Wallabies coach Michael Cheika has backed David Pocock for standing up against homophobic slurs and says his strong opinions and outspoken nature won’t affect his Australian captaincy ambitions.
Brumbies flanker Pocock divided opinion with his decision to complain to the referee when NSW’s Jacques Potgieter’s was heard to direct the slur towards the visiting side’s players during the Allianz Stadium Super Rugby clash on Sunday.
The Waratahs’ marquee international was on Monday fined $20,000 and has since apologised for his comments during his side’s 28-13 win.
While supported by many pundits on social media, former Wallaby Greg Martin on Tuesday said Pocock’s principled stand against homophobia, coupled with a history of outspokenness, will cost him any chance of captaining Australia again.
Martin feels some officials the Australian Rugby Union (ARU) won’t look favourably on having such an opinionated skipper.
Cheika demurred.
While he said recent Wallabies captains Stephen Moore and Michael Hooper will be the likely contenders to lead the side this year, former skipper Pocock hadn’t hindered his leadership prospects by speaking out.
“Are you kidding? Not at all. I love characters. I don’t want rugby to be full of robots or people who don’t have an opinion,” Cheika said.
“I respect people who have their own opinion. Some people have more confidence to broadcast them, and some like to keep them to themselves.
“I want characters in the team.”
Pocock has been criticised in some circles for how he handled the matter with suggestions he could have waited until after the game to have it dealt with behind closed doors.
But Cheika defended his decision to bring it up on the field.
“In the heat of the moment he decided that was the right course of action,” Cheika said.
“Far be it from me to judge anyone about the heat of the moment, lord knows I’ve made plenty of mistakes in the heat of the moment, so I don’t think that deserves criticism either.”
Cheika, who doubles as the Waratahs mentor, agreed Potgieter’s slurs were unacceptable and said he was glad to see the matter dealt with swiftly by the ARU.
“There’s always niggle in games and we spoke about, from my point of view, what’s acceptable and that’s not acceptable,” he said.
“Jacques obviously realised he’d crossed the line, came and saw me and manned up and was feeling very bad about it.
“Sometimes you don’t know in the heat of the battle. No excuse though.
“He took responsibility and we dealt with it in a way we thought was right, hopefully with a minimum of fuss or damage to anybody.”
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.
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