Pocock making up for lost time
The No.8 made four turnovers, the highest of the match, as Michael Cheika's team dominated the breakdown area, which allowed them to boss Los Pumas. His performance was a continuation of the scintillating form that he has brought to the Australia side, since he returned to the team this year after three years on the sidelines.
"I've played a lot of footy with Dave at the Brumbies [in Super Rugby] and he is a quality player and a quality person off the field. We're finding there's a very diverse range of players and some players are whizzing around on Segways after a match and he's in his room watching a David Attenborough documentary," Australia captain Stephen Moore said.
In Australia, Pocock is as famous off the field for his humanitarian and political lobbying as he is on it for performances in the Wallabies jersey. It reflects the fact that he and his family were forced to leave his native Zimbabwe when he was 12.
Along with Moore, Pocock is one of five players in the Australia team who have led the side. Flank Michael Hooper, scrumhalf Will Genia and centre Matt Giteau are the other three and all five are quick to lend their experience to the cause.
"That has been important right from the start and I think I've tapped into all those guys and they've all been terrific in how they've conducted themselves. There's a lot of leadership in the group and I think we've seen that in our games so far and I think it will be important again this Saturday [in the final].
"It is all about doing our job well every day. There is a lot of hype around the final – and it was the same last week – but there is still a game to play and that is the most important part of the week. The key thing is to improve, you've got to keep improving. The bar is going to go up again this week and we need to improve," he added.
Barring disaster Pocock will take his place at the back of the Australia scrum when they face their trans-Tasman rivals New Zealand for the right to become the first team to win the World Cup for a third time.
While New Zealand won the most recent encounter between the teams, Australia have history on their side as they won the World Cup the last time the final was held at Twickenham – in 1991.
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