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Watching Michael Hooper over the years since he made his debut in 2012, there’s no doubt the young Wallaby captain is a world-class player.
He almost always gets the Wallabies on the front foot with ball in hand, always puts his body on the line on defence and plays without a doubt for the gold jersey.
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It’s so easy to see why Michael Cheika kept on persisting with Hooper on the open-side flank and kept on playing David Pocock out of position for quiet a number of Test matches before Pocock went on his sabbatical.
The only flaw I see in Hooper’s game is his inability to dominate the break down, as talented as the young man is, he is just not hard enough on the ball for a open side flanker.
We have seen him steal ball on the ground every now and then, but we have not seen enough of it, the way we used to see Pocock, Richie McCaw, George Smith, Phil Waugh and the Springboks Heinrich Brüssow before the injury niggles shortened his international career.
Hooper is only 182 cm tall and just 101 kg, but always manages to get the Wallabies and the Tahs going forward with his impressive ball carrying. Considering the young lad is almost always smaller than the opposing defenders, he always gets over the advantage line.
For his size he really carries more than his weight, and is as tough as they come.
Some years back when Eddie Jones was the Wallabies coach, he used to play Waugh and Smith together. Smith was the better ball carrier, that’s why Eddie played him on the blindside.
Some criticised him, but that combination actually gave the opposition a hard time. Smith is just about the same height as Hooper and only about three or four kilos heavier but did well as the blindside back then in 2003 to around 2005. That combination served Australia very well with David Lyons at eight.
Hooper has all the qualities of a blindside, he just does not have the height and weight of the Jerome Kainos, Schalk Burgers and the Juan Smiths. He is a quality rugby player and just as George Smith did well all those years back, I’m sure Hooper can be similarly effective.
In South Africa at the moment the Lions openside Jaco Kriel is playing on the blindside for the Boks, and so far he has been going well. He is just two centimetres taller and about four kilos lighter than Hooper.
In the absence of the best pilfer David Pocock, Sean McMahon should play at seven as he pilfers more ball and is hard on the ground more than Hooper.
The Wallaby captain should move to the blindside. I know Cheika favours him at seven, but it is at blind side that the Wallabies captain should play. When the best openside flanker in the world returns from his sabbatical, McMahon and Lopeti Timani can cover eight or the bench, and young Ned Hanigan would still continue his apprenticeship.
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.