Michael Hooper concerned about wounded Springboks, NOT making history

A modest Michael Hooper on Friday downplayed becoming the most capped Wallabies skipper in history, instead focusing on how to take down world champions South Africa for the second time in six days.

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The tireless 29-year-old will lead the side out for a 60th time in his 113th Test at Brisbane on Saturday, surpassing George Gregan.

Australia coach Dave Rennie lavished praise on the flanker and said he expected him to surge past Gregan’s record 139 Tests for the Wallabies in the lead-up to the 2023 World Cup.

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“He’s a fantastic example to the rest of the group,” said Rennie.

“If you talk to players around the world, and rugby people all round the world, he’s hugely respected.”

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Despite this, Michael Hooper’s credentials as leader have regularly been questioned, given his underwhelming record.

According to Rugby Australia, he has overseen just 23 wins, six draws and 30 defeats from 59 Tests in charge so far.

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Michael Hooper said it was an honour to be spoken about alongside Gregan, and insisted captaincy was “100 percent a group effort”.

“I’ve been more than lucky being around some of the teams, some of the players I’ve been part of,” he said.

“It’s a weird one breaking someone else’s record, it’s not something you set out to do.

“George was one of my favourite players, someone I looked up to in the way he competed and really went for it every time he played and strove to be better every week.”

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One of Hooper’s wins as skipper came in the Rugby Championship last week on the Gold Coast, when the recalled flyhalf Quade Cooper slotted his eighth successful kick, from eight attempts, to seal a 28-26 thriller over the Springboks.

Michael Hooper is expecting a fierce response from South Africa, who have been working on their discipline to prevent Cooper enjoying so many penalty-kicking opportunities.

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“They’ve got some real attacking threats in their backline, so when they do get to the right parts of the field, we know they can open teams up,” he said. 

“They move the ball around quite well and we’ve got to not allow them to do that.”

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Hooper is also wary of the set-piece forward threat that brought South Africa three tries last Sunday, saying he expected it to “go up another gear”.

“We are expecting a lot of heat in that area, the scrum, lineout, maul and then around the breakdown. We know what this team is capable of and we have been preparing accordingly.”

Australia have made three changes with experienced scrumhalf Nic White starting for the first time this season. 

Tighthead prop Taniela Tupou comes in for Allan Alaalatoa and veteran James Slipper replaces Angus Bell at loosehead prop.

South Africa have largely opted for continuity, with Marvin Orie in as lock for Lood de Jager, who is unavailable after concussion, and Trevor Nyakane taking over from Steven Kitshoff as loosehead prop their only changes.

Kick-off on Saturday, 18 September is at 09:05 SA time.

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TEAMS:

Australia

15 Tom Banks, 14 Andrew Kellaway, 13 Len Ikitau, 12 Samu Kerevi, 11 Marika Koroibete, 10 Quade Cooper, 9 Nic White, 8 Rob Valetini, 7 Michael Hooper (captain), 6 Lachlan Swinton, 5 Matt Philip, 4 Izack Rodda, 3 Taniela Tupou, 2 Folau Fainga’a, 1 James Slipper

Substitutes: 16 Feleti Kaitu’u, 17 Angus Bell, 18 Tom Robertson, 19 Darcy Swain, 20 Pete Samu, 21 Tate McDermott, 22 Reece Hodge, 23 Jordan Petaia

South Africa

15 Willie le Roux, 14 Sbu Nkosi, 13 Lukhanyo Am, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Handre Pollard, 9 Faf de Klerk, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Franco Mostert, 6 Siya Kolisi (captain), 5 Marvin Orie, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Trevor Nyakane

Substitutes: 16 Malcolm Marx, 17 Steven Kitshoff, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Marco van Staden, 20 Kwagga Smith, 21 Jasper Wiese, 22 Herschel Jantjies, 23 Damian Willemse