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Michael Hooper is not a captain. Not yet

Roar Guru
22nd October, 2014
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Michael Hooper is a veritable angel (AAP Image/Dave Hunt)
Roar Guru
22nd October, 2014
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1418 Reads

The events we have watched unfold since that fateful plane trip to Argentina three weeks ago will be remembered as a shameful chapter in Australian rugby history.

It doesn’t matter what you think of Ewen McKenzie, Kurtley Beale or Di Patston – one of the things that makes rugby truly great is that everyone involved is expected to hold themselves to a higher standard.

Richie McCaw reminded us of that on Saturday. On his own initiative, McCaw took the stage to congratulate Adam Ashley-Cooper on behalf of his side, saying that the achievement was big enough to put the rivalry aside for one moment.

With all of the controversy I’m afraid we might miss the point altogether. The third Bledisloe Test was, by a large margin, the finest Wallaby performance of the past three years. After all, at some point shouldn’t the rugby actually be about picking up the oval ball and playing a game?

Saturday reminded us what the current Wallaby crop is capable of. Not only did they lead the All Blacks, they dominated them through most of the Test and for just a brief moment the infamous New Zealand aura lifted and the opponent looked human. That is no small feat.

Saturday also reminded us that Michael Hooper is not a captain. Not yet.

Let me set the record straight. I am a Hooper fan. He is a natural leader of men and a rare rugby talent. He is the only sane choice in the #7 jersey for Australia – the injured David Pocock notwithstanding – and if you’re with the crowd who has been arguing to the contrary, let me grab you a fresh straight-jacket and lead you back to your padded room because there is no other place to put you.

By chance I met Hooper last year after the third Lions test, where he was unceremoniously dropped for George Smith, despite red-hot form. I offered to buy him a beer and made of point of saying that despite my respect for Smith, the decision to drop him was “incorrect”.

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His response? “That’s rugby”.

He is a true gentleman and better men make better rugby players. Stepping up to call the team into a truth session and petition them to address their issues in the open last week shows both leadership beyond his years and the quality of his character. I reiterate, he is a natural leader of men.

Let’s not forget too that he has achieved all of this, along with captaining one of the world’s best sides, a Super Rugby Premiership, a John Eales Medal and 38 Test caps at the ripe old age of 22. I reiterate, he is a rare rugby talent.

However, a leader and a captain are not the same thing. A captain must first be a leader and at the top level then build on that ability by bringing level-headedness, interpersonal skills and an extraordinary intellect for the game to the table that Hooper simply does not posses. Not yet.

This was painfully evident on Saturday when early in the second half referee Craig Joubert asked Hooper rhetorically “Do you want to lead by example?” not once, but twice. And having put himself in that situation, Hooper had not one word to say in defence of himself or his team and simply walked away.

Compare that to the way McCaw fronted Joubert under similar scrutiny in the first half. He showed respect, stood and listened to the referee and then walked back and spoke to his team.

It is not really a fair comparison given McCaw is nearly 100 Tests Hooper’s senior, however in a game decided after regulation time by the smallest margin possible under the rules of the game a good captain can be the deciding factor.

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This time around it was. Hooper is not a captain, not yet.

With no clear candidate in the squad, there is no easy solution. Hooper seemed to do better as captain under new Wallaby coach Michael Cheika when at the ‘Tahs, so perhaps that will help. Time will tell.

Perhaps an interim leader is required, certainly some mentoring for Hooper is warranted and would be of great value – but either way Cheika needs to make this priority number one.

Why? Because Michael Hooper is tasked with being a Wallaby captain and he is not. Not yet.

But he will be, and a great one at that. Just give him some time.

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