STAND AND DELIVER
Hooper captaincy nears end
MICHAEL Hooper knows his days of captaining the Wallabies are drawing to a close.
He conceded as much just as soon as he’d finished explaining why he won’t stand down as skipper after Saturday’s final Tri-Nations game against Argentina.
“Haven’t thought about it,” he said. “Why would I?”
His terrible record as captain is one answer that springs to mind.
With just 20 wins from 51 Tests in charge, his overall strike rate doesn’t cut it in the results-driven world of international captaincy.
If he were the skipper of almost any other Australian sports team, it’s hard to imagine he would have survived so long.
The main reason he has is because he’s one of the few consistent world-class players in the Wallabies team who gives his all every time he plays — and there’s no obvious successor, even if Hooper himself said his grip on the job is not forever.
“I know it’s only a finite time you’re able to do that in anyone’s career,” he said.
“Great privilege and it’s probably the longer I’m in the game the more I realise the great position that we are in.’’
If Saturday’s match at Bankwest Stadium turns out to be Hooper’s last as captain, no one may know that until the middle of 2021, robbing him of the send-off he deserves.
His winning percentage may be poor but that’s got more to do with the cattle at his disposal than his own leadership.
Coach Dave Rennie hasn’t made a decision yet on who will lead the team next year and through to the 2023 World Cup in France and there’s no rush because the Wallabies aren’t playing again until the back half of July.
Hooper insists he wants to keep the job despite his awful record.
“It’s a massive privilege to captain your country,’’ he said. “I’ve been very lucky to do it on many occasions and I love that.”
Hooper’s captaincy has been facing increased scrutiny in recent years as the Wallabies plummeted down the world rankings after their worst World Cup defeat last year and their heaviest-ever loss to New Zealand just last month.
He came under more fire two weeks ago when the Wallabies blew a 15-6 lead to draw 15-15 with the Pumas though he dismissed suggestions some of his calls contributed to the loss.
The net result from that draw means the Wallabies need to beat the Pumas by more than 100 points to snatch the Tri-Nations title from the All Blacks, which isn’t going to happen.