James Horwill won’t be regaining the Wallabies captaincy any time soon but he has rediscovered his lost form.
Skyscraping lock Horwill stood as tall as ever in a signature performance in Australia’s 21-15 win over Scotland at Murrayfield, three weeks after he was set to be dropped against England.
Coach Ewen McKenzie’s shock move to strip him of leadership duties and promote Ben Mowen as skipper has had the desired effect for the Wallabies.
Horwill is back to his abrasive best, trucking up the ball over the advantage line, hitting rucks hard and packing a punch in defence.
McKenzie and his assistant coaches haven’t gone easy on the former captain who struggled to get going during this year’s Rugby Championship after being hampered by calf and hamstring injuries.
“They have been pretty hard on me which has been good and what I wanted,” Horwill said.
“The games where I didn’t do well I just didn’t have an impact for the team.
“I’ve been asked to deliver that physical edge for the team.
“I’ve been happy with my progression and performances.”
Heading into Australia’s final Test of a difficult 2013, Horwill’s positional battle with rival second-rower Alun Wyn Jones will be an intriguing sub-plot to their clash with Wales in Cardiff.
The Queenslander was twice exonerated from a rucking charge against Wyn Jones during the first Test loss to the British and Irish Lions in Brisbane.
But Wyn Jones enjoyed the last laugh by captaining the Lions to a 41-16 series-deciding victory in Sydney.
Horwill doubted the drought-breaking Lions triumph would have a major bearing on the Millennium Stadium clash, nor Australia’s eight-match winning streak over Wales.
“It’s always a tough game and tough place to play,” he said.
“It’s never been one-sided, there have been some epic battles.”
The Wallabies’ next Test won’t be until next home winter when they meet France in a three-match series but No.8 Mowen has put down a major claim on keeping the captaincy if he keeps his spot in the back row.
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