Just expanding on the concept of captaincy, what is everyone thinking?
If we look at the incumbent and provincial captains you have:
- Hooper (Incumbent)
- Simmons (Waratahs)
- Wright (Reds)
- Ala'alatoa (Brumbies)
- DHP (Rebels)
- Prior (Force)
They're all in contention for the wallabies, though Prior is probably only a shot at the bench at this stage. Hooper is the safe option but Rennie may well be looking for a change, Ala'alatoa will likely only be playing half a game, DHP is in a 3-way selection battle and captains from fullback are rare, Wright is the youngest and probably best option (of these) for long term captaincy but is far from guaranteed. Simmons star is rising pretty quickly off the back of his set piece work and the faltering lineouts at all the other sides so he's much more in the frame than anyone would have thought when he took the Tahs captaincy.
As I see it comes down to staying safe with Hooper vs Moving to the new generation with Wright. The middle ground might be Simmons as captain with the intention to build Wright (or another young player) into the role. I know a lot of people won't like that but I don't think it's a terrible idea.
Are there any alternatives from outside that group? To'omua maybe?