Australia
Hooper should be 'biggest certainty since Phar Lap'
ESPN Staff
June 25, 2015
Michael Hooper an 'astonishing' captain

Michael Hooper should be the biggest certainty since Phar Lap not just for the Wallabies No.7 jersey, but the captaincy, too.

That's the opinion of Grand Slam-winning Wallabies coach Alan Jones ahead of a weekend of Super Rugby semi-finals where all three captaincy options will be on show. Hooper's Waratahs - captained by Dave Dennis - face the Highlanders in Sydney on Saturday while just a couple of hours earlier, Stephen Moore and David Pocock will suit up for the Brumbies against the Hurricanes in Wellington.

Wallabies coach Michael Cheika still has a couple of weeks to decide on a Test captain; but Jones believes Hooper demonstrated he was the right man for the job during the ugly Kurtley Beale-Di Patston saga from last year.

Michael Hooper is the incumbent Wallabies captain © Getty Images
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"I rank Hooper, Michael Hooper, as one of the finest captains rugby has ever had," Jones told ESPN's Greg Growden in a wide-ranging interview ahead of the Test season.

"First, he leads by example. Second, you've got to be loyal to your players. You're not loyal to a fault; so in the Argentinian fiasco with that woman (Di Patston) in the team, there was a suggestion that certain players would be sent home. Hooper intervened; he said: 'won't happen, not unless you want all of them to go home'."

Hooper became Test captain after Moore was cut down by a season-ending knee injury just a couple of minutes into the first Test against France in Brisbane last year - the hooker's maiden outing as Wallabies skipper. Just 22 at the time, Hooper assumed the leadership for the rest of the season and was later forced to endure some difficult situations as the Wallabies were dragged through one of the worst scandals in the game's history.

The scandal - which later saw Kurtley Beale fined $(A) 45,000 and former coach Ewen McKenzie resign - could have tripped up even the most experienced of captains. But Jones said Hooper handled himself magnificently, despite being thrown to the wolves by the Australian Rugby Union.

Stephen Moore was injured just five minutes into his first match as captain © Getty Images
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"Now these are the tough things about being a captain; this is a young bloke, experienced beyond his years and his leadership is astonishing," Jones said. "And we've had some great results under this kid. And the disgraceful behaviour of the Australian Rugby Union on the Beale affair; leaking to one or two of their favourite people in the media: 'well, after this is over we'll be looking at the captaincy'. This is nonsense."

Cheika said recently it was likely to be a choice between Hooper and Moore, suggesting the decision would be 'pretty logical'. Jones agreed there was merit in giving the nod to Moore or Pocock but wouldn't be shifted from his first-choice skipper, likening Hooper to All Blacks great Richie McCaw.

"I thought David Pocock was a good appointment," Jones said. "I think Stephen Moore would have been a very good captain - a very scholarly, thoughtful fellow… But Hooper, to me, should be the biggest certainty since Phar Lap...He's a special boy this Hooper. He's a special human being…He's our McCaw. He can't have enough of it, and he wants to be in the thick of it."

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