Moore feels for England skipper
AUSTRALIA captain Stephen Moore has sympathy with Chris Robshaw looking like a ‘mug’ on Saturday — after he made the same call two months ago and became a hero.
England skipper Robshaw is under huge scrutiny after his decision not to kick for goal and potentially salvage a late draw against Wales when England were awarded a penalty.
Instead he went for the corner, Wales easily defended the resulting line-out to seal victory and now England’s World Cup dream will probably be over if they lose to the Wallabies at Twickenham on Saturday.
Moore knows exactly what Robshaw went through after being in the same position when Australia played South Africa in the opening game of the Rugby Championship in Brisbane last July. Trailing 20-17 with moments left, Moore made the same decision as Robshaw by going for the corner rather than trying to take three points to tie the scores.
But whereas Robshaw’s bold call flopped, Moore’s succeeded as Tevita Kuridrani twisted over to score the decisive try.
And the hooker says every captain in the tournament will feel for Robshaw after he put England’s World Cup progress in jeopardy.
‘When I saw that I thought about us having that instance against the Springboks,’ said Moore. ‘We went for the try and it came off. If it doesn’t come off you look like a mug.
‘So, as a captain you do what you think is best at the time. He obviously did that.
‘There is no cut-and- dried formula for those situations. I guess whether it is right or wrong is up for people to debate. You are always doing what you think is right.
‘As a captain you live and die by your decisions. As a leader you put a lot of preparation into those moments and do what is best for your team. Whatever happens, happens.
‘It is how the cards fall. That is one of the great things about rugby, that unpredictability. I am sure every captain in the World Cup will get into that at some point.
‘As a captain, you do feel that kind of pressure. That is the role you are in and the pressure that goes with it.
‘That is the decision that every captain is faced with at the time. You do what you think is best for the team.’
Moore (below) added that Australia will not be thrown off course by allegations that they have been spied on during training. ‘I don’t think there’s much in that,’ he said. ‘It’s not my job to worry about that. The spying stuff isn’t really an issue for me, so I’d like not to comment any further.’