Position Profile - Hooker

After the recent article by @AJBails I thought it was a good time to start taking a look at the key positions within the Warriors squad, starting with Hooker. 

When you Google "Hooker" it returns:

Which doesn't really go anyway to help this blog, so I decided to put in a more detailed search "Hooker Rugby".  This didn't really help either so I decided to read a book.

A Hooker - The player who lines up between the props, coordinates the engagement of the pack and is in theory responsible for winning the ball at the scrum by "Hooking" Though in reality this happens very little in the modern game, the position is still seen as a key decision maker, not only do they control the 100's of kilo's behind them in a scum they are responsible for the restart - Line Out.  I didn't bother Googling this term as I figured lots of finishing websites would result, which would play havoc with my internet viewing at a later date seeing fishing adverts all over the cookie filled internet sites I tend to frequent.  Suffice to say the line out is key, as whenever the ball is kicked or carried off the pitch it is the chosen method of restart.

So, our hooker is a key part of the team at set piece and in loose play.  Over the years we have had some good hookers to chose from but for this article I will concentrate on the current and future wearers of the #2 shirt: Ed Shervington and Ollie Hayes.  If you would like to read about Warriors new boy Gus Creevy please take a look HERE 

Aleki Lutui is one of the highest capped Worcester Warriors players in the history of the club.  Born in Tofoa the 34 year old has played 186 games W/D/L 88/10/88.  He has not signed a new Warriors contract for 2013/14 having signed a 2 year deal with Edinburgh. 

That leaves the club with Ed Shervington and Ollie Hayes, both having signed contract extension in 2013.  It is expected that Gus Creevy will arrive at the club around the end of November following his International commitments.  So we have an easy choice at #2 and #16 

Ollie Hayes

Born in Bath in 1990 now standing at 1,83m and weighing in at 105Kg Ollie was signed by Richard Hill from his former club Bristol and has been the "hot prospect" for the last couple of seasons.

Picture: Ollie putting in a tackle on Aleki in his days as a Bristol player.

During the Warriors Championship season Ollie was a regular starter for Bristol and played against us a couple of times.  The later coming in the 81 - 13 Sixways thrashing of Bristol. Ollie's first official run out for Worcester was for the Cavaliers against Exeter United.  As a debut it went very well only making 2 mistakes at the line out in what was a match full of hand bags.  This game sticks in my mind as it was the game that former Warriors 7 Tom Leech had a "coming together" with now Warrior Prop John Andress. 

I think it is fair to say Ollie enjoyed his debut more than Andress did, a broken nose and a defeat for his Exeter United side to his soon to be employers.

Ollie has since gone on to make 14 appearances for Worcester scoring 2 tries and being involved in 7 team victories.  As 3rd choice hooker he is reliant on injuries and players being rested, which after November 2012 hasn't really happened at the club and therefore has played very little rugby in the run up to the end of the season.  

A self proclaimed "Cube Head" Ollie has settled in well at the club and become an integral member of the senior set-up.  His desire to play first team rugby and progress as the owner of the #2 shirt has seen him spend many hours on the training field and in the gym "bulking not sulking" which he will hope results in a regular first team place for 2013/2014.

Ed Shervington

Welsh born 1,80m 110Kg Ed Shervington is 28 years old and has played 65 games for Worcester.

Ed previously played for Neath and Gloucester.  Having played for Welsh age groups at U18, U19 and U21 levels Ed made his move from Ospreys following the 2009/2010 season ready for our drive to get promotion from the Championship.

A very strong and versatile player, I remember once seeing Ed play at #2 for the first half of a game to then spend the second half as a flanker.  Not only did he hold his own in this position he went on to score a brilliant try demonstrating is ability in open play.  A very steady thrower and an exceptionally strong athlete Ed is an extremely reliable and capable premiership hooker always adding power at the breakdown.

Any frequent visitors to the David Lloyd complex at Sixways will know this already, but Ed is an exceptional athlete, putting in a massive number of gym hours both improving his already impressive strength and helping his fellow team mates and back room staff.

One peculiarity of the Hooker stats at Worcester is that the win loss ration for all 3 current players is 50/50.

