Eddie Jones used beer slab to send message to England's Luke Cowan-Dickie
Luke Cowan-Dickie recalled an unusual early warning from Eddie Jones as he gets set to be named among England’s vice-captains for the Guinness Six Nations.
Cowan-Dickie’s status as a young father has brought with it a fresh sense of responsibility and the spillover into his career is a newly discovered commitment to conditioning.
The 28-year-old’s leaner and more powerful frame has meant greater impact for longer on the field for Exeter and is the result of an attitude shift having earned a reputation that even reached Jones when he took over England in 2016.
“I heard Luke was a bit of drinker. When he walked in, I put a crate of beers on the table. He made me laugh because after we’d had our chat, he walked off with the beers,” Jones said in his autobiography ‘My Life and Rugby’.
At the time, Cowan-Dickie quickly identified the underlying message wrapped in Jones’ humorous gesture.
“It wasn’t a test because I left the room without them and he told me to come back and get them! He said if I get thirsty I can have one in the room,” said Cowan-Dickie, who is poised to be named among England’s vice captains for the Guinness Six Nations.
“The issue was they were cans of Guinness and not so nice! What was my reaction? I thanked him. A crate of 24 free Guinness, you can’t turn that down!
“I think it was more a statement by him, as if to say ‘I know what you’re like and I don’t want you to be like that’. It was a nice way of putting his foot down.”
In evidence of his growing maturity, Cowan-Dickie was asked by Jones to be one of England’s vice-captains for the autumn only for ankle ligament damage to rule him out of all three Tests.
With Owen Farrell missing the entire Six Nations because of his own ankle injury, Jones is keen to expand the leadership group as part of his team rebuilding project for the 2023 World Cup.
It comes a time when Cowan-Dickie has resolved to extract the most of his England career, his confidence soaring after emerging as the British and Irish Lions’ first choice hooker in South Africa last year.
He said: “I’ve grown up slightly and I’m getting old so I have to recover. I never used to recover, never used to do stuff like that.
“Before I had my kid rugby was my job but I used to skip all the recoveries and all the extras I may need to do.
“I have always carried a bit of extra body fat and my weight varies quite often. I like everything that’s bad! I like biscuits, I like chocolate, I like sweets. I like eating my little man’s leftovers, which I’ve cut out quite bit.
“Plus my missus is on a little bit of a health kick so instead of cooking a pasta bake for eight people when there are only two of us in the house, so I finish the whole bowl, we have a chicken salad. So things have changed.
“I just thought having time off with the injury, I would get in the best shape I could try and get in. I feel better on the pitch.
“I feel more mobile and that I make more contributions in the game. And I feel there’s not a major drop-off towards the end of the game.”
Comments on RugbyPass
The value he brought to the crusaders as an assistant was equal to what he got out of being there. He reflected not only on the team culture but also the credit he attributed to the rugby community. Such experience shouldn’t be overlooked.
3 Go to commentsGood luck Aussie
10 Go to commentssmith at 9 / mounga 10 / laumape 12 / fainganuku 14
39 Go to commentsBar the injuries, it’s pretty much their top team …
2 Go to commentsDon’t disagree with much of this but it appears you forgot Rodda and Beale, who started at the Force on the weekend.
10 Go to commentsExcept for the injured Zach Gallagher this would be Saders best forward pack for the season. Blackadder needs to stay at 7, for all of Christies tackling he is not dominant and offers very little else. McNicholfullback is maybe a good option, Fihaki not really upto it, there was a reason Burke played there last year. Maybe Havilli to 2nd five McLeod to wing. Need a strong winger on 1 side to compliment Reece
1 Go to commentsTo me TJ is clearly the best 9 in the competition right now but he's also a proven player off the bench, there's few playmaking players who can come off the bench as calm and settled as he is, Beauden can, TJ can and I doubt any of the scrumhalves in contention can, if they want to experiment with new 9s I want him on the bench ready to step in if they crumble under the pressure. The Boks put their best front row on the bench, I'd like to see us take a similar approach, the Hurricanes have been doing similar things with players like Kirifi.
39 Go to commentsROG has better chance to win a WC if he starts training and make himself eligible as a player. He won’t make the Ireland squad but I reckon he may get close with Namibia (needs to improve his Afrikaans) or Portugal. Both sides had 1000:1 odds to win the RWC in 2023 which is an improvement on ROG’s odds of winning a RWC as a coach. Unlike Top 14 teams, national teams can’t go shopping and buy the best players - you work with the available talent pool and turn them into world beaters.
3 Go to commentsthat backline nope that backline is terrible why would you have sevu Reece when he’s not even top 5 wingers in the comp why have Blackadder when there’s better players no Scott barret isn’t an automatic the guy is more of a liability than anything why have him there when you have samipeni who’s far far better
39 Go to commentsAh, good to find you Nick. Agree with everything about Cale. So much to like about his game
50 Go to commentsNot too bad. Questions at 6, lock and HB for me. The ABs will be a lot stronger once Jordan and Roigard return. Also, work needs to be made to secure Frizzell back for next season and maybe also Mo’unga; they’re just wasting time playing in japan
39 Go to commentsOn the title, i wonder for many of those people it is a case something like a belief in working smarter, not harder?
1 Go to commentsForget Sotutu. One of those whose top level is Super Rugby. Id take a punt on Wallace Sititi Finau ahead of Glass body Blackadder.
39 Go to commentsI’m a pensioner so I've been around a bit. My opinion of SBW is he is an elite athlete and a great New Zealander and roll model. He has been to the top and knows what he's talking about. To all the negative comments regarding SBW the typical New Zealand way, cut that tall poppy down.
17 Go to commentsI'm not listening to a guy moralise over others when this is the guy who walked out mid season on Canterbury RLFC when he had a contract with them, what a hypocrite. All the Kiwis sticking up for this unprincipled individual because they can't accept justified criticism, he has zero credibility or integrity. Those praising him are a joke.
17 Go to commentsI’d put Finau at 6 instead of Blackadder but that’s the only change I’d make. Can’t wait to see who Razor picks.
39 Go to commentsTamati Williams, Codie Taylor, and Same Cane? Not sure about Hoskins Sotutu at test level. Wasn’t that impressive last season. Need a balance between experience and talent/youth.
39 Go to commentsInteresting insight. Fantastic athlete, and a genuine human being.
17 Go to commentsThey played at night in Suva last weekend and it’s an afternoon game forecast for 19 degrees in Canberra this weekend. Heat change is a non issue.
2 Go to commentsWishing Rosie a speedy recovery
1 Go to comments