With only five weeks before the first international test of the year and with incumbent Ben Mowen announcing he’s off to France, it’s surely time for us to start considering who the next Wallabies Captain will be.
First up – the criteria for captain.
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- Leadership material – someone who leads from the front, sets an example, has the temperament and enough smarts
- A certain pick as starter – it’s always trickiest when the captain shouldn’t really be holding his own spot on form
- Close to the action – so vital is it to be in the refs ear that it’s rare to see a captain outside of the first nine these days
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With these criteria as a guide, here are the top 6 candidates for Wallabies Captain 2014.
6. Quade Cooper
Quite the reformed character, by all accounts Quade is the paragon of leadership material – clean living, selfless, doing extras after training. In a struggling Reds team he is clearly busting a gut to make things happen, even if they’re not coming off.
He is a little far from the action though and his grip on the Wallabies 10 shirt is not guaranteed, with Matt Toomua and Christian Leali’ifano viable candidates as well. He seems a great choice at vice captain, putting his rugby brain into running the backline.
5. Scott Higginbotham
The Queenslander in you says that as one of the better footballers going around in Aussie backrows, Higgers the reformed leader of the Rebels is in with a shot.
However, despite some good showing by the Rebels in 2014, we haven’t seen the same Higgers that impressed us in 2013. Scott is back playing his wider game and at international level, this won’t be what the Wallabies will need, certainly not against all opponents. In other words – he’s not a definite pick.
On top of that he’ll be new into the wallabies squad after a while out – taking the captaincy straight off the bat would seem unlikely.
4. James Horwill
While there’s some great young talent starting to bubble through in the Wallabies locks stocks, wisdom through experience is thin on the ground. Fitness permitting, this could likely see Horwill back in a gold jumper this year. As Reds Captain and previous Wallabies Captain, this surely puts Big Kev back in contention.
Horwill’s form however, doesn’t inspire a high level of confidence he’s out of the head-space that saw him lose the captaincy last year. Will Link want to go backwards to go forward?
3. Ben Mowen
‘But isn’t he gone?’ you ask.
Not yet. Mowen won’t need to be in France until August at the earliest, allowing him to play the French tests at least. Remember – other players have represented the Wallabies after announcing a move abroad – see Sitaleki Timani just last year.
This arrangement would give the Wallabies management the chance to get a better feel for the squad and transition the leadership. It would also send a strong message that rumours of dissent won’t decide who gets the top job.
An outside shot but stranger things have happened, and not just in Dublin.
2. Stephen Moore
If you’re looking for a wise head to guide the side onto the big stage, Squeak is the lead contender. With 91 caps under his belt since 2005, Moore is a stalwart of the team and surely a shoo-in as starting hooker for at least the next two years.
One of the few clean-skins from Dublin gate, Squeak seems to have balanced doing the right thing without putting team mate noses out of joint. This will not have gone unnoticed by team management
1. Michael Hooper
Surely the first name on the Wallabies team sheet. Even if his main rival in David Pocock wasn’t injured, he’d still have a tough job displacing the incumbent Wallabies seven and 2013 John Eales medalist, who Justin Marshall dubbed the best openside in the world playing today. Hooper must surely have one of the strongest motors going in Super Rugby and he never lets up regardless of how frustrating the Waratahs play becomes.
Always at the front, he leads by example and as Ritchie McCaw has shown, having a player who’s pushing the fringes able to get in the Ref’s ear has strong advantages. Some will say he’s young, but this could give the role longevity and it’s not like he hasn’t done it before – Hooper captained the U20 side in the 2011 Junior World Cup where he won player of the tournament.
Who’s your next Wallabies Captain?
