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Wallabies captain Michael Hooper has been singled out for “special attention” from England in Saturday’s Test at Twickenham.
Hooper has been outstanding for Australia since winning the first of his 41 caps in June 2012 with his ball-carrying, breakdown threat and work-rate identifying him as probably the sport’s best openside.
England assistant coach Graham Rowntree believes one of the ways of restricting Australia’s vast array of attacking talent is by shackling their 23-year-old flanker.
“Hooper needs special attention. We have to nullify him at the weekend and keep him quiet,” Rowntree said.
“He’s a jack-in-the-box, he’s everywhere.
“His line speed and energy are superb and he’s durable as well because he doesn’t miss many minutes.
“He’s pretty central to everything Australia do offensively – and at the breakdown as well.”
The breakdown will be a key battleground on Saturday with England desperate to cut off the supply of quick ball to Australia’s gifted backline, while supplying their own backs with the possession to cause damage.
Rowntree insists the Red Rose’s speed in this department will be critical.
“You want clean ball at your breakdown. We work on ball speed every day,” he said.
“We’ve got to go under four and a half seconds for ours and anything over that that we can give them, the better. We work on that constantly.
“Ball speed’s important. If we can get that ball speed down to under four seconds then we’re in business.
“Historically against Australia we are under four seconds.
“You’d be surprised how quick the ball is that we get against the All Blacks and how we can slow their breakdown down as well.
“Between four and five seconds is acceptable. If it’s between four and six, then we’ve got problems. It doesn’t sound much, but it’s a big difference.”
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.