underwent surgery on both shoulders. He joined the team on February 6th. In this game, both Aoki and Hooper were starting members. Hooper played until the first 10 minutes of the second half, while Aoki played for the full 80 minutes, scoring two consecutive tries in the 66th and 77th minute leaving with a strong impression of great potential.

For Aoki, it was his first game since his University Championship final on January 13th. With his ball-carrying skills, he proved effective at the League One level. However, he immediately reflected on his performance.

“I wasn’t satisfied with the contacting side of the game. The speed of acceleration at the moment of contact is different from university rugby. With the speed increasing, I found myself reacting passively. I need to have a better understanding of my space.”

Although he was not completely satisfied with his performance, Aoki understands the area that he needs to work on. Michael Hooper is a player that Aoki has looked up to since junior high. 

“I was really happy that I got to play with Hooper in my first League One level game. I’m training with Akito (Okui) right now and I want to absorb as much as possible as quickly as I can.”

For Hooper, it was his first union game since November 2023, as he had spent his previous year challenging himself in the Australian Sevens Team for the Paris Olympics. “I was a bit nervous because it’s been a while since I played, Ian Foster told me to focus on quality and I think it was a good start.”

Since signing with Verblitz, he has been training rugby union at Manly Club in Sydney. He stated that his current condition is around 50% but his signature tackles and persistence in the ruck remain unchanged.

“I’m really happy to be able to return to Japan and play for Verblitz. I don’t know where I’ll be playing next, but I want to step up my game even more.”

There have been injuries to key players such as captain Kazuki Himeno and Miki Kosei. Although it has been a tough time for Ryusei Koike, who played No.8 in this game, and Jingo Murata, who replaced Hooper, showed great energy and made strong impressions, showing that they are well-prepared for League One.