In David Pocock’s absence, Michael Hooper has developed into Australia’s premier openside flanker, picking up a string of awards and glowing accolades from players and coaches past and present.

However, in the last 12 months, his performances at Wallabies level appears to have dropped off considerably, sparking heated debate around his contribution to the national team.

Having warmed to Hooper through his impressive displays in 2012 and 2013, I took note when the criticism began, and started watching him a little closer. Indeed, anecdotally at least, the critics seemed on the money.

He definitely appeared to be quite weak in the ruck area, and although he made a lot of metres with the ball in hand, a lot of it was in the wider channels where there is often more space in front of the defensive wall.

However, as Hooper continued to top the tackle count, ruck involvements and metres run, there was an obvious conflict between what the critics were seeing and what the stats were us. For that reason, I picked a game at random (Bledisloe 3 in 2014) and made notes on every single play that Hooper got involved in.

The purpose of this was to see if there really was a disparity between what the stats were saying and his actual impact during a game. A tackle is a tackle on the stats sheet, but there is a big difference between bringing a player to the ground and knocking the snot out of them so they don’t feel like getting back up.

Okay, so it wasn’t an entirely random choice. I deliberately didn’t pick any of the northern hemisphere games as it was a stinker of a tour and didn’t want to be accused of bias. I started watching Hooper much closer during that period and thought it would be too easy to single out those games for analysis.

That left the Rugby Championship and French series in Australia, and of those, Bledisloe 3 was by far the most bearable game to watch again, and Hooper’s stats (according to espnscrum.com) were quite good – he topped the metres run and defenders beaten in the forwards and was second only to Sam Carter in the tackle count.

So, on closer inspection, here’s what happened (for those not interested in the breakdown, you can skip to the summary below):

00:20 Lealiifano brings down an All Black runner and Hooper is around third or fourth to the ruck. He doesn’t hit the ruck particularly hard and really has no effect. The All Blacks retain possession and put in a clearing kick downfield.

00:46 Wallabies secure a short throw from their lineout and move the ball through the backline to Kuridrani who takes the tackle. Hooper is the first to the ruck and is lucky not to get called for entering the ruck from the side. He manages to disrupt McCaw from getting the ball but doesn’t completely clean him out. Tomane joins the ruck (legally) a few seconds later, clearing out McCaw so the Wallabies retain possession.

3:11 Hooper is the second tackler on Cory Jane and goes high but is ineffective in stopping Jane from offloading to Read who is then taken down by Simmons and Lealiifano. Hooper joins the ensuing ruck but again doesn’t hit the ruck with any power and the All Blacks recycle with ease.

3:36 Barritt takes the ball into a tackle and Hooper is the third or fourth Wallaby to the breakdown but doesn’t hit the ruck with any real power. Higginbotham joins the ruck after Hooper, going in lower and harder, and comes up with the turnover ball!

4:19 All Blacks lose the ball in a crunching tackle by James Slipper. Hooper pounces on the loose ball and makes about 5m before being tackled.

4:44 Hooper stands over a tackled player, braced for a ruck, but the All Blacks do not contest for the ball.

4:54 Hooper takes a pass from Phipps but is tackled after making a metre or so.

7:32 Hooper is second to a second phase ruck from an All Black lineout. There are numbers from both sides in the ruck but Hooper doesn’t seem to be having any impact. Ball spills loose and Higginbotham hoofs it downfield, following up with a strong chase.

7:54 In a great piece of work, Hooper charges down a kick from Dagg, but it’s re-gathered by Barritt who makes a 30m break.

9:05 Hooper is first to a tackled All Black, 5m out from the Wallaby line. He scavenges for the ball but is cleaned out by McCaw.

10:42 Hooper plays scrumhalf after a big break downfield by Lealiifano and Folau.

11:05 Hooper takes a poor pass from Fardy and takes the ball into contact safely, makes about 4m.

11:30 Hooper takes an inside ball from Foley, about 5m out from the tryline but is unable to muscle his way over the chalk.

16:53 Hooper has a run in the 10-12 channel. He’s taken down by Reid and has the ball stripped by the second tackler, McCaw.

17:11 Hooper binds onto Slipper who picks and drives into contact.

