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Wasps and England flanker James Haskell joins The Rugby Pod to discuss his future, the Lions and Eddie Jones’ visit to his house.
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The 32-year-old says the door to the England squad remains “slightly ajar” but revealed that he knew Jones was coming over to deliver bad news so he didn’t roll out the red carpet or splash out on fancy food and drink but just made him a green tea instead.
“I knew he wasn’t coming up [to the house] to offer me the captaincy, so I didn’t get out the fine china or anything like that but I made him a green tea and didn’t threaten to chase him down the road in my digger,” he told The Rugby Pod.
“I knew I was getting booted out. If he was coming up to offer me something good and things were going really well, then I might have really laid it on for him.”
Haskell told former Scotland international Jim Hamilton and ex-England fly half Andy Goode that it was frustrating watching the autumn internationals from afar but that he knows what he has to do to get back into the squad and that is focus on what sets him apart.
“Obviously, they won three out of three in the autumn and the back row boys went well but I’ve just got get on with it and worry about what I can control,” he said.
“He just said that my form hadn’t been good enough. He felt that I wasn’t performing and I needed to go away and sort that out. He has always been very honest and open about that kind of stuff and obviously the door was not fully closed. I think it’s slightly ajar.
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“For me it’s just about playing well. If you go well for your club and they go well, then you’re constantly putting your hand up and they can’t ignore you.
“I think when you’ve got to a certain point, it’s just about bringing out your point of difference. There’s no point in trying to reinvent the wheel. I think for a large part of my career I was trying to be all things to all men and trying to be good at everything and you’re just never going to be able to do that.
“People have a point of difference. Goodey was good in the bar after the game and good for morale. Jim was great for penalties and if you wanted a game slowing down and disrupted, you’d call on him.
“I need to bring my physicality to games and he wants me hitting people hard and doing that kind of stuff, so it’s very simple and you’ve just got to go and deliver that. He didn’t ask me to start taking drop goals or try to be a playmaker because that’s never going to happen.”
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The back rower, who has won 75 caps for his country, also revealed that he spent a lot of time with the Irish contingent while on tour with the British and Irish Lions in the summer and that there were a few interesting characters in the group.
“Tadgh Furlong was very nice. I was sharing a room with him and looking lost and he gave me a big hug. I thought that was very nice and welcoming,” he told The Rugby Pod.
“Sean O’Brien was a very interesting character to share a room with and I wouldn’t say hygiene was top of the list of priorities.
“He was very good but he was a bit of a selfish shellfish. My missus sent me a couple of care packages that I left on my bed and when I came back he’d unwrapped them and eaten the Ferrero Rocher.
“CJ Stander was a lovely bloke but he made me watch a few weird videos on his phone of hunting and stuff like that. That was pretty aggressive.
“The amazing thing was the kit man really. We had a guy called Rala [Patrick O’Reilly], who was a 70-year-old guy and is an Irish legend and what I didn’t realise is that the tradition the night before a game was that everyone would go to his room and he’d get out sweets and cups of tea. Not in a weird way though!
“The boys would then relax and tell a few stories but as the night progresses the Irish boys get more and more aggressive and they start trashing this bloke’s room.
“The best night I heard about was when they Blu-Tacked all his possessions to the ceiling, including his glasses so he couldn’t see where anything was, but one night they also set his alarm for on the hour every hour from 4am and hid his glasses in the cupboard.
“He couldn’t find his glasses to turn the alarm off and then they ordered him an anchovy and pilchard sandwich to be hand delivered as well.”
Haskell is firmly back on club duty now and, although he is out of contract at the end of this season, insists he hasn’t spoken to any other clubs and is focused on performing well for Wasps with the ultimate goal of adding to his 75 England caps as well.
“I’m out of contract with Wasps [at the end of the season] but I honestly haven’t had a conversation with anyone about anything. I’ve just been trying to get everything in order with my playing,” he said.
“This was obviously the first time I’d been fully left out of the England squad when I was fit and able to be involved, so it just refocused me about what I wanted to do.”
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Comments on RugbyPass
Lets compare apples with apples. Lyon sent weak team the week before, but nobody raised an eyebrow. Give the South African teams a few years to build their depth, then you will be moaning that the teams are too strong.
41 Go to commentsDid footballs agents also perform the scout role at some time? I’m surprised more high profile players haven’t taken up the occupation, great way to remain in the game and use all that experience without really requiring a lot of specific expertise?
1 Go to commentsSuper rugby is struggling but that has little to do with sabbaticals. 1. Too many teams from Aust and NZ - should be 3 and 4 respectively, add in 2 from Japan, 1 possibly 2 from Argentina. 2. Inconsistent and poor refereeing, admittedly not restricted to Super rugby. Only one team was reffed at the breakdown in Reds v H’Landers match. Scrum penalty awarded in Canes v Drua when No 8 had the ball in the open with little defence nearby - ideal opportunity to play advantage. Coming back to Reds match - same scrum situation but ref played advantage - Landers made 10 yards and were penalised at the breakdown when the ref should have returned to scrum penalty. 3. Marketing is weak and losing ground to AFL and NRL. Playing 2 days compared with 4. 4. Scheduling is unattractive to family attendance. Have any franchises heard of Sundays 2pm?
