Hooper is brave and elite, and changing a captain is momentous, but it's a risk worth taking

In the unofficial North versus South ‘Six Nations’ just completed, the Northern teams were led by hyper-competitive flyhalves.

Gritty Johnny Sexton was the extension of Andy Farrell on the pitch in taking his squad to one of the greatest Irish team sport accomplishments ever.

Welsh warrior Dan Biggar captained a team stacked with Lions to their first win in South Africa. Even if he is not formally flyhalf or captain of England, Owen Farrell is their leader.

All three have their critics but they seldom beat themselves. The loquacious Biggar kept Wales in the hunt until their power shortage doomed them in the second half of the last Test.

The garrulous Sexton led an almost league-type attack which literally exhausted fit Kiwis, barking like a guard dog to the end. Verbose Farrell seemed to grow as the series went deeper. His captaincy counterpart, the hitman Courtney Lawes, led quietly: the two appear to have serious respect for one another.

Down 0-1 far from home following an abysmal real Six Nations, England came back from the dead on the strength of their Lawes-Farrell axis.

In Brisbane, they built a railroad track through Aussie hearts. In Sydney, they deconstructed the Wallaby attack saboteurs. These two old rivals are on a collision course for a semifinal in France, unless stubborn old 1,000 cap Wales intervenes.

Spiral-booting Biggar did all he could do to keep Wales in a series in which they were almost perfect at scoring on entries into the Bok 22.

South Africa is fully in World Cup mode, using all 42 squad members, even blooding six debutants in the second Test in which the Boks fielded half the caps of their guests.

Wales made fewer changes than any of the six teams across the series and kept more than ten Lions in the team sheet. But a game plan built on utter excellence of execution is tiring and did not survive the third Test onslaught of Bok beef.

Still, the clarity of purpose and style from Biggar shone through the matches. Wales often won the aerial exchanges and kicked the football more accurately.

Ireland simply out-thought New Zealand. It remains to be seen if Sexton merely cemented his place in the pantheon of Irish sportsmen but cannot take Eire to the promised land of a World Cup final.

Unfortunately, their quarterfinal hex looms, with South Africa in their pool and either France or the All Blacks their first knockout opponent. But the sense is they will only go as far as their captain takes them.

France and Scotland also find their leadership in their backlines now.

In the Southern Hemisphere, all the captains are flanks, and only Pablo Matera is clearly the best loose forward in his nation.

Wallaby captain and centurion Michael Hooper is one of the bravest elite sportsmen walking the earth; mixed martial artists and downhill skiers included.

(Photo by Bradley Kanaris – The RFU/The RFU Collection via Getty Images)

One of the best Australian rugby players this century, Hooper is the current Wallaby forward most likely to be in a World 23.

But I remember being pitchside at Newlands in 2014 and seeing for the first time how mismatched he is in size with his own team and the Springboks.

This never holds him back. He has to be one of the most powerful and dynamic players pound for pound but sometimes he is ragdolled by physics. More importantly, he does not seem to be able to change the course of a match in the way Messrs Farrell, Sexton, and Biggar can.

The Waratahs had one of the most remarkable turnarounds in sports in 2022 and it was Jake Gordon-led. When Hooper returned, he was phenomenal, freed of the duties of skipper.

Watching the Wallabies lose the last two Tests to give Eddie Jones bragging rights forever, I was struck with how Hooper’s leadership has always seemed to me to be a double down “try even harder” or “watch me outwork you” captaincy.

At club level, or on a one-off basis, this can work. But I am not sure it is the highest and best use of Hooper’s unbelievable force and skills. His exchanges with referees, while not as awkward as Stephen Moore’s squawks, seem wooden or tentative.

He typically stays on for the full match, so his captaincy isn’t often shared.

Might the Wallabies be better led by a tandem Nic White and Jake Gordon (or Tate McDermott, if his form improves)? The pack has a few natural leaders, too.

(Photo by Paul Kane/Getty Images)

Of course, it is a momentous thing to change captains. But the Tah example shows Hooper is a team player first and foremost. He might be freed up to play over the ball more, too. As a Test skipper, it can be awkward to be in the pilfer-or-be-pinged sweepstakes.

Sam Cane is a bit in the mould of Hooper: not ferociously motivational in speech, work rate off the charts, and hardly a ref whisperer.

It is not clear to me if he has the footspeed and agility to play openside in France in 2023 if the All Blacks want to make it to the grand final. They can certainly win four matches, but six or seven may find a Cane not able.

South Africa is led by a flank, but has a leadership group. All teams say that, but the Boks actually run it more like a committee than anyone else.

Handre Pollard is a vice captain in more than just title, Frans Malherbe or Steven Kitshoff (depending on which of them is on the pitch), and Duane Vermeulen, Eben Etzebeth or one of the senior fullbacks usually weigh in and assist Siya Kolisi, who is not always the best flank available for selection, is one of the team’s best cleaners and power tacklers.

Kolisi is not saddled with quite the same level of decision making for general play as, say, Sexton or Biggar, and over the years has usually not been the eighty minute man in the pack.

The North is ahead of the South on technical and skills innovation at the moment, even if the sheer pace and power of some of the Rugby Championship players obscures the gaps (until this July). Perhaps they are on to something when they assign tactical captaincy to highly experienced playmakers?