Michael Hooper might want to think twice when offered Test rugby’s poisoned chalice, the Wallabies captaincy, on Monday.
Hooper became the youngest Australian skipper in 67 years on Saturday night when his team’s infamous captaincy curse struck down Stephen Moore within one minute at Suncorp Stadium.
Moore is now preparing for a knee reconstruction and the rest of 2014 in rehab after rupturing his anterior cruciate and medial ligaments in his left knee.
It’s a devastating and ironic blow to the 92-Test hooker who performed like a Trojan through 15 Tests last year, hardly taking a backward step in a team racked by inconsistency and a questionable culture.
Moore’s injury continues a three-year jinx which has seen Rocky Elsom, James Horwill (three times), David Pocock, Will Genia (twice) and Ben Mowen all lose the captaincy for a variety of reasons.
Hooper, 22, is now poised to be handed the role for the rest of the three-Test series against France after thriving with the responsibilities in the 50-23 thumping of Les Bleus.
Coach Ewen McKenzie declined to confirm the appointment on Sunday but lavished praise on how the NSW flanker made a seamless transition.
“He has a style about (captaincy) that I respect,” said McKenzie ahead of Saturday’s second Test against France in Melbourne.
“It didn’t affect his playing, he played exceptionally well and that’s part of it too.
“I can’t think of many players who play as consistently well as he does. I don’t think I’ve seen him have an off day. He fronts up and is in every game.
“He’s a lead-by-example sort of guy and highly respected in the playing group – they’re all good attributes.”
Neither does McKenzie have a tough decision at hooker, with Tatafu Polota-Nau producing an outstanding 75-minute display in the seven-try blitz.
But the Wallabies can’t hide the fact they’ve suffered a massive blow with Moore, only appointed six days ago, ruled out of action until next season kicks off.
“He’d made a big impression in a short space of time,” McKenzie said. “He’s obviously shattered.
“It had been a big week and I thought he’d done a brilliant job prior to this week.
“He and I had worked well together and I was really pleased with the progress we had been making off the field and it leaves a bit of a void because we had a lot of stuff in the pipeline.”
It wasn’t the only injury disappointment for the Wallabies, and Brumbies, as lock Sam Carter – man of the match on debut – suffered a high ankle strain which will see him miss the next two Tests.
“He did it in the seventh minute, that really gives you an idea how tough the bloke is,” McKenzie said.
“He showed great resilience and (the injury) didn’t show up in his performance at all.
“It was terrific courage.”
Carter’s absence opens the door for Horwill to return to the starting 15 in his 50th Test, especially with McKenzie hinting he wanted to beef up his pack for a fiery French response.
“We played a working pack this week and that paid off for us,” he said. “We’ll have a look and see if we might fly with a diff scenario.”
