Luke Hamilton Is A Legend And His Post-Match Interview Was Gold
North Harbour Sevens captain Luke Hamilton dared to be different during a post-match interview last weekend, then someone decided to go and be a jerk about it. Scotty Stevenson says: screw that.
Luke Hamilton, you are a champ.
I’ve been working in rugby for a decade and in that time I have heard all sorts of things in halftime and post-match interviews. I have also heard the same thing – insert personal favourite rugby cliché here – at least two hundred times, which is no surprise given the fact that players are A) tired as fuck and B) don’t actually want a microphone shoved under their nose at that point (or any point) in time.
I have heard F-bombs and banter, put-downs and sulks; full credit has been given and ‘nah definitely’s delivered. I can’t remember a time, however, when a player has finished a game, immediately whipped out photos of his two kids, and proceeded to sing a Barney the Dinosaur song to one of them, on live television.
Will be hard to beat this post match interview @NationalSevens in 2017. Luke Hamilton is a #champion pic.twitter.com/rCKT2Qm7vv
— Shaun Eade (@ShaunEade) January 14, 2017
Barney the Purple damn Dinosaur!
Holy shit! What a champion. Speaking as a father of two young children who have moved on from such shows, I have done everything in my power to forget the words to every Barney the Dinosaur song ever written (as well as the collected works of the Wiggles, and the theme song to any toddler-targeted television programme produced in the 21st century). A mix of liquor and paternal denial, in my case, has almost done the trick.
Not so the laudable Luke Hamilton, who rightly acknowledged he was closer to 40 than 20 and who would be the first to admit he had no business playing five games of sevens over the weekend. Not only did the wee fella know all the words to ‘I Love You’, he managed to belt them out while trying to reinflate two ageing lungs and bring his heart rate down from 300 beats per minute. That, in itself, is a miracle.
I bumped into Luke a little while after his performance. “Me Facebook is blowing up, Sumo!” he exclaimed, with trademark Luke Hamilton enthusiasm. “No shit, mate,” I offered in return. He informed me that Kaeleigh and Lachie (his young children for who he had sung the song) had already re-wound and watched the interview approximately 467 times. Barney be damned!
Of course the video of the interview was shared a gazillion times across various websites, which is tantamount to an open invitation to severely repressed men with penis plaque and/or unhappy disapproving types everywhere to tut-tut the whole thing because, well because how dare someone be so comfortable in their own skin and so obviously adoring of their children?
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Most of the reaction, thankfully, has been positive – along the lines of “Luke, you are definitely not right in the head” (he has had a few concussions) and “You’re a fucken legend” which was true before he sung Barney and is even truer now. However, from somewhere deep in the bowels of the New Zealand Herald came an anonymous write-off of the now-viral clip excoriating Luke Hamilton for having a personality. [Note: the story has since been completely rewritten from a positive angle]
In honour of Luke Hamilton’s number 9 jersey (which should be hung from the rafters of North Harbour Stadium) let me list nine things that are [were] wrong with this piece:
1. It has no by-line. If you are going to rain down hammer blows on one of the finest midget ginger battlers ever to grace the game’s provincial fields, at least have the good grace to put your name to it.
2. “This needs to be nipped in the bud” is a phrase that should only appear in a gardening advice column.
3. “Before this becomes a trend”: What? Do you really think every rugby player on the planet is now going to sing purple dinosaur songs to their children post-match? I think you may need to calm the fuck down. And what if they did? Well, we can’t be having all those happy children, now, can we?
4. “Cringe-inducing note”: Nope. Everyone else laughed their asses off.
5. With the greatest respect to my esteemed colleague Willie Lose, I’m not sure he has ever spoken for the nation. In much the same way this opinion piece (and every other opinion piece, ever) doesn’t.
6. “Viewers quite rightly began to fear the worst”: Yes, we all thought we were going to get bowel cancer and burn alive. Good grief! It’s a fun post-match interview, not the apocalypse.
7. “Hamilton has absolutely no future in show business”: I’d watch him. So would all of my friends. Five nights a week. At least.
8. “It makes you wonder what his team speeches are like”: Yes, it does. I want to hear one. In fact I want Luke Hamilton to give me a little pep talk before every workday. I would be so into work with a little encouragement from a man who so obviously gives so few fucks.
9. It has no by-line.
I say be damned you soulless ghoul. May Luke Hamilton’s children never grow old enough to be embarrassed by their dad, and may this crazy man play on forever, if only for the post-match interviews.
[Full Disclaimer. Luke and I go back a ways, and what you may not have seen is the part of the interview in which he says that song was as much for me as it was for his kids. Which was really lovely and quite touching, actually – especially as I had just taken the piss out of him in a commentary.]
Comments on RugbyPass
This is short sighted from Clayton if you ask me, smacks of too much preseason planning and no adaptability. What if DMac is out for a must win match, are they still only going to bring their best first five and playmaker on late in the game? Trusting the game to someone who wasn’t even part of planning (they would have had Trask pinned in as Jacomb preseason). Perhaps if the Crusaders were better they would not have done this, but either way imo you take this opportunity to play a guy you might need starting in a final rather than having their 12th game getting comfortable coming off the bench.
