Brumbies coach Jake White has hailed prize recruit David Pocock as the franchise’s greatest ever signing and is excited about what they can add to the champion flanker’s already formidable game.
Pocock, the incumbent Australia captain, will play for the Brumbies for the next three Super Rugby seasons after deciding to leave Western Force where he was also the skipper.
“I really think that the Brumbies brand .. the way we play is probably going to help him in parts of his game that he probably hasn’t been lucky enough to be able to do in teams he has played (for) previously,” White told reporters in Canberra on Monday.
“I’m excited in that I know what he can bring to the Brumbies and what he can bring to our team, but I’m just as excited about what we can add to his game from an individual point of view.”
White said Pocock had not once broached then subject of captaincy during their discussions.
Current Brumbies leader and back rower Ben Mowen made it clear he would have no qualms about stepping aside for Pocock.
“If Jake taps me on the shoulder at the start of next year and says Poey is the man to lead us forward, I’m seriously fine with that,” Mowen told reporters.
“I want to be in an environment where we are constantly challenging each other and I would expect that David arrives with ambitions to be the captain one day, whether that’s next year or the year after.”
White acknowledged greater external expectations of the Brumbies would accompany Pocock’s arrival, but said that would have been the case even if the flanker hadn’t signed, given the team’s huge improvement this year.
“I’d rather be in a situation when people expect us to do well; not make up the numbers,” White said.
He revealed he had two spots left in his 30-man roster and was probably looking for another lock and centre.