He's one of the world's best players who's been forgotten on the Wallabies captaincy merry-go-round, but the ACT Brumbies are backing David Pocock as the perfect man to be Australia's new Test skipper.
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Champion flanker and former Wallabies captain Pocock will make his Super Rugby comeback this year after recovering from a knee reconstruction.
Incumbent Test skipper and Brumbies leader Ben Mowen will quit Australian rugby at the end of 2014 to play in France, leaving the Wallabies to search for their fifth captain in the past 18 months.
But while the Brumbies believe Pocock has the skills to captain Australia, coach Stephen Larkham said the club would delay its decision until next year on Mowen's Super Rugby replacement.
Wallabies coach Ewen McKenzie will be at Brumbies training on Monday and will get the perfect chance to check in with 45-Test flanker Pocock. McKenzie will be in Canberra as part of his tour to visit all Australian Super Rugby clubs.
The early contenders to take over from Mowen include Will Genia, James Horwill and Quade Cooper.
But after missing most of last year with a knee injury as well as his Wallabies No.7 replacement Michael Hooper winning the John Eales Medal, Pocock has dropped off the radar.
''I guess it's not a bad thing if [Pocock] is forgotten, you don't need the pressure of whether you're going to be Wallabies captain or not,'' former Wallabies flyhalf Larkham said. ''The Wallabies don't get together for another six months. At the moment there has been talk about the Wallabies and the captaincy, but we're just focused on Super Rugby.
''Ben Mowen is a massive loss to the Wallabies outfit as a leader. All of those other guys [Genia, Cooper and Horwill] still have some development in them. Poey, off the field, has done a tremendous job for us in the pre-season and he's a tremendous leader.''
Mowen will retain the Brumbies captaincy this year but his Wallabies career is almost certainly over after he put family before his World Cup dream to sign a deal in France. Mowen has been linked to a three-year deal at Montpellier, but is yet to confirm where he will play in France.
The Brumbies will name a six-man leadership group next week.
But they won't put a succession plan in place ahead of Mowen's departure to ensure there is no leadership struggle at the club in the Super Rugby season.
Pocock, 25, was the Brumbies' pre-season captain while the club's Wallabies contingent was in Europe. He is widely regarded as one of the world's best flankers, but hasn't played a Test since 2012 and Hooper excelled in his absence.
Brumbies and Wallabies playmaker Matt Toomua backed Pocock to make an immediate impact in Super Rugby next month.
''It's hard not to speculate about [Pocock] as the captain, he's done it before,'' Toomua said. ''It's up to Ewen to decide, [Pocock] will make sure everyone remembers who he is when he plays in a few weeks.
''He's been ready for months, it's just a matter of getting to the starting line and we're excited to see him playing.''
Mowen offered to stand down as Brumbies captain when he told Larkham and ACT director of rugby Laurie Fisher that he was leaving at the end of the season. However Larkham and Fisher have backed Mowen as the best man for the job. Pocock, Stephen Moore, Ben Alexander, Nic White, Toomua and Christian Lealiifano all have leadership credentials, but Larkham insisted Mowen would be the only captain this year to ensure there was a clear leadership structure.
