No. 7s as International Captains

[KieranW]

Hey,

I've noticed this for a while, but I've never quite understood properly why:

Thierry Dusatoir - France
Richie McCaw - NZ
Sam Warburton - Wales
Chris Robshaw - England
David Pocock - Australia
Kelly Brown - Scotland

All openside flankers, and all captains of their respective tier 1 countries. They pretty much are all good leaders, but does anyone have any theories on why there's a disproportionate amount of no. 7's as captains?

 

[damo]

Refs are more reluctant to sin bin a captain? It makes sense to put the guy who is likely to be penalised the most in at captain. epper:


Actually I suspect that it is partially a coincidence right now and partially representative of the fact that a loose forwards position is a pretty good one to captain a team from - as a loose forward you tend to link up quite well with both the tight 5 and the backs. Besides there appears to be a bit of confirmation bias in your assessments, Pocock was only the third choice skipper for the Wallabies and is not even skipper at his franchise. If I had the time I would go through and look at all the captains in the Super XV and Heineken Cup and see if there is actually a statistically significant trend, or just an aberration.

 

[KieranW]

I seem to remember Pocock skippering the Wallabies against Wales last summer - I just assumed he was their normal captain as he was injured for most of the AIs. Even so - there seems to be an unnatural amount of openside flanker captains, at least in international sides. I don't have the time either to check but maybe someone else does?!

Whatever the case, it makes for some interesting theories. Your sin bin theory may carry some merit.

 

[damo]

Preliminary investigations do not look good for your theory about openside flankers being disproportionately made captain. Here is a list of the 15 Super teams and their captains, taken from Wikipedia and other sources (all care taken but some errors may occur):

Blues - Ali Williams - Lock
Chiefs - Craig Clarke - Lock
Hurricanes - Conrad Smith - Centre
Crusaders - Kieran Read - No. 8
Highlanders - Andrew Hore - Hooker

Waratahs - Dave Dennis - Blindside
Reds - James Slipper - Prop
Brumbies - Ben Mowen - No. 8
Rebels - Gareth Delve - No.8
Force - Matt Hodgson - Blindside

Bulls - Pierre Spies - No. 8
Cheetahs - Adrian Strauss - Hooker
Sharks - Francois Steyn - Second Five Eighth
Southern Kings - Luke Watson - No. 8
Stormers - Jean de Villiers - Centre


Not one plays openside flanker! If anything, it looks like No. 8 is the preferred position.

 

[KieranW]

Well I did specify international captains. Maybe it is just coincidence then...

 

[4eyesbetter]

A lot more forwards than backs; but then, he's a captain, not a general.

 

[L'irlandais]

Well I did specify international captains. Maybe it is just coincidence then...

Depends on which country I feel.
In the pro era :

Ireland
Jamie Heaslip #8
BOD Outside centre
Paul O Connell Lock
Keith Wood Hooker

Pumas
Lisandro Arbizu Centre
Agustín Pichot Scrum-half
Felipe Contepomi Centre
Juan Martín Fernández Lobbe #8

RSA
Jean de Villiers Inside Centre

Italy
Sergio Parisse #8
Marco Bortolami Lock
Alessandro Troncon Scrum-half
Alessandro Moscardi Hooker

On field leadership is generally by example, especially in one's behaviour (agressive with-in the limits of the law, cool in the heat of the fray, decisive when the going gets tough) motivating teammates on and off the Rugby pitch.
I'd say flanker wasn't the ideal post for any captain ; since respect of the LoTG is a must for any captain, but rather limiting for any flanker worth his salt. Also Team leaders/pack leaders don't always need to be the one wearing the captain's armband.