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There is no doubt Stephen Moore is the Wallabies’ best leader, but Australia needs an 80-minute captain.
Looking forward coach Michael Cheika must find an answer to this dilemma – and fast, especially given that there appears to be a lack of leaders when Moore is off.
More of the wash-up from Wallabies vs England
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» WATCH: Highlights from the match
Though he has captained the Wallabies several times, Michael Hooper is not captaincy material.
Cheika needs to start grooming an 80-minute captain. David Pocock looks the goods when he is injury-free.
Rugby coaches and analysts all over the world repeatedly say tight matches are won in the last quarter of the game. It has become a cliche.
But too many times Moore has come off and sitting in the stands during that period when the match is still in the balance. Think the WRC final, again in the Test against England in Brisbane, and again in Melbourne.
In all those matches the Wallabies crumbled in the last quarter due to a lack of leadership.
In Saturday’s Test he came off with 24 minutes still left on the clock and Australia were trailing 13-7. The game was still 50-50 and could have gone either way.
But from that point, Australia looked leaderless. None of the senior players stood up to take responsibility into their own hands. Hooper tried – like the moment when Australia were awarded a penalty right in front of the posts.
He opted to turn down a certain 3-points to kick for touch and go for the rolling maul. That gamble (and I mean gamble in the true sense of the word) back-fired. For crying out loud – there were still eleven minutes on the clock. Had they taken the kick the score would have been 13-10 with plenty of time to score again.
If England had a three-point lead in the last ten minutes, they would have felt enormous pressure and Australia could have capitalised. With pressure comes wrong decisions, dropped balls and silly penalties at crucial moments.
England won the crucial moments during the closing period because they were still in a comfortable position.
A six-point buffer is far better than a three-point lead because at that point the Wallabies still needed a converted try to win. And given Foley’s form with the boot a seven-pointer wasn’t a given if the conversion was from the sideline.
All the pressure was on the hosts.
Had the Wallabies scored a try with that decision, Hooper would have been lauded as an inspirational leader. And this may have been playing on his young mind. If that was the case then it was an absolutely foolish decision.
When we talk about inspirational captains in the last 20 years, we think John Eales, Francois Pienaar, Martin Johnson and Ritchie McCaw. None of them would have come off in the last quarter if the game was still tight.
Why? Because they are all 80-minute players – fit and still humming along until the final whistle.
New All Black captain Kieran Read plays the entire game and that’s how it should be.
When we think of 60-minute captains, the name John Smit of South Africa comes to mind, especially during his later playing years. The Springboks used this strategy after the 2007 WRC and up to and including the 2011 tournament.
It did not work for South Africa then, and it sure as hell won’t work for Australia.
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.