Elsom to lead from front for Wallabies

Newly-appointed Wallabies captain Rocky Elsom says talk is cheap and has vowed to
lead with deeds in Saturday night's Bledisloe Cup showdown with the All Blacks in
Tokyo.
A man of few words, Elsom was typically succinct when asked on Friday what type of
captain he'd like to be for the Wallabies as they set about kicking off their spring
tour in style with a drought-breaking victory over their mighty trans-Tasman rivals.
"A really successful one would be ideal," he said.
The powerhouse flanker, who has replaced Stirling Mortlock as Australia's 76th Test
captain, believes the skipper's role is a straightforward one: to inspire his
charges with actions, not words.
"The performance is crucial. If you want to be leading guys, you want to be playing
well and reinforcing the value that you're trying to promote within the team," Elsom
said.
"That's very important, but there's not always a necessity to talk a lot on the field.
"We've prepared well, so that takes away the need for that at times. Of course there
are some times you want to say a few things but you've got to be careful and choose
your words well because you can only take so much in when you're on the field."
In addition to being charged with leading the Wallabies to a win after six
consecutive Test losses to the All Blacks, Elsom has had to rally his troops from
the setback of losing his deputy and the side's influential midfielder Berrick
Barnes to a potentially tour-ending ankle injury on Thursday night.
The versatile Adam Ashley-Cooper had just half a training session plus Friday's
captain's run to adapt to his new role after being switched from fullback to inside
centre to cover for Barnes.
"Adam is a different player to Berrick, so that will influence the way we play but
they're both capable and we've got ample plans, we believe, that we'll bring to the
game," said Wallabies coach Robbie Deans.
"While they're different players, they both offer us a lot. I would suggest Adam
Ashley-Cooper is perfectly capable of mastering any number of positions and I think
he will show that tomorrow."
Ashley-Cooper said having the full faith of his coach and teammates gave him the
confidence to fire wherever he was asked to play.
"I'm excited about the challenge," he said.
Ashley-Cooper will partner Ryan Cross in the centres for the first time since the
pair came in for flak for several defensive blunders that proved costly in
Australia's 32-25 loss to South Africa in Perth in August.
Ashley-Cooper said he and Cross had addressed the issue.
"Just a bit of miscommunication in our set-piece defence," he said.
"Obviously they had some great attack which exposed us, but we've been working
really hard on that this week and are very confident about the midfield defence
leading into tomorrow night."
More of a worry for Ashley-Cooper and his teammates are the narrow in-goal areas at
Tokyo's National Stadium.
"I tell you what, there's going to be some bark lost," he said.
Mindful that it has been more than four hours since his side scored a try against
the All Blacks, Deans was less concerned.
"Obviously the in-goals are quite short, but we'll be more than happy to get there,"
he said.