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Q & A: Jim Hamilton reveals what it takes to be a top class secondrow

By Gavin Hickie
Jim Hamilton winning the Champions Cup with Saracens

Jim Hamilton may have hung up his rugby boots but if Gatland calls he’ll be ready as he’ll be in New Zealand with fellow Rugby Pod presenter Andy Goode following the Lions Tour for Rugby Pass.

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Hamilton has played in the Second Row at the top level throughout his career and has an impressive international cap collection for Scotland. When I sat down for my Rugby Revealed interview with Jim he explained that locks aren’t just there ‘to give the tall fellas something to do’, locks are key to winning possession for your team jumping for lineouts and restarts, and as part of the ‘tight five’ they are in the engine room of the scrum.
Here he tells us why he enjoys being at the heart of the action and why he thinks locks make great captains.

What are the main responsibilities of a lock forward?
I think traditionally you have to be good at the three set piece areas, which are scrums, lineouts and kick offs. The basics are so important and other parts of your game need to be built around these.

Rugby is said to be a game for all shapes and sizes, is this particularly true for lock?
That is the best part of rugby, although you only have to look at George North, the Wales and Northampton wing, who is bigger than most forwards. Gone are the days where the only trait for a lock is height. Nowadays, you need to be strong and athletic. Being tall is your natural base and the same as your basics in the game; you need to build on what you naturally have.

What do you most enjoy about playing lock?
I enjoy being in the middle of all the physical action, middle of the scrums, lineouts and mauls. It is a very diverse position where you have to have many strings to your bow. I think that’s why a lot of captains play in the lock position. Locks are in the middle of everything.

What are the most important skills for a young lock to develop?
I think understanding the lineout in both attack and defence is key to becoming a good lock forward. A lot of tries are scored from lineouts and knowing how to attack and defend this set piece is crucial. Fellow players and other teams generally judge locks on the efficiency of a lineout.
Also, paying attention to body position is important. Obviously it is tougher for tall players to get low body positions. Being tall, you will always be told to get lower, coaches love shouting that! Generally if you tackle lower, ruck lower you are more effective for your team.

How do you work on your lineout calling?
Lineout calling is something you need to practice a lot in training. I find as a caller, you should have three options that are live (available) for you to call. Front, middle and back. There may also be movement in your lineout to confuse the opposition defence and to ensure your team can win good lineout ball. It is vital to keep the lineout calls as simple as possible so everyone can understand them and react accordingly. When your lineouts go wrong, it is usually the props’ fault!
Lineout analysis is a huge part of educating yourself on the set piece. You will see traits in teams and throwers. As a lineout defence you can manipulate where the opposition throws to. If you have studied an opposition hooker and know he struggles to throw to the back, then your team should contest the front and middle of the lineout.

What advice would you give to a young Jim Hamilton starting out?
That you need to enjoy playing at whatever level you play. If you are young, try different positions. Don’t get too worried about making it professionally. There are a lot of difficulties along the way with injuries, politics and loss of form. If you are good enough and work hard enough, you will get there. Stay positive in your mind and don’t let anyone tell you it’s impossible.
Allow for knock backs and injuries. We are in a contact sport, so unfortunately, injury is a normal thing. If you are injured, work on other parts of your body or other areas of your game, such as game analysis. There are always areas you can work on.
It is important to have something else away from rugby that you enjoy. If you make it professionally as a rugby player, it’s great but you will still need job once your rugby career is over.

What are some of your career highlights?
Being the 1000th man to play for Scotland was and is a highlight for me. There is nothing better than playing international rugby and travelling the world. Being a part of the Leicester Tigers team in the glory days was also amazing.
When I won my 50th cap at Murrayfield against Australia. I had my son Jack-James who was 3 years old present my shirt, run out on the pitch with me and stand with me while we sung the anthem. That was definitely my proudest moment as a rugby player.

Gavin Hickie, USA Rugby Mens Collegiate All-Americans Head Coach, is a former Ireland A & 7s, Leinster and Leicester rugby player now Head Coach of Dartmouth Rugby. He writes for RugbyToday.com and other publications when not coaching and blogging on lineoutcoach.com.
Gavin works with writing partner Eilidh Donaldson. who he describes as the ‘brains’ behind Lineoutcoach.com. Their book Rugby Revealed is available from Amazon and is a guide to the game which features advice from over 100 top players and coaches.

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Adrian 1 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

Thanks Nick The loss of players to OS, injury and retirement is certainly not helping the Crusaders. Ditto the coach. IMO Penny is there to hold the fort and cop the flak until new players and a new coach come through,…and that's understood and accepted by Penny and the Crusaders hierarchy. I think though that what is happening with the Crusaders is an indicator of what is happening with the other NZ SRP teams…..and the other SRP teams for that matter. Not enough money. The money has come via the SR competition and it’s not there anymore. It's in France, Japan and England. Unless or until something is done to make SR more SELLABLE to the NZ/Australia Rugby market AND the world rugby market the $s to keep both the very best players and the next rung down won't be there. They will play away from NZ more and more. I think though that NZ will continue to produce the players and the coaches of sufficient strength for NZ to have the capacity to stay at the top. Whether they do stay at the top as an international team will depend upon whether the money flowing to SRP is somehow restored, or NZ teams play in the Japan comp, or NZ opts to pick from anywhere. As a follower of many sports I’d have to say that the organisation and promotion of Super Rugby has been for the last 20 years closest to the worst I’ve ever seen. This hasn't necessarily been caused by NZ, but it’s happened. Perhaps it can be fixed, perhaps not. The Crusaders are I think a symptom of this, not the cause

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Trevor 3 hours ago
Will forgotten Wallabies fit the Joe Schmidt model?

Thanks 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.

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B
Bull Shark 7 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

Of 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.

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