Michael Hooper has joined Australia’s rugby sevens squad in a bid to cap his glittering career with an Olympic gold medal.

The 32-year-old, who was controversially overlooked by former coach Eddie Jones for the Wallabies’ ill-fated World Cup bid, has signed up to play in the newly-revamped global sevens series in the build-up to the 2024 Olympics in Paris.

A four-time winner of the John Eales Medal as the best Wallabies player of the year, the 125-time capped flanker Hooper will join the sevens program full-time in January, and hopes to play his first tournament at the inaugural Perth SVNS event over the Australia Day long weekend.

A Wallabies’ captain on a record 69 occasions, the announcement almost certainly spells the end of Hooper’s national ambitions in the 15-a-side game.

But he says he is looking forward hugely to his new challenge in what he called a “massively exciting year with the Olympics on the horizon”.

“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 said in a Rugby Australia statement.

“I’ve started making a few changes to my training in preparation and can’t wait to get started in January.

“I’d like to thank John Manenti (the Australian men’s sevens coach) and Scott Bowen (the national performance manager for sevens) for the opportunity to join the program.”

Australia’s men’s team have already qualified for the Olympics which will be held at the Stade de France in Paris in July.

Manenti was delighted by the signing, saying: “Michael is an outstanding rugby player and a great leader, so we’re thrilled to have him join our program.

“We know he’s got a strong skillset for Sevens and a big engine and we’re looking forward to helping him transition quickly to the format.

The Australian team start their SVNS series campaign on December 2-3 in Dubai, before visiting Cape Town, Perth, Vancouver, Los Angeles, Hong Kong, Singapore and Madrid on the road to Paris.

Hooper was most recently seen in action for the Eddie Jones-coached Barbarians in the defeat against Wales in Cardiff, where he looked sharp in what was only an invitation affair.

Larkham open to taking on Wallabies job

Stephen Larkham is open to coaching the Wallabies but says he’s had no discussions with Rugby Australia about replacing Eddie Jones.

The 1999 World Cup-winning great was coy when asked about his interest in the role on Thursday, but admitted he was keen to help Australian rugby in any way he could.

The ACT Brumbies coach is viewed as one of the leading contenders to fill the vacancy left by Jones when he walked out on the Wallabies just 10 months into a five-year deal last month.

“I’m certainly interested in trying to help rugby in Australia,” Larkham said on Thursday.

“We’ve got a real philosophy here to make sure we are growing the game as an organisation.

“So however I can help in terms of improving our results and improving our growth within the sporting arena, I’d love to be involved.”

But Larkham, who’s two years into his second stint in charge of the Brumbies, said he’d taken no calls from RA in the wake of Jones’ calamitous tenure.

“We’ve sort of got a fair bit on, RA have got a fair bit on at the moment and I’m very focused here on my job,” he said.

“We’ve got a number of changes here with our staff since Super Rugby finished, so there’s been a really good planning period here with the coaches.

Along with former ACT boss Dan McKellar, Larkham — a former Wallabies assistant under Michael Cheika — looks a front-runner for the job, although RA isn’t expected to rush to name Jones’ replacement.

Larkham was the Wallabies’ attack coach between 2015 and 2019, before a three-year stint at Irish side Munster.

McKellar worked under former national team boss Dave Rennie until he resigned to take a job with Leicester earlier this year.