Hooper out to match Pocock's World Cup effort

Young Wallabies flanker Michael Hooper ready for massive Springbok pack

by:Iain Payten
From:The Daily Telegraph
September 06, 2012 12:00am

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Hooper out to match Pocock's World Cup effort (5/9)

Wallabies number seven Michael Hooper will be hoping to replicate the world cup performance of injured forward David Pocock when Australia ...

Fox Sports5 September 2012

Young Wallabies flankers Michael Hooper, left, and Liam Gill will be hoping to pilfer plenty of Bokke ball on Saturday. Picture: Mark EvansSource: The Daily Telegraph

AT the start of the year, Michael Hooper feared the Springbok style could consign him to a year of Canberra club rugby.

Having risen to Test ranks instead, however, the young Wallaby flanker now believes a season playing like a South African at the Brumbies can help him sneak under the guard of a mammoth Bok backrow in Perth.

In his first Test against the Springboks, any hope of Hooper replicating the dominance of David Pocock in last year's World Cup quarter-final will come down to avoiding the attention of the giant South African loose forwards named yesterday.

Ignoring a fetcher, Boks coach Heyneke Meyer picked 116kg Duane Vermuelen at no.8, along with 125kg flanker Willem Alberts and relative "lightweight" Marcell Coetzee, at only 106kg.

DUANE VERMEULEN

South African big man Duane Vermeulen, left, in action for the Stormers. Source: AP

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Unhappy with a sluggish cleanout against Argentina, an unabashed Meyer said it is a return to old-school Springbok power.

"We have quite a big back-row," Meyer said. "We don't have out and out pace, but we make up that for it with work rate. What we lose in speed, we gain in muscle."

The man in the firing line is Hooper, who will be seeking to replicate Pocock's immense performance in Wellington last year.

While respectful of the strength of the Boks, Hooper points out massive units not only hit bigger, they leave bigger windows to pilfer.

"They’re bigger guys so they take longer to get to the breakdown. You have got longer to get on the ball – but when they do come it is probably going to hurt,” Hooper said.

“They will be strong over the ball when they get there, but there is an opportunity and with Gilly (Liam Gill) on the bench, we do have an opportunity to get some turnovers.”

Hooper is hoping some inside knowledge on how to handle Bok-ball will help him in Perth on Saturday night. He played it all season with the Brumbies.

“I guess my biggest experience of South African rugby has been this year at the Brumbies under Jake White,” Hooper said yesterday.

MICHAEL HOOPER

Michael Hooper pilfers the ball for the Brumbies. Picture: Kym Smith Source: The Daily Telegraph

“He coaches similar gameplans, kind of from the old South African way of playing. It is a good style of play. It is safe and its tough and everyone knows what they’re doing. It is going to be good to play against them (the Boks) having played that way all year.”

It's a long way from where Hooper started out on the issue early this year, admitting he was worried about his future when White recruited - and then selected - big backrowers over opensides.

“It was a worry,” Hooper said. “I wasn’t in the team for the first two (Super Rugby) games, but then I got my shot.

"It was a really enjoyable season under Jake, it is a different style.

"We ended up having a really good partnership and he guided me well this year. But yeah, if you have said at the start of the season I’d be playing this game, I’d have said you’re lying.”

Hooper not only held his spot, he enjoyed a breakthrough year - rocketing to become Pocock's Test understudy. In his run-on Test debut in Auckland, Hooper was among the Wallabies' best with over 25 tackles.

Meyer has stated that he wants to keep a fetcher(specialist opensider) on the bench. Then depending on how the ref blows the game, bring the fetcher on. Perhaps it would be more prudent to start with the fetcher and try dominate the rucks from the outset, and then as the game opens up more bring on stronger runner to replace the tiring fetcher in the 2nd half.

We need an understudy to Brussouw. He is the best we have, and maybe the best when on form. Although must admit that was sometime ago. In the last years Worldcup he was not his usual performance.

Having a backrow of-

6. Brussouw. Speed and good fetcher.

7. Alberts- the Strongest carrier in the game.

8. Schalk Burger(Can fetch, carry and good in the lineouts, Also links the forwards with the backs). Has speed

_ on the bench is Vermuelen. Good all rounder.

Schalk is still good on the ground, not as good as he used to be, or at least his role has changed abit since he recoverde from a fractured neck.

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It is suprising in this day and age, that Northern and Southern Hemishpere referees blow the game differently. Also that different individual referress blow the game differently regardless of where they are from, and even that the decisions even vary from one referee at different points in the game and other games. I am not suggesting conspiracy or match fixing, merely that it is pretty amateur. Good we got rid of Paddy obrien. I think the new head referee for IRB, should be based on the best performing referre. Ideally from South Africa as our refs are the best at present.Northern Hemishpere refs are crap and so pedantic. They are the rules, instead of applying them on the field