Michael Hooper sweats on Wallabies win as Australia face Ireland

Wallabies skipper seeks to bury run of poor season openersJoin the Guardian’s liveblog coverage of Australia v IrelandWallabies skipper Michael Hooper has underlined the importance of Australia reversing their recent mid-year fortunes with a season-opening Test victory over Ireland.Australia’s past two years of international rugby have been blighted by poor starts in June, losing 3-0 to England in 2016 and falling to Scotland in a one-off clash last year. Related: Australia’s Michael Cheika wary of ‘best Ireland team in history’ before first Test Related: Bible-studying rake wins Wallabies de…