1 Go to commentsThanks Brett.. At last a positive article on the potential of Wallaby candidates, great to read. Schmidt’s record as an international rugby coach speaks for itself, I’m somewhat confident he will turn the Wallaby’s fortunes around …. on the field. It will be up to others to steady the ship off the paddock. But is there a flaw in my optimism? We have known all along that Australia has the players to be very competitive with their international rivals. We know that because everyone keeps telling us. So why the poor results? A question that requires a definitive answer before the turn around can occur. Joe Schmidt signed on for 2 years, time to encompass the Lions tour of 2025. By all accounts he puts family first and that’s fair enough, but I would wager that his 2 year contract will be extended if the next 18 months or so shows the statement “Australia has the players” proves to be correct. The new coach does not have a lot of time to meld together an outfit that will be competitive in the Rugby Championship - it will be interesting to see what happens. It will be interesting to see what happens with Giteau law, the new Wallaby coach has already verbalised that he would to prefer to select from those who play their rugby in Australia. His first test in charge is in July just over 3 months away .. not a long time. I for one wish him well .. heaven knows Australia needs some positive vibes.
21 Go to commentsWhat a load of bollocks. The author has forgotten to mention the fact that the Crusaders have a huge injury toll with top world class players out. Not to mention the fact that they are obviously in a transition period. No this will not spark a slow death for NZ rugby, but it does mean there will be a new Super Rugby champion. Anyone who knows anything about NZ rugby knows that there is some serious talent here, it just isn’t all at the Crusaders.
2 Go to commentsI wouldn’t spend the time on Nawaqanitawase! No point in having him filling in a jersey when he’s committed to leave Union. Give the jersey to a young prospect who will be here in the future.
4 Go to commentsIt was a pleasure to watch those guys playing with such confidence. That trio can all be infuriating for different reasons and I can see why Jones might have decided against them. No way to justify leaving Ikitau out though. Jorgensen and him were both scheduled to return at the same time. Only one of them plays for Randwick and has a dad who is great mates with the national coach though.
53 Go to commentsBrayden Iose and Peter Lakai are very exciting Super Rugby players but are too short and too light to ever be a Test 8 vs South Africa, France, Ireland, and England, Lakai could potentially be a Test player at 7 if he is allowed to focus on 7 for Hurricanes.
7 Go to commentsPencils “Thomas du Toit” into possible 2027 Bok squad.
1 Go to commentsDon’t see why Harrison makes the bench. Jones can play at 10 if needed, and there is a good case for starting her there to begin with if testing combinations. That would leave room for Sing on the bench
1 Go to commentsWhat a load of old bull!
1 Go to commentsOf the rugby I’ve born witness to in my lifetime - 1990 to date - I recognize great players throughout those years. But I have no doubt the game and the players are on average better today. So I doubt going back further is going to prove me wrong. The technical components of the game, set pieces, scrums, kicks, kicks at goal. And in general tactics employed are far more efficient, accurate and polished. Professional athletes that have invested countless hours on being accurate. There is one nation though that may be fairly competitive in any era - and that for me is the all blacks. And New Zealand players in general. NZ produces startling athletes who have fantastic ball skills. And then the odd phenomenon like Brooke. Lomu. Mcaw. Carter. Better than comparing players and teams across eras - I’ve often had this thought - that it would be very interesting to have a version of the game that is closer to its original form. What would the game look like today if the rules were rolled back. Not rules that promote safety obviously - but rules like: - a try being worth 1 point and conversion 2 points. Hence the term “try”. Earning a try at goals. Would we see more attacking play? - no lifting in the lineouts. - rucks and break down laws in general. They looked like wrestling matches in bygone eras. I wonder what a game applying 1995 rules would look like with modern players. It may be a daft exercise, but it would make for an interesting spectacle celebrating “purer” forms of the game that roll back the rules dramatically by a few versions. Would we come to learn that some of the rules/combinations of the rules we see today have actually made the game less attractive? I’d love to see an exhibition match like that.
29 Go to commentsIrish Rugby CEO be texting Andy Farrell “Andy, i found our next Kiwi Irishman”
5 Go to commentsI certainly don’t miss drinking beers at 8am in the morning watching rugby games being played in NZ.
1 Go to commentsThis looks like a damage limitation exercise for Wales, keeping back some of their more effective players for the last 20/25 minutes to try and counter England’s fresh legs so the Red Roses don’t rack up a big score.
1 Go to commentsVery unlikely the Bulls will beat Leinster in Dublin. It would be different in Pretoria.
1 Go to commentsI think it is a dangerous path to go down to ban a player for the same period that a player they injured takes to recover. Players would be afraid to tackle anyone. I once tackled my best friend at school in a practice match and sprained his ankle. I paid for it by having to play fly-half instead of full-back for the rest of that season’s fixtures.
5 Go to commentsJust such a genuine good bloke…and probably the best all round player in his generation. Good guys do come first sometimes and he handled the W.Cup loss with great attitude.
2 Go to commentsWord in France is that he’s on the radar of a few Top14 clubs.
5 Go to commentsGet blocking Travis, this guy has styles and he’s gonna make a swift impact…!
1 Go to commentsWhat remorse? She claimed that her dangerous tackle wasn’t worthy of a red! She should be compensating the injured player for loss of earnings at the minimum. Her ban should include the recovery time of the injured player as well as the paltry 3 match ban.
5 Go to commentsArdie is a legend. Finished and klaar. Two things: “Yeah, yeah, I have had a few conversations with Razor just around feedback on my game and what I am doing well, what I need to improve on or work-ons. It’s kind of been minimal, mate, but it’s all that I need over here in terms of how to be better, how to get better and what I am doing well.” I hope he’s downplaying it - and that it’s not that “minimal”. The amount of communication and behind the scenes preparation the Bok coaches put into players - Rassie and co would be all over Ardie and being clear on what is expected of him. This stands out for me as something teams should really be looking at in terms of the boks success from a coaching point of view. And was surprised by the comment - “minimal”. In terms of the “debate” around Ireland and South Africa. Nice one Ardie. Indeed. There’s no debate.
2 Go to comments