David Pocock (born 23 April 1988) is an Australian rugby union player. He is the current Western Force and Wallabies openside flanker, having assumed the latter position from George Smith.Pocock grew up in Zimbabwe and emigrated to Australia in 2002.
He started off his rugby career when he was schooling at the Anglican Church Grammar School in Brisbane, Australia, playing inside centre in the 1st XV alongside Quade Cooper. In 2005, he played for Australian Schoolboys rugby side.
Pocock currently plays for the Force, where he made his debut against the Sharks in 2006. The Super 14 regulations kept him from playing any earlier in the season, as he was not yet 18. At the start of 2010, his younger brother Steve joined him at the Western Force. David Pocock made appearances for Australian Schoolboys and Australia A in the 2007 IRB Pacific Nations Cup, earning man of the match honours on multiple occasions in the tournament. He then made his Australian debut as a substitute against The Barbarians on 3 December 2008.
Pocock made his Wallabies debut in Hong Kong in late 2008, and then played against Italy and The Barbarians on the Wallabies spring tour. He captained the Australian Under-20s at the Junior World Championships in England in 2008, and was awarded the Emirates Western Force captaincy for the development tour of England later that year.
Pocock replaced longstanding Wallaby openside flanker George Smith, late in the 2009 Tri-Nations. In the Wales test in the 2009 Autumn Internationals, he put his thumb back into its socket after it had been dislocated and continued to play. He was, however, substituted at half-time and replaced by George Smith.
In 2010, Pocock became the first choice openside flanker for the Wallabies. Adam Freier, former Wallabies hooker, commented that his performances that year had been "simply outstanding", and said that his talents had more than justified his selection in the Wallabies' starting fifteen. According to rugby writer Greg Growden, Pocock's skill at the breakdown has become a key focus of opposition teams trying to stop the Wallabies' game plan.
David Pocock
David Pocock
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David Pocock
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