Ospreys coach Lyn Jones noticed the change after James Hook returned from the
Six Nations Championship. On the pitch, the fly-half was louder, more
assertive and better at doing the bossing part of his job. Jones was pleased
and told the player as much. It was like the kid was growing up in front of
his eyes. Perhaps the coach was also a touch surprised because Hook is one
of those kids who accepts life’s natural hierarchies and, in normal
circumstances, wouldn’t dream of pushing himself to the front.
But something curious is happening in rugby; boys are being asked to play like
men and at times to take charge of the men. More than that, they are getting
on with it. How, in his first full match for England, could the 20-year-old
Danny Cipriani take the baton and conduct the orchestra like a maestro?
Perhaps Cipriani had noticed Hook’s first match for Wales in June 2006. Hook
was then a 20-year-old wondering how he had come to earn a place on the
bench against Argentina at Puerto Madryn, but then playing like he belonged
when brought on with 30 minutes remaining. Hook later reflected how weird it
was that he felt an unworthy sub but felt fine the second he ran on to the
field. That day he scored a try and played extremely well.
Four months later he made his home debut for Wales against Australia at the
Millennium stadium, replacing the injured Stephen Jones after 23 minutes, at
which point the Wallabies led 17-6. The game ended in a draw, Hook’s
performance had been exceptional and central to Wales’s comeback.
Perhaps the greatest of all Wales fly-halves, Barry John, watched the
21-year-old introduce himself to the Welsh public and couldn’t help making
comparisons, for he, too, had made his home debut against Australia, 40
years before.
“Everything had flashed by so quickly that I went home in a daze, wishing I’d
done this and that,” recalled John on the evening of Hook’s arrival. “He
[Hook] will have no such regrets. He didn’t put a foot wrong.”
Just as Cipriani didn’t in his first start for England. What is it with these
kids? Why should it be a blur for a fly-half as magical as John while
today’s tyros produce exhibitions of composed play? Perhaps it is that
professional rugby is to today’s young playmakers what hothouses are to
flowers; it allows them to bloom before their time.
A little after noon today, the young Welshman with the wonderful balance will
be expected to bring some control to the Ospreys’ Heineken Cup quarter-final
against Saracens at Vicarage Road. Two weeks ago the same teams played a
one-sided EDF Cup semi-final but Saracens, decisively beaten in Cardiff,
will be far more difficult on their own ground. For the first time, they
have sold every seat at Vicarage Road and Hook relishes the likelihood of a
hostile atmosphere.
“As far back as the days when I played in under12 tournaments, if someone
said, ‘There’ll be a load of people watching’, I would love that. I love big
crowds, and if it’s a full house against Saracens I will enjoy it a bit
more. I want to play in games like that. So far, Gloucester was the most
hostile crowd I’ve played in front of - 13,000 people, but it felt a lot
more, and when they start booing you, you take it as a bit of a compliment.”
He says that not in a boastful way because that is not Hook. When he talks
about the need for having to raise his voice and call the shots on the
pitch, he qualifies it by saying he is happy also to revert to the quieter,
less assertive person he is off it.
Perhaps it is that he never envisaged this life for himself. Born and raised
in the industrial town of Port Talbot, the same area that produced Richard
Burton and Anthony Hopkins, Hook wasn’t even the star in his own home. That
was Mike, his older brother by two years, who played fly-half for Wales in
the various age groups and back then was considered the more likely of the
Hook boys.
“My rugby was okay at the time,” says James, “but Mike was playing really well
and if you were a betting man, your money would have been on him making it
rather than me. He’s still playing to a high standard as a semi-professional
with Newport but he’s had a couple of shoulder injuries that knocked him
back. He is a very talented player, someone I’ve always looked up to.”
You get a sense of where Hook has come from when he speaks about Will and
Betty John, the grandparents he visits three or four times a week. From the
time he started playing rugby at six or seven, Will was always there;
watching, supporting, assessing, commenting and caring.
