Michael Hooper says he opted to take up a short-term deal in Japan next year because he didn't want to jeopardise his chances of playing at the 2023 World Cup in France.
"I want to give myself and be around the environment as best as I can leading into France 2023," Hooper told reporters on Thursday afternoon.
On Wednesday night it was announced that Hooper would miss the 2021 Super Rugby season and would instead join former All Blacks duo Steve Hansen and Kieran Read at Toyota Verblitz before returning ahead of the Test season.
The incumbent Wallabies captain said that the decision was motivated by both "financial" and "life" experiences.
"It's (money) certainly a factor, but this is a good opportunity for me to be exposed to a different environment," Hooper said.
"An environment where it's not an extremely long time. It's not a three-four year deal, it's really six months or less to be around some guys who have seen some pretty cool stuff in the rugby world.
"There's a multitude of reasons in there, but they're two of the forefront."
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Those "guys who have seen some pretty cool stuff" are the double World Cup-winners Hansen and Read who left New Zealand rugby following the 2019 World Cup in Japan.
Hansen is the director of rugby at Toyota while Read was their star recruit last year.
But it was their head coach, Simon Cron, who was with the Waratahs last year, that was one of the main drivers of bringing Hooper to the club.
Wallabies greats George Gregan and George Smith ended up at Suntory and since then there's been a steady influx of foreigners.
But COVID-19 has seen the dam walls well and truly break and every player under the sun now seems to be popping up in the Land of the Rising Sun.
"I think just geographically, it's not as far as Europe," Hooper said.
"They play a style not too dissimilar from what we play down here in Super Rugby: It's fast, it's moving.
"I think that's due to a lot of the coaches being either Kiwi or Australian, so it's pretty similar rugby.
"On top of that, in a pre-COVID world, not so much anymore now with what things can look like with quarantines and everything like that, it's a shorter flight than a full Europe leg."
While the Japanese Top League was once viewed as a lightweight competition, Waratahs coach Rob Penney, who coached NTT Shining Arcs for six years, said that the competition would keep Hooper up to speed.
Hooper's sabbatical from the Waratahs has come about after Rugby Australia and the Rugby Union Players Association nutted out a deal following the COVID-19 pandemic for the top players in Australian rugby that would have to forgo the most amount of lost capital because of the pay-cut.
He could have gone at any time during his five-year deal, but chose to head next year so that he put his name in front of Dave Rennie's eyes in the lead up to the World Cup.
Rebels duo Matt To'omua and Dane Haylett-Petty are the last remaining players in Australian rugby who also have that option up their sleeves after Kurtley Beale and Izack Rodda both left the game in Australia earlier in the year.
While admitting that Hooper's loss for the 2021 season was a "blow" in the short-term, Penney said the club would take the "glass half-full approach" and look to invest in their depth for next year.
"It's not a blow at all because in a number of ways it allows other people to spread their wings and it creates another opportunity for someone to wear the No.7 jersey that Hoops has just owned for the last seven or eight years," Penney said.
"Of course losing him is a blow to what potentially his impact on performance and outcome (would be), but if you look at it in a bit more detail than the opportunity for someone else to show that they're up to it and contribute to this great jersey in a way that hasn't been an opportunity since the great man's owned it for so long.
"So there's a window there. We'll be taking the cup half full approach to that."
News of Hooper's move to Japan comes just days ahead of the Waratahs' do-or-die clash with the Rebels as they attempt to stay in the Super Rugby AU finals race.
With the Waratahs (15) having the bye in the final round, they must beat the Rebels (14) by a bonus-point and deny their opponents a losing bonus-point to confirm their place in the top three.
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Hooper is the last remaining member of the Waratahs from their 2014 success and his absence in 2021 means the Waratahs will be desperately short of experience.
Not only has Beale left, but captain Rob Simmons is also heading to the English Premiership.
It leaves the question should the Waratahs follow the path of the Reds a couple of years ago under Brad Thorn and invest in solely their own youth or go out and test the market?
Hooper said the Waratahs faced a challenge going forward but backed the next generation of players in NSW to make their mark.
"From being here in a couple of years of turnover it's a challenge," the Wallabies veteran said.
"It's going to be a challenge.
"Do I think that there's a great opportunity for guys that have been a layer under some of the more senior players? I think there's a great opportunity for them to test themselves and put their mark on the team.
"Guys like Jake Gordon have so much to offer and to a certain extent we haven't seen that come through yet and I'm really excited for guys like him, and the other players around him like Lachie Swinton and you get a Tom Horton re-signing for two years just the other day, we're starting to get some quality young players there.
"There's definitely arguments for both sides, you're starting to see the Reds pay off with their young team. Some of the performances they've put out going down that path.
"Someone like Karmichael has impressed this year with the amount of knowledge and leadership and the way he goes about his business. It's a shame he's not (been) on the park in the last two weeks, which has been tough, he's been great in the midfield.
"It's going to be interesting how that's done.
"In terms of going out and getting players, it's been a tough environment with recruiting so I'm hopeful that that's starting to kick back up for all our players."
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