So what can we expect for next season?  We have 3 very capable rugby playing hookers available, though at the moment it would appear only 2 will be in contention for the first couple of months of the Premiership season.  There would appear to be not much difference between Ed and Ollie in terms of pace, strength and throwing but it is clear that Ed has much more experience of top flight rugby and has been preferred ahead of Ollie in the race for the shirt so regularly held by Aleki Lutui.

This season our line out has been criticised many times and be it through coaching, poor throwing or the limited use of our line out legend Craig Gillies, this is an area of our game that must improve under Dean Ryan next season.

Can we compare our hooker options to those of previous world rugby greats such as; Mario Ledesma, Sean Fitzpatrick or John Smit? Their lack of international honours would say not, though Augustin Creevy, deemed our first choice hooker for next season does have 22 caps for his native Argentina.  

Next season our realistic aim should be to achieve a slot in the middle 4 of the premiership in which case we will be battling with the likes of Exeter, Bath and Gloucester.  Do our options compare to theirs?  Exeter have 5 EQ hookers, including Jack Yeandle & Chris Whitehead.  Bath are equally endowed with EQ players utilising Rob Webber and Ross Batty.  Gloucester on the other hand call on Australian Huia Edmonds and EQ Darren Dawidiuk.  Looking at our nearest premiership rivals I would say that Gus, Ed and Ollie can more than hold their own and I may even be so bold as to say we have greater strength and depth in this key position than the teams we want to be out performing in the league.

Looking further up the table and this seasons title contenders are complimented by names such as Brits, Smit, Chuter, Youngs and Hartley.  Can we compete with these guys? Possibly not next season but who knows fo rthe season after that.  Although age can certainly bring experience and rugby knowledge we already bring pace, strength and offloads.

Though the words conjured up by a Google search for "Hooker" return as 'strumpet', 'street walker' or 'trollop'  Worcester Warriors have 3 options at hooker for next season that whip-up images of talent, youthful experience, physicality, scrum power, pace and skill, which will exceed the teams around us and start to compete with those above.

Thank you Mr Hill and Good Luck Mr Ryan

With 29 caps for England, having got Bristol promoted into the Guinness Premiership in 2005, achieving 3^rd place in the GP, securing Heineken Cup rugby with Bristol, coaching at teams such as; Gloucester, Newport, Harlequins and being former Head Coach of England Students, it is easy to see why Richard Hill was selected as Head Coach at Worcester Warriors.

On the 27^th May the BBC reported “Richard Hill named Worcester Warriors head coach”, I remember the day well as I embarrassingly assumed it was ‘the other’ Richard Hill.

A 2 year contract was reported following his departure from French side Chalon-sur-Saone.  It was widely reported at the time that not only did Hill beat off competition from the likes of Jake White and Graham Rowntree he was also given the nod ahead of his now replacement Dean Ryan.

RH was brought into the club following the Warriors relegation from top-flight rugby and subsequent resignation of Mike Ruddock.  At the time of his appointment the fans views were mixed at best.  Taken from the COYW Forum, when the news was being leaked that Mr Hill may be the next DoR / Head Coach:

“Jeez I hope that's not what we end up with !” Wee Drahm

“When you look at all the names that have been mentioned as applying, this pairing would be the ultimate letdown.” Beav1s

and in response

“Just a tad” Powick Eastander

“oh well that will be the final nail.

The appointment of Richard Hill will finalise my decision to save my hard earned money for another 3 years,

If he lasts that long before the players run him out of town

JP” Faithful_City

When I say mixed, I mean negative.  I’ve not managed to find any pre-confirmation posts that were happy about his potential appointment, other than that from a Bristol fan.

27^th May 2010 the Official Website delightedly announced that Richard Hill was to be named Head Coach at Sixways, following an internal review instigated by Cecil Duckworth, supported by Ian Bell (Rugby Business Consultant) and Dean Richards.

It would appear he was selected primarily for his proven track record in winning the Championship and progressing (with Bristol) to Heineken Cup rugby.  Clearly setting the targets high from day one.

