Michael Hooper set to replace Stephen Moore as Wallaby skipper

Stephen Moore’s announcement of stepping down as Australia captain last week following the hooker’s retirement at the end of the 2017 season, sees the the veteran skipper call time on an outstanding 120-cap international career.  

Moore’s failure to make the starting XV in summer tests against Scotland and Fiji suggested the hooker’s international career was coming to an end:

“I’ve had a long career and my time in the game is something I’ll look back on very fondly,

“That being said, there’s still a lot of rugby ahead of me over the next 12 months and I hope to be able to contribute to the success of the Wallabies and the Reds with the time I have left.”

— Stephen Moore

Moore’s time as captain experienced highs and lows which peaked with a runners-up finish in the 2015 World Cup, and hit rock bottom with the Wallabies humiliating whitewash on home soil at the hands of the English.

The Reds man will now be replaced by flanker, Michael Hooper, who already has skippered Australia through 2014 after Moore was ruled out with an ACL injury:

“It’s a huge honour to just wear the Wallabies jersey, let alone captain the side,

“It’s what you do in the jersey that’s most important and I get another crack at showing what it means to me against New Zealand in a fortnight.”

— Michael Hooper

Hooper’s first test as skipper will come against the All Blacks in the Investec Rugby Championship, and the flanker’s tireless work rate and constant communication will surely provide the perfect ingredients for leading Australia into a new era of rugby.