How Michael Hooper's captaincy appointment impacts the Wallabies loose forward configuration
As one longstanding Australian rugby partnership comes to an end, another has been reaffirmed. On the same day that Qantas announced their 30-year sponsorship of the Wallabies will finish at the end of 2020, Michael Hooper has been re-appointed Wallabies captain.
On the one hand, it’s a sensible call from new coach Dave Rennie. Hooper has 99 caps to his name, is exceptional at every facet of the game, and likely has plenty of respect both inside and outside the Wallabies camp.
On the other hand, Hooper’s captaincy record with the Australian national side is far from impressive. Under the loose forward’s term as captain, the Wallabies have managed just 19 wins from 46 matches.
Of course, those losses aren’t born off the back of poor leadership from the captain. It simply hasn’t been a great decade for the men in gold and Hooper’s poor record is a reflection of the team and country’s weaknesses as a whole, not one individual player’s strengths or limitations.
Despite that, there were rumblings that a changing of the guard might help galvanise the Wallabies to shake off the poor results of recent times.
Gone is Michael Cheika, the head coach who ostensibly refused to acknowledge any of his own shortcomings and persisted with a gameplan that simply didn’t suit the skillset of his squad.
Gone is Raelene Castle, the fish out of water Rugby Australia CEO whose every move was questioned and criticised.
But Michael Hooper remains. Not just as captain, mind you, but as a likely starter for the foreseeable future.
Hooper’s appointment effectively means that the Waratah must be Dave Rennie’s first-choice openside flanker – and that has significant implications for the loose forward trio.
Rennie has included seven loose forwards in the first squad named under his tenure.
Hooper and Fraser McReight are the only out-and-out opensides in that group, while McReight’s Reds captain, Liam Wright, can cover both flanker positions.
20-year-old Harry Wilson and former Crusader Pete Samu are the likely options as eighth man, and Lachlan Swinton and Rob Valetini will contest the blindside flank.
Purely on form, it would be hard to go past the young Reds trio – of which only Wright has played international football before, and just two games at that.
It would be a huge wager on Rennie’s behalf to throw the trio into the cauldron with New Zealand next month. Form counts for little when you’re overcome by the occasion and the first international match of rugby played in almost six months is about as big an occasion as it gets – especially when your opposition is the All Blacks.
Then again, while McReight and Wilson have zero caps to their names, they also have zero losses against New Zealand to be bogged down by.
Earlier in the year, Rennie suggested that he wouldn’t be afraid to bank on inexperienced youth when it came time to select his team. NZ and Australia have played each other 30 times since 2010 and just five of those games have fallen the Wallabies’ way.
Say what you like about the disparate depth and development pathways in the two countries, but there’s very clearly an invisible, impenetrable wall that exists when Australia are tasked with dismantling their neighbouring rivals. That wall shouldn’t exist for the new breed of players who’ve had limited playing exposure to the Kiwis.
“It’s so much about belief when you haven’t beaten the All Blacks for so long. Players lack confidence,” Rennie said of how he planned to overturn the Wallabies’ poor record of recent times.
“We’ve got a lot of young kids that have had success against New Zealand teams so they’re not scarred from the past.”
Much of that success has come over the past few years in the age-grade set-ups. Both the Australian schoolboys team and the Under 20 side bested their NZ counterparts in 2019 and Rennie has brought five of last year’s Junior Wallabies into the national team this year – including Wilson and McReight.
Of course, the last thing that the new head coach wants to do is scar his young proteges and consign them to the same run of misfortune that the senior players in the squad have experienced.
There still has to be a balance in the loose forward trio between youth, form, experience and belief – which is where Hooper comes in.
Wilson and Pete Samu will be in a head-to-head battle to make the starting XV, and although Wilson has possibly been Australia’s find of the season, Samu has also stood out for the Brumbies for his wide range of skills.
While nine-cap Samu may be a newbie on the international scene, the Melbourne-born loose forward has over half a century of Super Rugby appearances to his name and won three titles with the Crusaders and Brumbies.
He’s effectively the perfect middleman between your Michael Hoopers and your Fraser McReights and for that very reason could have the inside running to lock down the spot at the back of the scrum.
With Hooper and Samu likely occupying two spots in the side that will run out against the All Blacks on October 12th, the smart money would be on one of the Reds wunderkinder occupying the blindside flanker position – likely Liam Wright.
Wright started his Reds career as an out-and-out fetcher but has shifted to the other side of the scrum to accommodate for the young team’s influx of talent this season and he’s not missed a beat since the change.
He’s still impressive over the ball, nabbing the most turnovers of any player in the Super Rugby AU competition (with McReight close behind), but his defence is also superb and he galvanised a young Reds team to a spot in the finals.
In Michael Hooper, Pete Samu and Liam Wright, the Wallabies would have an excellently balanced loose forward trio that would foot it with the best in the world.
That’s not to suggest that other combinations of players wouldn’t function well for Dave Rennie’s new-look Wallabies, but it possesses the right amount of function, form and flair to cause problems for oppositions near and far.
Comments on RugbyPass
The game was a quarter final, not a semi final. Barrett will be here for 6 months, he is no one's replacement at 13. That mantle will most likely ultimately go to Jamie Osborne, though Garry Ringrose has at least 4 more years in him. The long term problem position (in the next 3 years) for Leinster is tighthead prop, though there are a couple of prospects at schools level.