The following months were spattered with new signings and existing squad members signing on for the club.  In June 2010 Tomahawk, Crockett, Andy Williams, Ripol, Higgitt, Shervington and Arscott arrived at the club with Grove and Mullan signing new deals.  With the exception of Shervington, Grove and Mullan you could say that wasn’t the best start to Hill’s reign at Sixways.

The following season, in the RFU Championship, is well documented and I will not go into it in any detail.  Many games were convincingly won, records were broken and Sixways was buzzing with fans looking forward to Premiership rugby again.  The first major worry for the club was the Championship semi-final against Bedford, in which we almost failed at the first hurdle.  A very dramatic late win was needed to progress through to the finals, where we were crowned the eventual winners and secured promotion back to the top flight of English rugby.

Back in the Premiership, September 2011 saw, what is now probably the height of Hill’s Warriors career, newly promoted, already written off, Worcester Warriors record an opening day, home win, against Sale Sharks.  17-12 with what was described at the time as a forwards dominated victory, we were back in the big time, Hill had achieved objective one by getting us back in the Aviva Premiership and objective two, secure premiership rugby was surely in hand with a performance such as this!

It is easy to look back and see the telling signs, but even as far back as September 2011 the signs were there: "We lacked a bit of composure at the end when we needed to keep hold of the ball. We lost it and gave a couple of silly penalties with Alex Grove's yellow card. One or two things crept in and with the clock ticking down, but that is something to learn.” Richard Hill quoted on the official website.  Two years on and that exact same kind of play, silliness and indiscipline may just have cost him his job.

Fast forward to 1^st January 2012 and if you were as unlucky as me, you witness a cold wet Adams Park away win against Wasps.  I feel the only person that wants to forget that game more than me is Ezra Taylor, remember him?  The man with the shortest career in known history.  Wasps was the long awaited debut for Taylor in which, 2 minutes after kick off, he was fallen on, during a line out and did so much damage to his knee he only started full gym training again this year.  A terrible game, in terrible conditions and I seem to remember the 0-6 score line being reported as the lowest ever result in Premiership rugby.  Little did we know then that 15 months later we would still be waiting for our next league away win.  This most definitely has had a massive impact on the decision announced by the club this week, that Hill is out and Ryan is in.

For many the 2012/2013 season has been one to forget.  9^th place with two games remaining, no apparent sign of progress from last season and a host of big name, marquee players leaving the club under a cloud of player discontent. There are plenty of positives from this season, but the sheer fact that objective three has been so obviously missed can not be ignored. 

The Master Plan:

Objective 1 – Promotion – Achieved

Objective 2 – Secure Premiership Rugby – Achieved

Objective 3 – Achieve Heineken Cup Rugby Status – Failed

To achieve objective 3 we would need to end the season in 6^th position.  With two games remaining we are currently 17 points adrift of current placeholders Exeter.  This is not the position of a club about to embark on HC rugby in the 2013/2014 season.  More pressing is the fact Sale are only 2 points behind us and Irish only 3.  A loss this weekend against Quins could result in us dropping to 11^th place, again not a team meeting objective 3 and therefore the right time to make a change?

The club have made their move.  Dean Ryan, once beaten to the role at Sixways by his now predecessor, is our new Director of Rugby.  His role will commence once the 2012/2013 season ends.  The interim time will be managed by Corin Palmer and the current management team. 

Although the official news is bare and the press speculation is high, I think there is one thing for certain, we are in for a lot of changes again this summer. 

My expectation is that two out of the three coaches; Vickery, Larder and Redman will be told their services are no longer required.  New full time back room staff will be appointed and there is room for new playing faces to join us too, based in part on the fact that; Rob O'Donnell, Ceri Jones, Aleki Lutui, Neil Best, Ollie Frost & Shaun Perry are yet to publically confirm their future at Sixways.

If nothing else, there is one thing for certain, we will get more Sky coverage and the post match interviews and analysis will be top draw.

Thank you for all your effort Richard, I do not think many would doubt your commitment to Worcester Warriors and Welcome Dean Ryan, Good Luck!

Also published on COYW April 2013