Moore looking for more responsibility
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As Brumbies and Wallabies captain Stephen Moore works his way back from injury he is he is hoping to be in a position to take back the helm at both Club and Country.
Moore's focus – understandable given he has spent the past six months recovering from a knee reconstruction – is returning to the form that has made him the premier hooker in Australia.
Once that is achieved, he is bound to be in the mix for captaincy of the Wallabies if coach Michael Cheika wants to switch from young flank Michael Hooper who has taken over the mantle since Moore tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his knee in the first five minutes of his first Test captaining the Wallabies, against France in June.
"If I stood here and said I didn't have aspirations to captain the Wallabies, I'd be lying," Moore said.
"I got injured in my first Test after two minutes as captain.
"When that gets taken away from you so quick, of course you want to get back there. I want to prove to myself and my teammates that I can play at that level for Australia."
Moore will have more than Hooper to contest with for the Wallaby arm band with Brumbies team mate David Pocock, who was recently arrested for protesting a mining operation, returning from a knee injury of his own.
Pocock is a strong candidate to captain both the Brumbies and the Wallabies having already held the national team's armband in 2012.
Moore has returned to running in the past two weeks and has set his sights on leading the Brumbies for their round one Super Rugby match in February.
"I'm still only running in a straight line, but I've been doing a lot of work in the sandpit," Moore said.
"Hopefully I'll start changing direction next week, then I'll start getting into the breakdown stuff and integrate with the team in the new year.
"That's the target, Round One, I'm pretty optimistic about that. I'll be pushing pretty hard to get there for that game, but we'll know more in January."
Moore's injury has allowed him to refresh mentally after being a regular on year-end tours for the past decade.
The Wallabies won just one of their four Tests in November, the worst result in nine years.
They had to deal with the departure of coach Ewen McKenzie on the eve of the tour and the addition of Super Rugby championship-winning boss Cheika.
"It was very challenging circumstances, with a new coach coming on three days out," Moore said.
"The boys showed positive signs, but at the end of the day it's about winning. Michael Cheika will have a long-term plan.
"He's going to have to be creative how he goes about it in the next nine months before the World Cup.
"We saw how the teams up there [in the northern hemisphere] are going to play, so we have to find ways to counter that."
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