Just weeks ago, Michael Hooper was questioning how NSW rugby could have ever let Crusaders revelation Pete Samu slip through their fingers.
Now the relieved Wallabies captain is salivating at the thought of Samu coming off the bench to wreak havoc for Australia in their Test series opener against Ireland.
Hooper on Friday admitted to ruing the 26-year-old as the one who got away after they trained beside each other with the NSW Waratahs in 2013.
Samu's moved from Sydney to Waimea Old Boys in New Zealand's South Island in 2014 turned his career around.
Rubbing salt into Hooper's wounds, and those of NSW, Samu made a momentum-changing charge in the Crusaders' record-breaking Super Rugby comeback win over the Waratahs last month.
But now he's breathing easy after Rugby Australia and NZ Rugby finally came to terms over a release for the Melbourne-born player, who has signed on for the Brumbies in 2019.
"You think back and think, 'how could we have lost him at the time?'" Hooper said on Friday.
"I do remember him and you go 'oh damn!' when you see him starting and really come through at the Crusaders.
"Him coming back to Australian rugby is a huge benefit to us and pushing that competition which has been great in Super Rugby."
Likewise, Hooper said Crusaders tighthead Mike Alaatatoa, brother of Wallabies prop Allan, was another he wished Australia could have kept but he's chosen to stay in Christchurch.
Samu, nicknamed Pistol Pete by centre Samu Kerevi, is set to join Hooper and David Pocock in the back-row early in the second half at Suncorp Stadium and the captain is looking forward to his hunger and muscle against the Six Nations champions.
"Pete really wants to be here and to have someone with that sort of enthusiasm and be rewarded with a spot on the bench is fantastic," he said.
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