19:45 Hooper tackles Fekitoa. It’s not a dominant tackle but he gets to his feet quickly to have a crack at the ball, but is blown off by McCaw.

20:12 Hooper enters a defensive ruck, 5m from the Wallaby line and is swiftly removed by Retallick

20:32 Hooper makes a 4-5m run before being tackled. McCaw almost steals the ball as Hooper tries to offload in the tackle.

21:02 Hooper goes scavenging for the ball after Foley tackles an All Black player but is removed from the ruck by McCaw

21:38 Hooper stands over a tackled player, braced for a ruck, but the All Blacks do not contest for the ball.

24:00 Sea-gulling out wide, Hooper takes a ball on the wing from Folau and makes about 5m before getting smashed by Savea. A “bone cruncher” according to the commentators.

24:39 Hooper joins the back of an attacking ruck but doesn’t clear anyone out or have much impact.

26:20 Hooper stands over a tackled player, braced for a ruck, but the All Blacks do not contest for the ball.

27:48 Not sure what he’s doing here? He looks lost in an attacking maul off a lineout, 10m from the Wallaby line.

28:28 Scores are locked at 7-7 and the Wallabies get a penalty 10m out and 10-15m in from the sideline (easy points). Hooper turns down the kick and goes for a lineout, 5m out. The Wallabies take the ball into a maul from the ensuing lineout and get held up, turning over possession.

30:58 Hooper takes the ball at the back of a Wallaby lineout and is immediately tackled by McCaw who is then penalised for not rolling away. The penalty is right in front of the posts, 30m back. Hooper elects for the kick this time and Foley converts the penalty into points.

34:17 Hooper tackles Retallick low. It’s not a dominant tackle and a second tackler (Kepu) comes in to finish the job so Retallick can’t offload.

34:25 Hooper goes scavenging for the ball after Barritt is tackled but is swiftly removed by Franks.

37:38 Hooper joins the back of an attacking ruck and puts in a half-hearted shove which doesn’t have any real effect.

38:17 Hooper seagulls between outside centre and the wing, about 10m from the Wallaby line. He gets a ball from Higginbotham but doesn’t have the power to get over the line and is stopped a metre short. Foley scores after spotting a gap thanks to a quick recycle but misses the conversion.

Half Time. Are you enjoying this?

42:00 Hooper stands over a tackled player, braced for a ruck, but the All Blacks do not contest for the ball.

42:13 Same as above… stands over a tackled player, braced for a ruck, but the All Blacks do not contest for the ball.

45:04 Again sea-gulling out wide, Hooper is third to a ruck after Ashley-Cooper is brought down. There isn’t really anyone there to clean out as the All Blacks don’t contest the ball.

45:41 Hooper steps into an altercation between Phipps and Messam. He gives Messam a shove and then walks off as a scrum is called. Phipps and Messam continue their stoush prompting the referee to pull Hooper aside and ask “do you want to lead by example”?

47:30 Hooper joins the back of an attacking ruck and puts in a half-hearted shove which doesn’t have any real effect.

47:58 Hooper stands over a tackled player, braced for a ruck, but the All Blacks do not contest for the ball.

48:14 Hooper joins the back of an attacking ruck and puts in a half-hearted shove which doesn’t have any real effect.

48:31 Hooper receives a pass from Phipps and has a run. He makes about 5m before being taken down where he is isolated and McCaw is straight in to turn over the ball.

50:04 Loose play after an All Black knock-on. Kuridrani picks up the loose ball and offloads to Hooper who makes a few meters before being tackled where he safely recycles.

50:21 Fardy takes the ball into contact and Hooper tries to clear out Crockett with no real effect. Fainga’a then hits the ruck at pace and provides the momentum to clear the ball.

50:35 Hooper has a run off Phipps and makes about 2m before being decked by McCaw.

51:02 Hooper joins the back of an attacking ruck and puts in a half-hearted shove which doesn’t have any real effect.

54:15 Hooper receives a short ball from Lealiifano, makes about 5m and is taken down by Reid.

59:28 Hooper stands over a tackled player, braced for a ruck, but the All Blacks do not contest for the ball.

60:24 Hooper tackles Reid. It’s not a dominant tackle but he goes low and chops him down allowing a quick Hodgson to get his hands on the ball and Reid is pinged for holding on.

