Rugby news 2023: Why Eddie Jones can’t afford to stuff up Wallabies World Cup captaincy call

If Eddie Jones is to deliver on his promise to transform the Wallabies into World Cup contenders, there is one decision he can’t afford to stuff up, writes Julian Linden.

If Eddie Jones is to make the Wallabies a World Cup contender he can’t afford to stuff up the captaincy call, writes Julian Linden. Picture: Getty Images.

If Eddie Jones is to deliver on his promise to transform the Wallabies from easybeats to World Cup contenders, the one decision he can’t afford to stuff up is who will captain the team.

Despite all the positivity and hype that Jones has brought to Rugby Australia since replacing the ineffective Dave Rennie, the sobering reminder from the early rounds of Super Rugby is that the Wallabies remain longshots to win the tournament because they just don’t have enough world class stars in key positions.

That doesn’t mean they are doomed to fail again on the biggest stage because there is a way teams can overcome the problem of not having all the right cattle but Jones will have to pull a rabbit out of his hat and find a new captain that can lift a struggling team to greatness.

If Eddie Jones is to make the Wallabies a World Cup contender he can’t afford to stuff up the captaincy call, writes Julian Linden. Picture: Getty Images.

As a former teacher who is always searching for new ideas, Jones is already well versed in the critical importance of having the right skipper, which has been documented in The Captain’s Class, written by American sports journalist Sam Walker.

The Captain‘s Class takes a forensic deep dive into some of the best sporting teams in history to try and figure out if there’s a common thread behind their success.

Walker claims to have discovered the secret ingredient but it was not the one most people expected – so it might give hope to long-suffering Wallabies fans.

While the popular assumption is that the greatest teams succeed because they have the greatest players, Walker came to a very different conclusion: ” the most crucial ingredient in a team that achieves and sustains historic greatness is the character of the player who leads it.”

If ever a major sport tournament backs up his theory, it’s the Rugby World Cup, because it’s such a long and gruelling event that demands and rewards strong leadership, as the history books prove.

Without exception, every team that has won the Webb Ellis Cup has been led by an inspiring figure – from New Zealand’s David Kirk in 1987 to South Africa’s Siya Kolisi in 2019.

Between them are some of the most admired captains in the game’s history – Francois Pienaar (South Africa, 1995), Martin Johnson (England, 2003), John Smit (South Africa, 2007) and Richie McCaw (New Zealand, 2011, 2015).

The two Australians who have captained the Wallabies to World Cup glory – Nick Farr-Jones (1991) and John Eales (1999) – are also revered giants of the game so if Jones is to reclaim the sport’s ultimate prize, that’s the standard required.

But that’s also where things start to get tricky for Jones because there just isn’t an obvious candidate to take over the captaincy.

Michael Hooper should focus on his own game and not worry about the Wallabies captaincy, writes Julian Linden. Picture: Getty Images.

Reverting back to Michel Hooper shouldn’t be an option. As committed a player as he’s always been, Hooper’s record when he was in charge was terrible and he is much better off focusing on his own game.

James Slipper, who Rennie appointed to take over from Hooper, and Allan Ala’alatoa, who led the side in last year’s humiliating loss to Italy, are both front towers so won’t be on the field for the full 80 minutes so should also be ruled out.

Samu Kerevi is one player who will go the distance and has the respect of everyone in the team and although he hasn’t figured much in the discussion yet because he’s playing in Japan, that shouldn‘t count against him.

The lack of choices has already seen Jones flag an outside the box solution – picking multiple captains – but let‘s all hope that’s just a smokescreen because it’s a desperate tactic that’s been tried before but has never produced a World Cup champion.

WORLD CUP WINNING CAPTAINS

1987 – David Kirk (New Zealand)

1991 – Nick Farr-Jones (Australia)

1995 – Francois Pienaar (South Africa)

1999 – John Eales (Australia)

2003 – Martin Johnson (England)

2007 – John Smit (South Africa)

2011 – Richie McCaw (New Zealand)

2015 – Richie McCaw (New Zealand)

2019 – Siya Kolisi (South Africa)

Originally published as Rugby news 2023: Why Eddie Jones can’t afford to stuff up Wallabies World Cup captaincy call