Cool-headed, single-minded skipper Rocky Elsom says only Wallabies victories matter and he's unfazed by detractors calling for his head.

Yet to return to his destructive, European Cup-winning form following virtually eight months out of the game, Elsom borne the brunt for Australia's spluttering start to this all-important World Cup year.

In a savage attack, former Test fullback and high-profile commentator Greg Martin this week claimed Elsom had neither the form nor leadership qualities to retain his place in the team, let alone head up a World Cup campaign.

Martin demanded Scott Higginbotham - who has been promoted to replace Ben McCalman as Australia's No.8 against South Africa this weekend - be handed Elsom's spot as blindside flanker.

"It's as plain as the day. When he goes on the field the game changes and opens up. So why is Rocky still there?" Martin said on FoxSports.

"But they won't change him (Elsom). You watch. They're stuck. They picked him early and they'll stick with him and he's just not performing.

"You watch him on Saturday night; he's off the pace. And that's the guy (who is) going to lead us in a World Cup."

But in a candid interview with Australian reporters in Durban, a relaxed and refreshingly honest Elsom described the flak flying his way as "very much a side issue" not worth fretting over.

"The more you make it a bigger issue, the more it takes your mind off what you really need to do," Elsom said.

"On any level when you have criticism, you can always play well enough for that to go away and I think the motivation to do that is never to make it go away.

"That's a by-product of playing really well and the team functioning really well.

"The focus for us is for the team to be playing well and my role in it that is being as effective as (I can be).

"It's naive to chase personal glory to try and stave off some kind of criticism you might be getting."

Hooker Stephen Moore was stunned to learn of Martin's spray and said only the team's inner sanctum really knew of Elsom's true worth to the Wallabies.

"It's certainly disappointing to hear that. I've played with Rocky a long time, I've known him for a long time and I know the level of commitment and the time that he puts in in leading the side," Moore told AAP.

"There's a lot he does behind the scenes that people don't see and I know he's certainly got the respect of the playing group. That's for sure.

"He's a great guy to play with, particularly at Test level, and I've got every confidence that he can continue to play well and lead the side.

"He's a world-class player."

A keen musician, artist, philosopher, entrepreneur and pilot when not leading the Wallabies, Elsom had an interesting way of considering Martin's damning appraisal.

"It's a bit like if I wrote a letter to your boss saying 'I don't think he should write for the paper'. Would you care?" Elsom asked.

"It's not a terrible thing if that was happening, if you got upset. But if you really thought about it, why would you get upset?

"If I lived in your house and I'm telling you that every day, then that's different. But I don't.

"The bigger my ego, the more that's going to affect me. If I thought so much of myself that I couldn't bear to listen to anything that wasn't 100 per cent positive, then that's going to hit me right in the sweet spot.

"(But) I don't have to see him every day, so it is really a side issue to what's going on and you've got to see it as that.

"But I guess that is his job and he's not Robinson Crusoe there."

Elsom is still only three incomplete games into his comeback from hamstring and ankle injuries that restricted the 28-year-old 67-Test star to one match between last November's tour of Europe and Australia's season-opening international against Samoa four weeks ago.

Perhaps fans shouldn't expect miracles and clearly coach Robbie Deans is banking on his captain reaching peak form for the knockout stages of the World Cup in October.

"I've found in the past that sometimes you come back and it's like you've been playing all year and other times it's like you're stuck in quick sand," Elsom said.

"So Sunday would be the time to ask me how my conditioning is."

Win or lose, 80 minutes or otherwise, whatever transpires at Kings Park, Elsom will continue working unselfishly towards what he considers the most fulfilling aspect of captaining the Wallabies.

That being: "Just when the team goes well.

"Particularly this team, when it functions the way it can, it's very satisfying and it's really fun to be a part of.

"Obviously the (spring) tour last year, we had a couple of times when it went very well for us - and you put a lot of work into it.

"You might only train out on the field a couple of hours a day or only play for 80 minutes, but a hell of a lot of work goes into it to try and make it go like that.

"So when it does, it's essentially what you're after, what you're chasing."

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