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Jack Walker, the fly-half 'trapped in a hooker’s body'
By Jon Newcombe
Danny Care of the modern era and Brian Moore and Peter Winterbottom pre-professionalism will take some shifting as Yorkshire’s finest rugby exports to Harlequins.
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Even being talked about in the same referential tones as that celebrated trio will amount to a career very well spent in south-west London given what those players have achieved in the multi-coloured quarters over such a long period of time.
Slowly but surely, though, hooker Jack Walker, who hails from Settle in the Yorkshire Dales, has become a key player for the club since his move from Bath four years ago.
Still only 28, Walker is the spearhead of one of the best scrummaging packs in the league, his lineout throwing this season has been almost flawless – winning 32 out of 33 going into today’s game against Exeter at Sandy Park – and he has become a real leader in defence, missing only one of his 50 attempted tackles.
Yorkshire folk don’t like to talk themselves up (Geoff Boycott being the exception, perhaps), they let others – and their performances – do that for them, and this week head coach Danny Wilson was effusive in his praise, saying he was “great to work with.”
And if he maintains his current form, Walker will surely add to the five England caps he won in 2023, including one off the bench against Chile at the World Cup.
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Leadership is nothing new to Walker, or Wakka as he is known throughout rugby, as he captained England U20s in the Junior World Cup-winning year of 2016, four years after his brother Chris, a flanker, led the same side, and he’s embracing the chance to show those qualities at Quins.
“As a front-rower, you want to pride yourself on defence, and I have worked hard on my leadership qualities. And now that I am a little bit older, especially here when we have such a young squad, I have tried to bring that to the forefront. When you are put in those positions and trusted by coaches it is nice, and you feel like you can really step forward and lead there. I have enjoyed that part of the game,” said Walker.
“I have been fortunate enough throughout my career, starting at Leeds and then at Bath, that I have been in positions where I have been put forward to lead.
“There is no exam or test you can take, I think you have got to be in a club for a while to establish yourself, build those relationships off the field. You almost want to get the trust of everyone before you start stepping forward too much. I feel like I have been here a decent amount of time now and I am relishing the opportunity this year to do that.
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“When you have the people we have here, it makes that job easy anyway. It is a team full of characters but, more importantly, it is a team full of players who have been there and done it and are outstanding at what they do.”
A fly-half in his youth, Walker’s skillset also makes him well suited to the expansive game Harlequins play. One-time Leeds team-mate, Tom Bullough, a centre, once admitted, “it wasn’t great for my confidence having a hooker teach me how to throw a pass off my left hand,” while another, Will Homer, said Walker, ‘throws darts like Phil Taylor and has skills like a back.’
Walker loves all sides of the game. “I really enjoy trying to get my hands on the ball, trying to create spaces and put people in. I am probably a fly-half in my head trapped in a hooker’s body who has slowly been pushed forward over the years. I enjoy playing hooker, you get a nice mix of physical stuff, set-piece, and then you’ve still got the freedom to almost roam like a back row, especially here at Quins where we like to throw the ball around a bit.
“I love being here, I love the people and the set-up and the organisation, and the brand that Quins play is pretty exciting to watch and it’s exciting to play in. I have loved my time here so far and long may it continue.”
As for England, Walker is unfortunate in the sense that the England captain, Jamie George, plays in the same position. Plus, he’s also playing at a time when there is some serious competition. Whilst Walker’s throwing stats are impressive, Luke Cowan-Dickie of Sale, for example, nailed all but one of his 60 throws across the first five rounds of the Premiership. Incredibly, the Opta stats show that 11 hookers in the league have a success rate of 90%+, and Walker’s young understudy, Nathan Jibulu, is one of them.
“If you look across the league there are good hookers everywhere. I think the most impressive thing for me is you look at the age-profile of some of the hookers coming through, there is definitely some outstanding talent out there. It’s exciting for the Premiership and it’s exciting for English rugby and I think, as a front-row union we’re in a pretty good place.”
Yesterday this young man made family & brothers from Settle, teammates & parent mates from North Ribb, Sch of a Rugby, & Academy rugby, classmates & team mates from PHGS & previous junior Sch. Rugby coaching & support staff all feel like we won a 🌹 🧢 #1 #Waka @chris_walker92 pic.twitter.com/wUNJQ80Od1
— Jonathan Pendlebury (@JonSkindlebury) February 13, 2023
Having become Yorkshire Carnegie’s (Leeds) youngest-ever forward aged 17, it feels like Walker has been around a long time. But he still has six years on George, who turned 34 last week, and with a Lions tour coming at the end of the season, he could get another opportunity with England next summer.
Is Test rugby still on his radar? Whilst it’s a question he’d probably rather see off quicker than he sees off pints – legend has it he’s a sub-two-second man – Walker is happy to offer up an answer. “100 percent. Jamie has been there a long time now, he’s played a lots of games for England. So I don’t think he will be pushed out any time soon.
“Without giving you the same boring answer my focus is on playing well for Quins. We have got so much competition here at the club – Sam Riley, Nathan (Jibulu), George Head – we have got so many players here, so I have to keep my head down and try and try keep my place in the team here. If anything else does come from that in the future, amazing. If not, I would be pretty happy here if we are successful.”
In the meantime, Sunday’s trip to Exeter will be a serious test of his skills. Not only is Sandy Park notoriously bad for throwers given it always blows a gale there, it’s a ground where Quins haven’t won in the league since May 2014.
Quins have beaten Saracens and Newcastle at home and picked up losing bonus points in narrow defeats to Sale and Northampton, away, and at home to Bath last weekend.
A win at their bogey ground would see them end the first block of Premiership matches on a positive note.
“If you look at the league as a whole for the last two or three year it has been tight, hasn’t it, it has been near impossible to say where you are going to finish up at the end of the season at this point.
“What’s been good this year is the way we have performed. Even though we have had a few near-misses, definitely chances that we believe as a group that we have missed, our performances are improving and trending in the right direction.
“If we convert a few of those close games into wins we’ll be right there in the mix. That’s definitely the plan.”
