Brumbies coach Jake White says he’ll use his team’s opening trial matches to unearth his captain, dismissing suggestions the job has all but been entrusted to backrow recruit Ben Mowen.
While he’s been in his job for over six months, former Springboks mentor insisted on Tuesday he’s yet to settle on his team leader.
“I’ve been lucky enough that I’ve been working with this group and the majority have been with me since July but I still need to see how the dynamic of the whole squad comes along,” White told AAP.
“The captain has to complement me as a coach and I’ve got to make sure that the captain I have will get the message through to the team.
“The only way I can do that is once I get to know the dynamics of the group.”
Recruited to replace fromer Wallabies skipper Rocky Elsom in the backrow, former Waratahs No.8 Mowen is understood to be the frontrunner for the captaincy following the departure of Matt Giteau last season, while Wallabies frontrowers Stephen Moore and Ben Alexander are also in contention.
The Brumbies will go without a skipper for their opening two trials against the Western Force in Darwin on Saturday and the Queensland Reds in Cairns on February 11 in favour of a hefty leadership group.
White said age and experience weren’t necessarily key factors.
“It’s just who is going to bring the best out of the whole group,” he said.
Mowen, 27, was distancing himself from the leadership conjecture on Tuesday.
“It hasn’t been a focus at all this stage and there’s not really a big need for a skipper as such now because we’ve got enough leadership across the group,” he said.
White agreed the trials, starting in Darwin this weekend, will be a chance to really test his new-look squad, who kick off the season on February 24 at home against the Western Force.
“It’s really untried combinations at the moment, so it’ll be good to see the cohesion between players,” he said.
“It’s going to be tricky too because you can’t give the opportunity to everyone to play with everyone, so you’ve got to try as best you can to get those combinations in place as quickly as possible.”
Less than a month before the start of the season, the Brumbies notched a win on Tuesday by announcing the University of Canberra (UC) as a new principal sponsor.
It’s welcome news following the Brumbies, who posted a $200,000 loss last year, failed negotiations with Chinese technology firm Huawei, who pulled out at the last minute after reportedly offering $4 million-plus for four years.
“All the commercial numbers are looking good,” Brumbies chief executive Andrew Fagan said.
