USA v Wallabies: James Slipper honoured to lead Australia onto Soldier Field

THE biggest moment in James Slipper’s brilliant 67-Test career came when Wallaby coach Michael Cheika told him he would be captaining the side against the USA.

James Slipper of the Wallabies during the Bledisloe Cup game between the Australia Wallabies and the New Zealand All Blacks. Pic Darren England.

THE biggest moment in James Slipper’s brilliant 67-Test career came when Wallaby coach Michael Cheika told him he would be captaining the side in Sunday morning’s Test against the USA in Chicago.

The greatest accolade came when a local official approached him at Soldier Field the day before the game and presented him with a Chicago White Sox baseball cap.

That’s the way it is over here. Rugby is very much an oddity. Football is the game that the Chicago Bears were playing on Soldier Field just hours before the rugby posts were erected, and baseball is the national pastime.

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James Slipper says the Wallabies are prepared for a strong USA side. Picture: Darren England.

Even so, Slipper was honoured to be leading the side out against the Eagles in the Wallabies last hitout before heading to England for the World Cup.

“We’re not for a minute underestimating an American team full of athletes,” he said. “I played against them at the last World Cup in New Zealand and they played really well for the first 20 minutes so we know they’re capable of good rugby, especially on their own turf.

“But in saying that we know this is part of the process of getting things right for the rugby coming up.”

And for Slipper, one of only two front rowers to have survived the cull from the team that Cheika took away on last year’s Spring tour, that means getting the scrum right.

“We’ve been working really hard on the scrumming,” he said. “It’s not just the front row, it’s the whole eight.

“We’re comfortable with where we are now but we know we’ve got a lot of improvement before the World Cup because a few teams will be looking to target our scrum.

“We’ve just got to be consistent with the performances. We did well in the Rugby Championship. We have to back it up now.”

And will that mean that referees will give the Wallabies more of a shake when it comes to the 50:50 calls on scrum collapses and wheels — a crucial issue of the Spring tour?

“It’s hard to say. The six years I’ve been playing for the Wallabies, the calls have seemed to go against us, but to be honest, when I started we weren’t that good.

“We’ve come a long way since then. I guess the key for us would be to leave it out of the referees’ hands. That would be the best for everyone, wouldn’t it.”