10 Go to commentsAbsolutely..all they need is a chance in yhe playoffs and I bet all the other teams will be nervous…THEY KNOW HOW TO WIN IM THE PLAYOFFS..
2 Go to commentsI really hope he comes back and helps out with some coaching.
1 Go to commentsI think we are all just hoping that the Olympic 7s doesn’t suffer the same sad fate as the last RWC with the officials ruining the spectacle.
1 Go to commentsPersonally, I’ve lost the will to even be bothered about the RFU, the structure, the participants. It’s all a sham. I now simply enjoy getting a group of friends together to go and watch a few games a year in different locations (including Europe, the championship, etc). I feel extremely sorry for the real fans of these clubs who are constantly ignored by the RFU and other administrators. I feel especially sorry for the fans of clubs in the Championship who have had considerable central funding stripped away and are then expected to just take whatever the RFU put to them. Its all a sham, especially if the failed clubs are allowed to return.
9 Go to commentsI’m guessing Carl Hayman would have preferred to have stayed in NZ with benefit of hindsight. Up north there is the expectation to play twice as many games with far less ‘player management’ protocols that Paul is now criticising. Less playing through concussions means longer, healthier, careers. Carter used as the eg here by Paul, his sabbatical allowed him to play until age 37. OK its not an exact science but there is far more expectations on players who sign for Top 14 or Engl Prem clubs to get value for the huge salaries. NZR get alot wrong but keeping their best players in NZ rugby is not one of them. SA clubs are virtually devoid of their top players now, no thanks. They cant threaten the big teams in the Champions Cup, the squads have little depth. Cant see Canes/Chiefs struggling. Super has been great this year, fantastic high skill matches. Drua a fantastic addition and Jaguares will add another quality team eventually. Aus teams performing strongly and no doubt will benefit with the incentive of a Lions tour and a home RWC. Let Jordie enjoy his time with Leinster, it will allow the opportunity for another player to emerge at Canes in his absence.
10 Go to commentsLove that man, his way to despise angry little men is so funny ! 😂
4 Go to comments“South African franchises would be powerhouses if we had all our overseas based players back in situ. We would have the same unbeatable aura the Toulouses, Leinsters or Saracens of this world have had over the last decade or so.” Proof that Jake white does not understand the economics of the game in SA. Players earning abroad are not going to simply come back and represent the bulls. But they might if they have a springbok contract.
22 Go to commentsA lot of fans just joined in for the fun of it! We all admire O'Gara and what he has done for La Rochelle
4 Go to commentsThe RFU will find a way to mess this up as usual. My bet is there will be no promotion into the the Premiership, only relegation into National League One. Hopefully they won’t parachute failed clubs into the league at the expense of clubs who have battled for promotion.
9 Go to commentsWell that’s the contracts for RG and Jordie bought and paid for. Now, what are the chances we can persuade Antoine to hop over with all the extra dosh we’ll have from living at the Aviva & Croke next season…??? 🤑🤑🤑
35 Go to commentsWow, that’s incredible. Great for rugby.
35 Go to commentsYou probably read that parling is going to coach the wallaby lineout but if not before now you have.
14 Go to commentsIf someone like Leo Cullen was in O’Gara’s place I don’t hear Boo-ing. It’s not just that La Rochelle has hurt Leinster and O’Gara is their Irish boss. It’s the needle that he brings and the pantomime activity before the game around pretending that Munster were supporting LaRochelle just because O’Gara is from Cork. That’s dividing Irish provinces just to get an advantage for his French Team. He can F*ck right off with that. BOOOOO! (but not while someone is lying injured)
4 Go to commentsDid the highlanders party too hard before the game? They were the pits.
1 Go to commentsWhat a player! Not long until he’s in the England side, surely?
5 Go to commentsHe seems to have the same aura as Marcus Smith - by which I mean he’s consistently judged as if he’s several years younger than he actually is. Mngomezulu has played 24 times for the Stormers. When Pollard was his age he had played 24 times for South Africa! He has more time to develop, but he has also had time to do some developing already, and he hasn’t demonstrated nearly as much talent in that time as one would expect. If he is a generational talent, then it must be a pretty poor generation.
6 Go to commentsThe greatest Springbok coach of all time is entirely on the money. Rassie and Jacques have given the south african public a great few years, but the success of the springbok selection policy will need to be judged in light of what comes next. The poor condition that the provincial system is currently in doesn’t bode well for the next few years of international rugby, and the insane 2026 schedule that the Boks have lined up could also really harm both provincial and international consistency.
22 Go to comments