Lasting just five minutes, which Wallabies captain had the shortest tenure in the history of the national side?

For a while, Stephen Moore thought he was going to be the ticket to someone's fortune on Hot Seat. After his knee blew out at the start of his first Test in charge, against the French in Brisbane last year, there were moments when he genuinely believed his time had arrived ... and vanished.

"I think in this game, you're not owed anything. There's no right to anything. Certainly I was prepared for that to be the last opportunity I got," Moore said on Monday after being reappointed to the role by coach Michael Cheika.

"If that was the case, that was it ... that's the way it goes. I probably did move on a little bit. If Michael [Hooper] had got the job – I'm sure he will at some point – I would have been 100 per cent supportive of him."

Cheika had no such leanings. On Sunday night, he told the Wallabies camp on the Sunshine Coast that the Brumbies hooker had been chosen to lead them through the Rugby Championship, the World Cup and beyond.

Hooper, who was not so much thrown in the deep end last year as dropped a few miles out into a raging sea, has been appointed as a vice-captain alongside fellow Waratah Adam Ashley-Cooper.

For Cheika, the 32-year-old Moore remained the logical man to front the Wallabies' challenge in a World Cup year, even though the coach was far more familiar with the leadership stylings of his NSW openside Hooper.

"Stephen had been the captain previously and Michael had done the captaincy job in his absence,"  the Wallabies coach said. "I've known Michael coaching him at state level. I didn't know Stephen as well, just different bits and pieces.

"It's the way he's led the Brumbies this year, but also that seniority, the experience ... he's been in this environment before. He's got respect from all the players, no doubt about that."

After the drama surrounding the pre-Cheika Wallabies and talk of a group divided, Moore has made it his mission to unite the squad. He said he would do everything he could to ensure the Wallabies were free of factions heading into the Rugby Championship, then the big dance in England later this year.

"I think that's critical to the success of any team. You need everyone in the tent. We've got a very good group of players and Cheik, as coach, will lead the way on that stuff. We need to live the behaviours and values we're known for as a team," Moore said.

"We've already built a lot of that stuff in the background, just having the special bond between players that perhaps we haven't had as much of in the past.

"I want people to watch us on TV, people who turn up, kids ... I want them to be proud of everything that we stand for on the field and off the field. If we can get to that point, I'll be very happy as a captain."

Moore will, of course, be his own man but has found captaincy inspiration from cricket, not rugby. He has never met Justin Langer but has taken a liking to the ways and means of the former Australian Test opener, batting coach and now coach of Western Australia.

Whether it means the Wallabies take up karate and curating roses is another discussion, but Moore loves the intensity and dedication of the prolific left-hander.

"Probably Justin Langer is someone I've read a lot about and observed, not just as a player but as a coach ... just some of the things he does with his team," Moore said. "He's got a really good work ethic and he's big on the preparation stuff – physical and mental."