Is Tom Hooper a Test quality flanker? How he’s fared so far and the biggest hole in his game

There is no excuse for leaving a fit Quade Cooper out of a 33-man 2023 Wallaby squad. Any flyhalf takes a long time to see all the shapes and scenarios of rugby, and if he is the goalkicker, as Cooper is, his ability to steel his nerves to make kicks for a Test win and reach finals grows with his caps. Thus, if apprentice Ben Donaldson — understudy on the tee to Tane Edmed — is seen by the boss as a better tool for the smash and grab job of 2023, to trot on at 68:00 of a tight Test knockout with England or Argentina, Eddie Jones needs new spectacles.

But there is a case to be…