Building the perfect rugby player: Hooker
Following on from the inaugural article focused on props in our new series looking at what goes into making the perfect rugby player, we now turn our attentions to the hooker position.
Just as with looseheads and tightheads, a lot more is expected of hookers in the modern era than was previously, with the days of a solid set-piece contributor being enough to crack most first XVs long gone.
It is also a particularly exciting time at the position, with an array of difference-makers currently plying their trade in the international arena. As we did with the props, we will pick out the five key attributes for the position and the players that best exemplify those qualities from all over the world.
We start as we did with the props, and that is with foundation of set-piece stability. Most notably at the hooker position this comes from a player’s ability to consistently hit their jumpers at the lineout, whether that is through a simple throw to the front or more challenging – but with bigger rewards – longer throws to the middle or back pod, or even beyond the lineout to a waiting runner.
At the Rugby World Cup, no player was as accurate throwing in at the lineout as South Africa’s Bongi Mbonambi. Credit is also due to Springboks’ contingent of jumpers, though without Mbonambi’s inch-perfect throws, a lot of the South African game plan would have fallen apart out in Japan. In addition, the Stormer also helped Tendai Mtawarira and Frans Malherbe give Rassie Erasmus the most dominant scrum at the tournament.
Traditionally, hookers, as often smaller than their front row counterparts, have tended to be more mobile and therefore more able to influence the game at the breakdown, phase after phase. It was also fairly common to see hookers transition between roles in the two jersey and spots on the flank in the back row. Even today, with the advent of professionalism and increased specialisation, it’s still a positional switch that occurs semi-regularly.
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As an example of a hooker who can make a difference in this area of the game, you don’t have to look any further than Scotland’s Fraser Brown, with the Glasgow Warrior having taken on roles in the back row on multiple occasions. From his ability to latch on over the ball and prove a predatory threat in defence, to the accurate and physical work he does clearing at attacking breakdowns, Brown is a fine example of this aspect of a hooker’s game.
Again, in line with what we previously said about props, work rate and stamina are big components in the modern hooker’s arsenal. Like the props, they tend to be replaced midway through the second half, but the bulk they carry around the pitch, as well as the attritional work they get through at the scrum, requires immense levels of stamina.
England’s Jamie George is the epitome of the hard-working, non-stop hooker in the modern game. Like his Saracens teammate Mako Vunipola, who featured in this same category for the props, George’s well-rounded skill set is only made to look so impressive by his aerobic capacity to keep performing throughout the course of a game and the hunger and work rate to keep executing, even when fatigued.
The modern hooker is also a weapon in the loose and there tends to be even more asked of them as ball-carriers than there is of props. This can range from the physical behemoths who barrel their way through would-be tacklers, to the more diminutive and evasive players at the position, but whatever the method of attack is, they tend to be vital to getting a team on the front-foot and over the gain-line.
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The greatest example of this in the modern game, and this player falls very much in the behemoth model of hooker, is South Africa’s Malcolm Marx. The giant 25-year-old is one of the most potent ball-carriers on the planet and he has run rampant through international and Super Rugby defences alike over the past few years.
Finally, we come to ball-handling. Again, due to the added mobility that hookers tend to have in comparison their teammates either side of them at the scrum, they regularly become involved with the game in the more open expanses of the pitch. In order to have the maximum impact in those areas that they can, they need to be more than capable ball-handlers and distributors, something that certainly hasn’t always been a staple among front rowers.
He may have had his challenges with injuries over the last season or two, but no hooker demonstrates this more completely than New Zealand’s Dane Coles. Before the likes of George, Marx and Mbonambi rose to prominence, Coles was seen as the pinnacle of the position and a lot of that had to do with his remarkable ability to link play, keep phases alive and look entirely at home in the wide channels and among the backs.
Lineout throwing and scrummaging – Bongi Mbonambi
Breakdown – Fraser Brown
Work rate and stamina – Jamie George
Ball-carrying – Malcolm Marx
Ball-handling – Dane Coles
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Comments on RugbyPass
The rugby championship would be even stronger with Fiji in it… I know it doesen’t fit the long term plans of NZ or Aus but you are robbing a whole nation of being able to see their best players play for Fiji…. Every second player in NZ and AUS teams has Fijian surnames… shame on you!!! World rugby won’t step in either as France and England has now also joined in…. I guess where money is involved it will always be the poor countries missing out….
76 Go to commentsNo surprise there. How hard can it be to pick a ball off the ground and chuck it to a mate? 😂
2 Go to commentsSometimes people just like a moan mate!
1 Go to commentsexcellent idea ! rugby needs this 💪
9 Go to comments9 Brumbies! What a joke! The best performing team in Oz! Ditch Skelton for Swain or Neville. Ryan Lonergan ahead of McDermott any day! Best selection bolter is Toole … amazing player
12 Go to commentsI like this, but ultimately rugby already has enough trophies. Trying to make more games “consequential" might prove to be a fools errand, although this is a less bad idea than some others. Minor quibble with the title of the article; it isn’t very meaningful to say the boks are the unofficial world champions when it would be functionally impossible for the Raeburn trophy not to be held by the world champions. There’s a period of a few months every 4 years when there is no “unofficial” world champion, and the Raeburn trophy is held by the actual world champions.
