Tom Hooper says he's added a few strings to his bow, with the powerhouse forward rejoining the Wallabies ahead of their first Test of the year against Ireland.
The 25-year-old left Australia to play with Exeter in the UK, with the Chiefs reaching their first grand final in five years before losing the Prem title to Northampton this month.
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He and former ACT Brumbies teammate Len Ikitau were then straight on a plane home to prepare for the Wallabies' Nations Championship Tests, starting with Ireland on July 4 at Sydney's Allianz Stadium.
"It's obviously bittersweet, taking Exeter from a tough season last year all the way to the final, and I fell just short of the cherry on top of lifting the trophy, but very proud of our efforts there," Hooper said at a Wallabies open training session and fan day at North Sydney Oval.
"Myself and Len knew that we wanted to turn our focus pretty quickly on to the Wallabies, so it was nice to celebrate with those guys, have a couple of cold Powerades and then straight back on the plane and into camp this week."
Hooper said he was in a "happy place" splitting his time between hemispheres, and felt his rugby had benefited from being exposed to a different style of game.
He said he had also enjoyed playing and learning from other internationals at the club, including South Africa's Joseph Dweba, Georgian prop Bachuki Tchumbadze and Italians Andrea Zambonin and Stephen Varney.
"There's nine ways to skin a cat and they have a few different approaches to the game and how they play it, which is always a good thing, I think,'' Hooper said.
"It's good to add a few different strings to your bow and be able to play different brands of rugby.
"It wasn't so much a shock, but it was really nice to work with some different coaches and play with some international-quality players over there, and against some as well.
"I certainly think I've improved because of that."
Battle-hardened from their run to the final at Twickenham, Hooper said he would be ready to take on the world No.3 Irish if called upon by Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt.
The flanker/lock said that centre Ikitau and prop Taniela Tupou, who is also back in the Test fold after playing in France, felt the same way.
"That hand will be up until you drag me off the rugby field, that hand will always be up for Wallabies gold - anytime we get the opportunity to pull on the threads, I'd be very privileged to,'' Hooper said.
"I think I speak for Lenny and Taniela, they probably echo that sentiment as well.
"We're definitely ready to go - we wanted to get out on the training pitch today and put our best foot forward."