61:24 Not sure what Hooper is doing here? McCaw steals a lineout and in the ensuing play, Hooper is in an offside position and gets in the way of Reid who brushes him away but Hooper somehow manages to fall back and sit on Reid.

61:43 Hooper goes scavenging for the ball after Hodgson puts in a solid hit on Faumuina but is cleaned out easily.

62:03 Hooper tackles Faumuina himself but it isn’t a particularly dominating tackle.

62:29 Hooper tackles Retallick. Again, it isn’t a dominant tackle but he manages to wrap up Retallicks arms so he couldn’t get an offload away.

64:22 Hooper hits an attacking ruck stopping Aaron Smith from his attempt to get at the ball.

65:07 Hooper misses a tackle on Fekitoa who makes 15m before being tackled just short of the 22m line.

66:09 Hooper joins the back of an attacking ruck and puts in a half-hearted shove which doesn’t have any real effect.

66:46 Hooper tackles Cane. It’s not a dominant tackle but he goes low and gets him down.

67:40 Hooper goes scavenging for the ball after Cane is tackled but is easily cleaned out by Franks

68:14 All Blacks are 5m from their try line. They go wide to Piutau and Hooper wraps him up. Again, not a dominant tackle but gets the job done.

70:35 Hooper joins the back of an attacking ruck and puts in a half-hearted shove which doesn’t have any real effect.

71:47 All Blacks start a maul from an attacking lineout and shove the Wallabies back 15-20m. All the while, Hooper stands beside the maul watching and even walks backwards as the All Blacks advance, instead of getting in and helping the other forwards.

72:02 Hooper wins a turnover after Lealiifano tackles Fekitoa who doesn’t release the ball.

73:14 Hooper joins the back of an attacking ruck and puts in a decent shove this time but doesn’t have any real effect.

76:50 Hooper has a run in the 10-12 channel and makes 2-3m before being taken down hard by two tacklers working in tandem

77:06 Hooper tries a pick and go from the back of an attacking ruck but only makes a metre before being taken down.

78:04 Hooper joins the back of an attacking ruck and puts in a half-hearted shove which doesn’t have any real effect.

79:08 Hooper scavenges for the ball and manages to hold his ground against Dagg who tries to take him out. Cane then arrives at the ruck and blows him off the ball.

79:48 Hooper tackles Retallick 5m from the try-line.

That’s it!

Well, after that saga, it seems like the critics’ perceptions have been vindicated. For those that couldn’t be bothered reading the breakdown, here is a:

Summary

Attack:
I counted 15 runs for around 60 metres (espnscrum stats show 16 runs for 39 metres so perhaps I was generous in my estimation of his metres gained). He also gets turned over in one of his runs by McCaw.

Hooper joined 11 attacking rucks where he had a low impact (didn’t remove any defenders, just attached himself to the back of the ruck and offered little push).

Hooper joined two attacking rucks where he had a medium impact (was early to the ruck and removed a defender)

Hooper didn’t hit any attacking rucks with venom (blasting opposition out of the contact area).

There were also an additional seven instances where Hooper stood over the tackled player, braced for a ruck, but the opposition didn’t contest so technically there was no ruck formed.

Defence:
I counted nine tackles and one missed (same as espnscrum stats). None of these tackles were dominant though and wouldn’t have opposition runners in any fear whatsoever.

Hooper joined four defensive rucks where he had a low impact (didn’t cause any turnover or slowdown of play)

Hooper joined seven defensive rucks where he had a medium impact (tried to scavenge for the ball but was unsuccessful in winning a turnover)

Hooper joined one ruck where he had a high impact (successfully turned over the ball).

Conclusion
While this is an analysis of only one game, I’d suggest it’s a fair representation of Hooper’s performances and impact in 2014 more generally. I’d be happy to hear from Roarers who think this particular game was an outlier, but I very much doubt that was the case.

The critics were clearly wrong about Hooper not being a typical scavenging openside. Given my perceptions, I myself was surprised how often he got stuck in trying to get the ball back. The issue is that he’s ineffective with only one turnover in eight attempts and causing only a marginal slowdown of the opposition ball in the process.

Perhaps the weight of captaincy was impacting his game? Whatever the case, Hooper needs a big lift in his effectiveness in order to have an impact at the Rugby World Cup!