9 Go to commentsIts a great idea but one that I dont think will have a lot of traction. It will depend on the prestige that they each hold but if you can do that it would be great. When Japan beat the Boks (my team) I was absolutely devestated but I wont deny the great game they played that day. We were outclassed and it was one of the best games of rugby I have seen. Using an idea like this you might just give the the underdog teams more of an opportunity to beat the big teams and I can absolutely see it being a brilliant display of rugby. They beat us because they planned for that game. It was a great moment for Japan. This way we can remove the 4 year wait and give teams something to aim for outside of World Cup years.
9 Go to commentsHi, Dave here. Happy to answer questions 🥰
9 Go to commentsDon’t think that headline is accurate. It’s great to see Aus doing better but I’m not sure they’ve shown much threat to the top of the table. They shouldn’t be inflating wins against the lousy Highlanders and Crusaders either.
3 Go to commentsSuch a shame Roigard and Aumua picked up long term injuries, probably the two form players in the comp. Also, pretty sure Clarke Dermody isn’t their coach. Got it half right though.
3 Go to commentsOh the Aussie media, they never learn. At least Andrew Kellaway is like “Woah, yeah it’s great, but settle down there guys” having endured years of the Aussie media, fans, and often their players getting ahead of themselves only to fall flat on their faces. Have the “We'll win the Bledisloe for sure this year!” headlines started yet? It’s simple to see what’s going on. The Aussie teams are settled, they didn't lose any of their major players overseas. The Crusaders and Chiefs lost key experienced All Blacks, and Razor in the Crusaders case, and clearly neither are anywhere near as strong as last year (The Canes and Blues would probably be 3rd & 4th if they were). The Highlanders are annually average, even more so post-Aaron Smith and a big squad clean out. The two teams at the top? The two nz sides with largely the same settled roster as last year, except Ardie Savea for the Canes. They’ve both got far better coaches now too. If the Aussies are going to win the title, this is the year the kiwi sides will be weakest, so they better take their chance.
3 Go to commentsThe World Cup has to be the gold standard, line in the sand. 113 teams compete for what is the opportunity to make the pool stages, and then the knockout games for the trophy. The concept is sound. This must have been the rationale when the World Cup was created, surely? But I’m all for Looking forward and finding new ways for the SH to dominate the NH into the future. The autumn series needs a change up. Let’s start by having the NH teams come south every odd year for the Autumn/Spring series games?
9 Go to commentsWhat’ll happen when the AI models of the future go back in time and try to destroy the AI models of the past standing in their way of certain victory?
41 Go to commentsThanks, Nick. We (Seanny Maloney, Brett and I) just discussed Charlie as a potential Wallaby No 8, and wondered if he has truly realised how big he is in contact (and whether he can add 5 kg w/o slowing down). Your scouting report confirms our suspicions he has the materiel. No one knows if he has the mentality (as Johann van Graan said this week about CJ, Duane and Alfie B) to carry 10-15 times a game.
57 Go to commentsHe would be a great player for the Stormers, Dobbo should approach the guy.
3 Go to commentsGood article. A few years back when he was playing for the Cheetahs, he was a quiet standout for exactly the seasons stated here. I occasionally get to see his games in the UK, and he has become a more complete player and in many ways like an Irish player. His work ethic is so suitable to the Leinster game. I wonder if Rassie would have him listed somewhere.
3 Go to commentsResults probably skewed by the fact that a few clubs have foreign fly halves in their 30s, but most teams have young English scrum halves. Results also likely to be skewed by the fact that many teams rely on centres and fullbacks to provide depth at 10, whereas they will need to stock a large number of specialist backup 9s.
2 Go to commentsI really get the sense that when all is said and done, the path of least resistance will end up being a merger of Wasps & Worcester that essentially kills the Worcester Warriors brand and sees Wasps permanently playing at Sixways. I’m not saying that’s what should happen or what I want to happen. I just think it’s the easiest rout to take and therefore, will be what happens. Wasps will definitely return to play first, and I suppose it all depends on if they can find support at Sixways. If people turn up and support Wasps in that community, at that ground, I bet they drop the Sevenoaks plan and just remain at Sixways. Under the radar but not totally unrelated, it looks as though London Irish are going to be brought back from the dead by a German consortium and look set to return, likely to the remade Championship. It’s set to have 12 clubs next season with 14 in 2025/26, what do you want to bet those extra 2 are Wasps and London Irish?
3 Go to commentsThe shoulder is a “joint” with multiple bones. You don’t “fracture” a shoulder, you fracture any one or more of the bones that make up a shoulder.
2 Go to commentsOh dear, bones too suspect to continue?
2 Go to comments