Eddie Jones screening of Bakkies Botha video left England No.8 traumatised
Former England No.8 Nathan Hughes has recalled how a video of Springbok hardman Bakkies Botha shown to the England squad prior to a match left him terrified before his debut.
The 6’5, 128kg Fijian born back row left New Zealand in 2013 to further his budding career in England under the tutelage of Dai Young at Wasps, a path that would later see him win 22 caps under Eddie Jones between 2016 and 2019.
Now on loan at Bath, Hughes’ career is in resurgence, with the 30-year-old heading to Clermont at the end of the season after impressing in his stint at Bath. Yet he remembers how he knew little of English rugby or its greatest players when he landed in the UK as a naive 21-year-old nine years ago.
“When I came from Fiji, the only players I knew from the England team were Martin Johnson and Jonny Wilkinson, because they were quite big,” Hughes told the RugbyPass Offload podcast.
“My first week coming into the Wasps set-up, they did this welcome video, showing me the past players that had been here. They were saying ‘Lawrence Dallaglio, Billy Vunipola…’ and I turn around and say ‘Lawrence Dallaglio. Who’s that?’ They had to cut that bit out,” laughs Hughes.
Absolute gold from Nathan Hughes ? #Wasps #Offload pic.twitter.com/ZxBMzbDuZm
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) March 30, 2022
“No disrespect, but I was coming from Fiji. I only know players from southern hemisphere rugby; Australia, New Zealand or South Africa. I didn’t know anyone from this side. We only knew Jonny Wilkinson because of his famous drop goal.
“When they mentioned this I was like s***. Went home that day and started Googling Lawrence Dallaglio. I’m like f***, this guy is a legend. The man’s won the Premiership, the Heineken Cup… and then two weeks later he comes in to Wasps, because he’s one of the big guys at the club, and I’m like licking his feet and ‘Ah hi’ and all that!” quips the hulking loose forward. “That was in 2013.”
Hughes played in a Wasps back row alongside Springbok Ashley Johnson and England forward James Haskell, a trio who dubbed themselves the ‘Oreo back row’.
“Those days were quite good because me and Ash [Ashley Johnson] basically just carried. We never hit any rucks. Hask had to hit every ruck.
“Hask went to Dai [then Wasps head coach, Dai Young] and said ‘Dai, I want to get my hands on the ball. Why am I cleaning 30 to 40 rucks a game?’ Dai says ‘You’re the one putting yourself in that position.’
“He [Haskell] was great to have in the squad. He was off-field trying to be a DJ. At the start I thought these tunes are rank, but he’s actually a decent DJ now.
“He brought so much morale into the team. When we went on a team social, he’d be up the top. He’d buy like drinks for the young boys and take charge of everything. As a young player, seeing that, we looked up to players like that.”
Hughes would make his England debut against South Africa three years later in 2016, a day he would never forget, not least because of Eddie Jones’ terrifying build-up to the game. The Australian screened a video of South Africa’s preparation for the 2007 Rugby World Cup final in France, a video that left an impression on the relatively young Fijian.
“In autumn when we had South Africa in Twickenham, that was my debut game and honestly one of the scariest things I ever had to do, first time playing in a big stadium, 82,000 people screaming.
“I remember the first conversation we had with Eddie in the meeting was about South Africa. He brought up the Boer War and he showed us videos of when he was coaching South Africa and the final in 2007 where Bakkies Botha is basically slamming his head in the changing room, before they go out in the final.
“The thing [locker door] is all dented and he’s bleeding and Eddie’s like ‘This is how much it means to South Africa to play against England, they just talk about the Boer War.”
“That was our meeting the first game and I was like f***ing hell, I am already nervous here and you scared me even more. I am only 24 and this is my first game playing.”
Eddie’s shock tactics seemed to work. England ultimately ended a decade-long wait for victory over the Springboks with a resounding 37-21 victory.
“We went out, managed to beat them and it was a great debut.
Nathan Hughes on Eddie Jones' pre-match meeting before England vs South Africa #EnglandRugby #SouthAfrica pic.twitter.com/640uvhUBDR
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) March 30, 2022
“Played three games in autumn and won the Six Nations but the year after that it just fell apart.”
Hughes has played his final game for England, but he hasn’t given up on returning to Test rugby. He has declared that he wishes to play for Fiji, a move which is now possible given the change to World Rugby’s eligibility laws. It’s been over three years since he last played England and is clear to play for the nation of his birth, should they want him.
‘I’d like to go to the World Cup for Fiji but like I’ve always said, it’s performance week in, week out, and let the selection happen.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Good to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
17 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
7 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
17 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
7 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
7 Go to commentsAI is only as good as the information put in, the nuances of the sport, what you see out the corner of the eye, how you sum up in a split second the situation, yes the AI is a tool but will not help win games, more likely contribute to a loss, Rugby Players are not robots, all AI can do if offer a solution not the solution. AI will effect many sports, help train better golfers etc.
45 Go to commentsIt couldn’t have been Ryan Crotty. He wasn’t selected in either World Cup side - they chose Money Bill instead. And Money Bill only cared about himself, and that manager he had, not the team.
26 Go to commentsYawn 🥱 nobody would give a hoot about this new trophy. End of the day we just have to beat Ireland and NZ this year then they can finally shut up 🤐
17 Go to commentsTalking bout Ryan Crotty? Heard Crotty say in a interview once that SBW doesen't care about the team . He went on to say that whenever they lost a big game, SBW would be happy as if nothing happened, according to him someone who cares would look down.. Personally I think Crotty is in the wrong, not for feeling gutted but for expecting others 2 be like him… I have been a bad loser forever as it matters so much to me but good on you SBW for being able to see the bigger picture….
26 Go to commentsThis sounds like a WWE idea so Americans can also get excited about rugby, RUGBY NEEDS A INTERNATIONAL CALENDER .. The rugby Championship and Six Nations can be held at same time, top 3 of six nations and top 3 of Rugby championship (6 nations should include Georgia AND another qualifying country while Fiji, Japan and Samoa/Tonga qualifier should make out 6 Southern teams).. Scrap June internationals and year end tours. Have a Elite top six Cup and the Bottom 6 in a secondary comp….
17 Go to commentsThe 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….
84 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!
7 Go to commentsexcellent idea ! rugby needs this 💪
17 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
14 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.
17 Go to comments