21 Go to commentsSo much for all that hype surrounding the ‘revival’ of Aussie rugby. The Blues were without the likes of regular starters Perofeta, Sullivan, Christie etc… This was a capitulation of the highest order by Australia’s finest. Joe Schmidt definitely has his work cut out for him.
2 Go to commentsYes they can ignore Sotutu. Like Akira Ioane plays OK at Super level but gets lost in tests. Too many chances too many failures.
2 Go to commentsA wallaby front-row of Bell, Blake and Tupou…now that would be hefty
1 Go to comments“But with an exceptional pass accuracy rating “ Which apart from Roigard is not a feature of any of the other 9s in NZ. Kind of basic for a Black 9 dont.you. think? Yet we keep seeing FC and TJ being rated ahead of him? Weird if it’s seen as vital to get our backline beating in your face defences.
1 Go to commentsThanks BeeMc! Looks like many teams need extra time to settle from the quadrennial northern migration. I think generally the quality of the Rugby has held up. Fiji has been fantastic and fun to watch
13 Go to commentsLets compare apples with apples. Lyon sent weak team the week before, but nobody raised an eyebrow. Give the South African teams a few years to build their depth, then you will be moaning that the teams are too strong.
41 Go to commentsDid footballs agents also perform the scout role at some time? I’m surprised more high profile players haven’t taken up the occupation, great way to remain in the game and use all that experience without really requiring a lot of specific expertise?
1 Go to commentsSuper rugby is struggling but that has little to do with sabbaticals. 1. Too many teams from Aust and NZ - should be 3 and 4 respectively, add in 2 from Japan, 1 possibly 2 from Argentina. 2. Inconsistent and poor refereeing, admittedly not restricted to Super rugby. Only one team was reffed at the breakdown in Reds v H’Landers match. Scrum penalty awarded in Canes v Drua when No 8 had the ball in the open with little defence nearby - ideal opportunity to play advantage. Coming back to Reds match - same scrum situation but ref played advantage - Landers made 10 yards and were penalised at the breakdown when the ref should have returned to scrum penalty. 3. Marketing is weak and losing ground to AFL and NRL. Playing 2 days compared with 4. 4. Scheduling is unattractive to family attendance. Have any franchises heard of Sundays 2pm?
12 Go to commentsAbsolutely..all they need is a chance in yhe playoffs and I bet all the other teams will be nervous…THEY KNOW HOW TO WIN IM THE PLAYOFFS..
2 Go to commentsI really hope he comes back and helps out with some coaching.
1 Go to commentsI think we are all just hoping that the Olympic 7s doesn’t suffer the same sad fate as the last RWC with the officials ruining the spectacle.
1 Go to commentsPersonally, I’ve lost the will to even be bothered about the RFU, the structure, the participants. It’s all a sham. I now simply enjoy getting a group of friends together to go and watch a few games a year in different locations (including Europe, the championship, etc). I feel extremely sorry for the real fans of these clubs who are constantly ignored by the RFU and other administrators. I feel especially sorry for the fans of clubs in the Championship who have had considerable central funding stripped away and are then expected to just take whatever the RFU put to them. Its all a sham, especially if the failed clubs are allowed to return.
10 Go to commentsI’m guessing Carl Hayman would have preferred to have stayed in NZ with benefit of hindsight. Up north there is the expectation to play twice as many games with far less ‘player management’ protocols that Paul is now criticising. Less playing through concussions means longer, healthier, careers. Carter used as the eg here by Paul, his sabbatical allowed him to play until age 37. OK its not an exact science but there is far more expectations on players who sign for Top 14 or Engl Prem clubs to get value for the huge salaries. NZR get alot wrong but keeping their best players in NZ rugby is not one of them. SA clubs are virtually devoid of their top players now, no thanks. They cant threaten the big teams in the Champions Cup, the squads have little depth. Cant see Canes/Chiefs struggling. Super has been great this year, fantastic high skill matches. Drua a fantastic addition and Jaguares will add another quality team eventually. Aus teams performing strongly and no doubt will benefit with the incentive of a Lions tour and a home RWC. Let Jordie enjoy his time with Leinster, it will allow the opportunity for another player to emerge at Canes in his absence.
12 Go to commentsLove that man, his way to despise angry little men is so funny ! 😂
5 Go to comments“South African franchises would be powerhouses if we had all our overseas based players back in situ. We would have the same unbeatable aura the Toulouses, Leinsters or Saracens of this world have had over the last decade or so.” Proof that Jake white does not understand the economics of the game in SA. Players earning abroad are not going to simply come back and represent the bulls. But they might if they have a springbok contract.
25 Go to commentsA lot of fans just joined in for the fun of it! We all admire O'Gara and what he has done for La Rochelle
5 Go to commentsThe RFU will find a way to mess this up as usual. My bet is there will be no promotion into the the Premiership, only relegation into National League One. Hopefully they won’t parachute failed clubs into the league at the expense of clubs who have battled for promotion.
10 Go to commentsWell that’s the contracts for RG and Jordie bought and paid for. Now, what are the chances we can persuade Antoine to hop over with all the extra dosh we’ll have from living at the Aviva & Croke next season…??? 🤑🤑🤑
37 Go to commentsWow, that’s incredible. Great for rugby.
37 Go to comments