Wallabies hooker Tolu Latu warned to keep his cool against All Blacks

Tolu Latu’s short fuse has made him an easy target for opposition teams, but Wallabies skipper Michael Hooper is confident the hooker will be on his best behaviour against the All Blacks.

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Hot-headed Wallaby Tolu Latu has been warned to keep his cool when the All Blacks ­inevitably try to bait him in ­Saturday’s Bledisloe Cup clash at Optus Stadium.

Wallabies coach Michael Cheika has placed great trust in the volatile Waratahs hooker by picking him to start in the most important match of the season when plenty of others might have given up on him.

No one doubts Latu’s immense talent but his short fuse has made him an easy target for opposition teams to taunt.

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Tolu Latu will start against the All Blacks in Perth on Saturday night. Picture: Getty Images

In his most recent match against the All Blacks, in Japan last year, Latu was sin-binned for shoving Codie Taylor in the face in retaliation to the New Zealander pushing him first.

Although it was harmless, he was given a yellow card and the incident raised questions about whether he can control his ­temper in the heat of battle.

Two weeks prior to that meltdown, he was sin-binned for hitting Santiago Garcia Botta in the final few moments of Australia’s stunning comeback win over ­Argentina in Salta, while earlier in the season he was slapped with a six-match ban for recklessly charging into a ruck while playing for NSW against the Sunwolves.

In 2015, Latu was suspended for four weeks for up-ending Canterbury Crusader Sam Whitelock and in 2016 he copped a one-game ban for punching Matt Toomua.

Tolu Latu needs to keep his temper under control. Picture: Rugby AU Media/Stuart Walmsley

Wallabies skipper Michael Hooper said he expected Latu would be on his best behaviour this time, regardless of whether the All Blacks try to get under his skin or not.

“I don’t know if they are going to employ that tactic,” Hooper said. “We talked about that at the time. It was just a product of that game in particular.

“Tolu has grown as a player and as a person a lot in the last 12 months, and he is playing really good rugby. That usually takes away from the other stuff.”

Latu’s reckless actions haven’t just been on the field.

In May this year, The Daily Telegraph broke the news that he had been charged with drink-driving after police found him slumped ­behind the wheel of his car. The news came as an even bigger shock to Australian and NSW Rugby officials because he had neglected to tell them about his arrest so he was suspended, fined and ordered to undergo counselling after he pleaded guilty in court.

Wallabies skipper Michael Hooper is confident Tolu Latu will handle the pressure against the All Blacks. Picture: AAP

He was also kicked out of the Australian World Cup squad but Cheika has given him another chance and Hooper believes he’s a changed man ready to fulfil his potential as a player.

“I have been impressed with the direction he has taken over the last couple of games. In game and in training, he has been showing all the right things,” Hooper said.

“His ears are on, listening to the referee calls and he has been making the right decisions every time he has come on the field for this international season.

“It’s about creating more than that, particularly tomorrow night, he’s so good in that area. That’s why I guess he got the start.”

Wallabies ready to deal with surprises

Wallabies skipper Michael Hooper admits he has no idea what to expect from New Zealand’s radical backrow combination but is confident Australia’s new defensive system will foil whatever the All Blacks throw at them.

In a rare case of the All Blacks copying Australia, New Zealand have abandoned their traditional loose forward formation and picked two openside flankers to start alongside their workhorse captain Kieran Read at No.8.

Sam Cane will officially occupy the openside spot while Ardie Savea will start at blindside in a similar ploy to Australia’s policy of selecting Hooper and David Pocock in the same side.

Sam Cane will play openside flanker in the All Blacks’ revamped back row formation. Picture: Getty Images

“I think it’s an opportunity for them to do some different, show a different picture,” ­Hooper said. “We don’t know what to expect and I think they’ll be working it out on the run too.”

Read said he doesn’t expect things to change much at all because both Cane and Savea are so familiar with the way the All Blacks want to play the game so any adjustments will be minor.

“They’ve been in the mix in the loose forwards for the last four years, so for us we spend a lot of time together so it’s not much of a difference,” Read said. “It’s pretty exciting for us to all be on the field.”

The Australians are more concerned about how their new defensive system will cope with the speed and ferocity from the No. 1 ranked team in the world.

The Wallabies have employed a different system, where they advance slower but remain more connected, the theory being they are less likely to concede line breaks.

“I think it will go really well. It’s based on trust and on our guys being able to complete their tackles and their skill set and to date they’ve been doing that really well,” Hooper said.