“My granddad keeps a scrapbook, tapes all the games, but he is my toughest
critic and when I have a bad game, he’s the first to tell me. He says he
tapes the games because when he watches them live, he sees only what I’m
doing and then he has to go home, watch the tape to find out what happened.
But having the support of my family and my girlfriend Sian is very important
to me.”
It is important because for all the passion and euphoria in victory, Wales is
no country for men who lose rugby matches. The Grand Slam was great but,
already, it is yesterday’s triumph, not forgotten but gone. Today’s game is
what matters and with so many Ospreys having won their spurs with Wales,
there is an expectation they can become the first Welsh side to win the
European Cup. Hook understands.
“We have been in situations for the Ospreys where we haven’t delivered.
Perhaps we’ve cracked under pressure sometimes. We’ve now got the experience
and reached the point where we feel we can do something special. We will
take confidence from the fact that 13 Ospreys started when we beat England,
but today is going to be very different. If we go into the game thinking
we’ll be okay because we beat England with virtually the Ospreys team we
will come unstuck, but when you add Marty Holah, Filo Tiatia and Justin
Marshall to the home players we’ve got, then you’d be very disappointed not
to make some decent progress in the Heineken Cup.”
Hook has stood up well to the challenge of professional sport. After his
extraordinary debut performances against Argentina and Australia, he then
played inside-centre through his first Six Nations campaign, or second
violin to Stephen Jones in the coveted No 10 jersey. The World Cup went
badly for Hook as Jones ended up playing the important games, but an
excellent Hook performance against England in Warren Gatland’s first game in
charge was an important moment in the fly-half’s career. Gatland, typically,
didn’t go with the flow of unqualified approval.
Yes, there were some sensationally good things, but the coach also pointed to
the overhit kick that went out on the full, the poor crossfield kick that
put his own team under pressure, and a performance that lacked the level of
communication expected.
“I didn’t need Warren to tell me what I’d done wrong but it helps when he
does. It’s the bad stuff you’ve got to improve and that’s what
the coach is there for. From the first meeting with Warren, you could tell
he and Shaun [Edwards] had something special about them. When they spoke,
everyone listened. And the training sessions were spot on.”
Gatland took time to decide between Hook and Jones and only nailed his colours
to the mast before the deciding match against France. Hook came through.
Calm and imperturbable, he was prepared to play but also able to control the
flow of the game.
As much as his thrilling performance in the victory over England, that display
defined his quality. We speak about the significance of Wales winning the
Grand Slam and he talks of being able to feel the euphoria of the people,
but it was mostly relief that the players felt. I ask if he knows how many
Grand Slams Wales have won. He guesses “three or four”.
I tell him it is 10 and he is staggered. I mention that is just two behind the
leaders in the Grand Slam table, England, and shouldn’t it be possible for
this Wales team to grow and close the gap further? Embarrassed by how little
he knew of Wales’s past achievements, he doesn’t know what to say. For
perhaps the first time this year, the game has slipped temporarily out of
the fly-half’s control.
TV match
Saracens v Ospreys
Today, Sky Sports 2, midday, kick-off 12.30pm
How a star was born
APRIL 2006: Picked for Wales’ summer tour to Argentina, despite never
having played for a professional team. Comes off the bench to score a try on
his international debut
NOVEMBER 2006: Replaces Wales stand-off Stephen Jones in first home
game against Australia and is named man of the match after kicking 13 points
in a 29-29 draw
MARCH 2007: After playing the previous Six Nations games at centre, he
is moved to fly-half for the final fixture against England and delivers a
match-winning display, with 22 points, including a ‘full house’ of try,
conversion, penalty and drop goal
NOVEMBER 2007: Scores 17 points in Ospreys’ opening Heineken Cup win
over Bourgoin and goes on to register 22 points in the crucial pool victory
over Gloucester in January 2008
FEBRUARY 2008: Receives more accolades for his performance against
England in Wales’ victory at Twickenham and is an integral member of the
Wales squad that completes the Grand Slam the following month, scoring 44
points
