Rugby: Elsom happy with demands of captaincy

Rocky Elsom. Photo / Getty Images

Rocky Elsom has rejected former Wallaby great Tim Horan's suggestion he is burdened by the test captaincy.

Horan last month argued the task of leading the Wallabies would prevent Elsom living up to his reputation as arguably the world's most feared blindside flanker.

"I believe the captaincy burdens Rocky too much," Horan explained.

"The only way I think you see the best from Rocky Elsom is when he doesn't have the [captaincy or vice-captaincy] next to his name."

But the 28-year-old Brumbies stalwart who is slowly recovering from a hamstring injury, disagrees.

"Well, nothing is coming to mind to support that," Elsom said yesterday.

"Obviously I don't appoint myself, but I'm happy in the role and I'm pretty keen to get into it [at the World Cup]."

Elsom also admitted that with the World Cup looming, he would not be taking any chances with the hamstring injury and would be making no early return to the field to help the Brumbies salvage something from their horror Super Rugby season.

"Hamstring tendon injuries can be particularly tricky. It just doesn't respond as quickly as the muscle does," Elsom said.

"It's hard to say [when I will be ready to return], because I've got to see how it responds to the load, obviously I want to get out there, but by the same token I don't want to go back and do [the injury again].

"As far as not rushing it ... it is going as fast as it possibly can, what you want to make sure is that it gets fully rehabilitated, not partially rehabilitated.

"I think if I don't rehabilitate it properly it's going to be a problem for the rest of this Super season which is not what I want.

"I want to come back and be able to play really well and also play the rest of the games.

"You can get injured doing a lot of things, and I don't want [reinjuring the hamstring by coming a week too soon] to be one of them."

- AAP