Hooper really is a very good rugby player both at the Tahs and Wallaby levels.
Unfortunately for him he'll never be remembered as a great 7. More likely he will always be in Pocock's shadow (which really is a shame). That is that Pocock was the better 7.
However, he is not a good captain. He tries to lead by example (but plenty are critical of his 7 play) and the qualities of captaincy far outweigh that. Think there are quite a few examples of poor captaincy.
Essentially, what fatprop said.
I also hate the "Hooper isn't a 7" or "Hooper isn't a great 7" comments.
His ruck work is, whilst not quite as good as Pococks, absolutely excellent and Forcefan's stats prove this every Wallaby season.
He's leading the Super Rugby for turnovers this year, he's a great forwards / backs link, he has fantastic skills, he is a great ball runner and he is a capable lineout jumper.
It's not that he's not a "true 7" or "doesn't do a 7s work" - he simply does so, so much more than that and people remember his highlights (line breaks) and not the itty gritty stuff he does so consistently.
I'd also say that I haven't been the biggest fan of his captaincy in the past, but how much do we miss?
I commented in the Tahs vs Rebels thread that Hooper wasn't talking to the team but this was obviously some camera manipulation as the footage I have just linked shows that he clearly was and doing a great job of it.
Further than that, as fat prop said, he's
only 25. Can we really judge his current leadership skills for the way he captained a team when he was 23 or 22?
I'm 22 now and I'm certainly not the same as I was, in terms of skill set or personality, when I was 19 or 20. We're all inherently fluid / dynamic people, so I don't know why we should view Hooper, or his leadership potential, as so static or black-and-white.
He's developing into a great leader and in a year or two he may be an outstanding Wallabies captain.
Time will tell.
