Hooper is the youngest player in the touring squad as well as being captain. Means he's in charge of the team and Wally, the mascot.
Springboks vs Wallabies @ Newlands 27/9/2014
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GaffaCHinO
Peter Sullivan (51)
Not really.
Would have liked to see him there for Lilo but it gives him a chance to play 2 games for the spirit instead of sitting in the stands.
T
Train Without a Station
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Come on Gaffa. Just give me what I want!
Crazy to only select one 7 in the touring squad. What happens if Hodgson gets injured?
When they've got an excellent group of centres in To'omua, Kuridrani, Ashley-Cooper and Hooper, what was the point of picking Leali'ifano as well?
GaffaCHinO
Peter Sullivan (51)
Outrage how can Lilo possibly be in front of Godwin the bloke is stinking up the NRC for god sake and don't give me this crap about how good his goal kicking is my 80 year old nana can kick better than him. Godwin is the future and must be there.
If he had a sky blue shirt he would sure as hell be there and would be staring in front of To'omua!
Bugger the eastern states and the NSWARU!
........Better?
Highlander35
Andrew Slack (58)
Fuck Lilo and Godwin. Where is Mitch Inman! 
ChargerWA
Mark Loane (55)
Joe Blow
Peter Sullivan (51)
We only need three and one and half 7s. I assume they can fly someone out if need be?
Three half-backs? Que? And only three second-rowers. The lack of balance in the forwards from 4 to 8 is starting to concern me. We're a year out from the RWC and our second row stocks look problematical. Skelton needs to do a massive amount of work on his fitness before he's considered for his fourth gold jumper while Simmons and Carter look so.....incomplete. Palu's fragility is somewhat covered by McCalman, I sincerely hope Ben grows into the role with a few runs and guaranteed selection. But what to do about the blindside breakaway? Fardy this year isn't up to his 2013 standard while Higgers isn't tight enough to warrant a starting jumper.
Pitzy remarked on Saturday at the Rams/Stars game he'd have big Willy running up sandhills for the next four months. I countered with the suggestion the Tahs buy him a bike and put him in a local cycling group with instructions to take him on four/five 50km rides every week, that'll strip the weight off him! Either sandhills or road bike, doesn't matter, get him fit before next year's Super comp. And take Jones and Neville on the EoYT.
Pitzy remarked on Saturday at the Rams/Stars game he'd have big Willy running up sandhills for the next four months. I countered with the suggestion the Tahs buy him a bike and put him in a local cycling group with instructions to take him on four/five 50km rides every week, that'll strip the weight off him! Either sandhills or road bike, doesn't matter, get him fit before next year's Super comp. And take Jones and Neville on the EoYT.
T
Train Without a Station
Guest
GaffaCHinO
Peter Sullivan (51)
Just a little bit
Joeleee
Ted Fahey (11)
I'm not sure if you want to slim him down too much though. Part of his "point of difference" is his immense size. I think it comes down to whether or not he has the requisite skill set to play as a smaller lock. Maybe he does, in which case slim away, though maybe he doesn't, in which case keep him big and use him situationally.
While I think it's important to have all around players I think sometimes you have to take someone's particularly amazing skill and use it situationally, while ensuring they're not in a position to cost the team with their weaknesses. This is something I think Cheika did really well, embracing people's brilliance and accepting the ugliness that comes with it (see Skelton, Phipps, Beale, Potgetier to a lesser extent).
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