Hooper switches to Sevens with eye on Olympic gold in Paris

SYDNEY : Former Wallabies captain Michael Hooper announced on Thursday that he is moving to Australia's Sevens programme in January with an eye on representing his country at next year's Paris Olympics.

The 32-year-old flanker, who was a shock omission from the Wallabies squad for this year's World Cup in France, will potentially have six rounds of the Sevens World Series to earn a place in the squad for the Olympics.

"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," Hooper, who won 125 caps for the Wallabies and four John Eales Medals as Australia's test Player of the Year, said in a Rugby Australia statement.

Wallabies centre Samu Kerevi was part of the Australia squad that was knocked out of the quarter-finals of the last Olympic tournament in Tokyo but Hooper will be unusual in making the switch from the forwards in the 15-man game.

Hooper did play in the centres as a youngster before moving into the pack and was renowned for his endurance in the 15-man game.

He knows, however, that he has a lot to learn and a big physical transition to make to prepare for the lung-busting seven-man version of the game.

"I've trained with these guys. They are hungry and can run forever," he added in an interview on Channel Nine.

"I'm one of the bigger guys in the team which is very unusual. It should be great."