Wallabies vs South Africa - Perth, September 6th

[Rex Messup]

Different players bring different skill sets

Hooper is just dynamic with ball in hand. He has explosive speed and is very strong in cntact often breaking tackles and getting us on the front foot. He is a great go forward man for his small stature. He just has explosive acceleration. Speed is power.
Hooper is a great cover defender also and a great defender in general. The bloke has a massive motor

The conventional 7 isn't always the fetcher in the modern game. He is often the tackler and the next man in ie the six or number 8 is often the pilferer.

Hodgo is one of the best in Australia currently at turnovers.

We can't criticise Hooper though. He often creates breaks and offloads and has a great knack of getting across the chalk. His best footy is in front of him as well which is exciting. Pocock better learn to play number 8.

[AndyS]

All true, but if he is going to be all that and then get blown off every breakdown play him in the backline. Half the problem with the Wallabies at the moment is that we are picking our backs because they are good defenders and picking our forwards because they are good runners.

[Buddha Handy]

Speight is still injured Buddha - he won't be back for next weekend.

Ahh well hopefully they keep Hodgo there or with Palu out they might hopefully start him or McCalman with the other on the bench

[Ralto]

Imagine if we'd lost!

simple, blame the ref

[andrewg]

Different players bring different skill sets

Hooper is just dynamic with ball in hand. He has explosive speed and is very strong in contact often breaking tackles and getting us on the front foot. He is a great go forward man for his small stature. He just has explosive acceleration. Speed is power.

Totally agree. I really enjoy watching him play.

Hooper is a great cover defender also and a great defender in general. The bloke has a massive motor. The conventional 7 isn't always the fetcher in the modern game. He is often the tackler and the next man in i.e. the six or number 8 is often the pilferer.

I agree that Hooper is a good (not great) cover defender and that he has a massive motor.

I do not agree that he is a "great defender in general" particularly at Test level.

Hooper has a tackling efficiency of about 92% in Super XV yet in the 6 Tests this year this is only 83% (but <70% in France 2 [5 missed] and AB 2 [4 missed]).

IMO Hooper is not getting involved in rucks at a critical stage. In Saturday's game against the Bokkes his involvement was as follows:

1st to ruck - 20%; 2nd to ruck - 28%; 3rd to ruck - 32%; 4th or more to ruck - 20%.
So for 52% of the time Hooper turns up to put his hand on a team-mates bum or shoulder to get the statistic and do little else.
(This is my own assessment from closely watching the replay).
IMO, if Hooper isn't there early then he would better serve the teams needs by being in the best position for the next phase.

In the stats on ESPN he has 3 turn-overs in the last 6 Tests. SANZAR stats give him a couple more but he has averaged less than a turnover per Test.

Hooper is busy in the same way that Beau Robinson is busy like the Energiser Bunny. Very busy, all over the park, charging down kicks etc but too often avoids getting in close and personal. But so much of his energy is misdirected and ineffective. His involvement in the ruck is often mistimed and with poor technique.

Hodgo is one of the best in Australia currently at turnovers.

In Super XV Hodgo was not just "one of the best" he was THE BEST not only in Australia but for all of the Super XV teams.

The 7's role is to get to the ruck QUICKLY...the bigger guys just can't get there quickly enough. It has to be the Loose Forwards (or Backs as is currently the case) ) with the other forwards providing assistance at the cleanout.

We can't criticise Hooper though. He often creates breaks and offloads and has a great knack of getting across the chalk.

Of course we can criticise Hooper.

Hodgo got across the chalk 6 times in Super XV in 2014. Hooper crossed the chalk TWICE.

Hodgo gave off 75 passes in Super XV rugby and Hooper gave off 46.

One BIG problem with the Wallaby scrum is that both Fardy and Hooper are most often attached but not with shoulder in the scrum.
This was no more apparent than in the scrum where the Wallabies were hammered by the Bokkes in two scrums early in the 2nd half in Perth (43:10 & 46:40). It was a case of an 8-man, co-ordinated scrum working against a 6-man scrum.

I think that we, unlike John Eales on FoxSports, CAN criticise Hooper for his shortcomings as Captain.

Again there was no better example than his actions after the 2nd scrum penalty on Saturday. Hooper very quickly turned his back on the scrum and walked towards the posts. I think he should have called his scrum together to rally, find out the problem and if there was anything that he should be discussing with the ref. He eventually had some discussions with a couple of the scrum.

I don't believe that the Wallabies captain should be learning on the job - to the detriment of the team, supporters and final result.

His best footy is in front of him as well which is exciting.

Agree. I hope we get to see him play for many years to come

Pocock better learn to play number 8.

Sadly Pocock has played only 5 games of rugby in 2 years. IF he can return to his prior form then, IMO, Pocock will still walk into the No 7 spot and the Wallabies will be challenged to develop Hooper as the Utility Back - the game for which he appears well suited.

[MI5_Dog]

I was shocked to see Hooper turn his back on the Ref and walk off while the ref was explaining his decision to him!
W
T
F
?!