The somewhat unlikely England back row that inspired Cameron Woki
James Haskell is rarely lost for words but discovering that he is the player rising French star Cameron Woki name-checked as his role model left the former England flanker dumfounded.
Woki has been in sensational form for France who will attempt to win their first Grand Slam for 12 years against England at the Stade de France on Saturday which is in the Saint-Denis area of Paris where the 23 year-old was born.
The Bordeaux Begles forward has been pressed into national service in the second row although his high flying Top14 club side play him in the back row and it is a measure of Woki’s all-round rugby talent that he has formed an effective double act with South African bruiser Paul Willemse in the engine room of a French scrum that will be targeted by England following their impressive showing against Ireland.
Haskell, who played for Stade Francais in Paris in a career that also took him to Japan and New Zealand while accumulating 77 England caps, has been mightily impressed by Woki in the Six Nations championship. Woki picked the former England flanker when asked at 18 on a Bordeaux supporters’ website to name the player he most admired he replied: “I love James Haskell’s style of play.”
Haskell, who is expecting his first child with wife Chloe in August, said: “No one has ever listed me as a role model or liked my style of play so I instantly love Cameron Woki. For a player of his standard to say that is the biggest compliment I could receive. He is a fantastic player with his size, speed, athleticism and physicality and has been awesome for France and I love his diversity as well.
“He plays 6 and 7 for his club and the only piece of advice I would ever give him is get the Hell out of the second row! The beauty of it is he can switch roles and it goes to show it is much more about the balance of the side than shirt numbers. He played in the back row at U20 level and while I would love him to move into the 6 or 7, the French have a winning formula and he is brilliant for them.
“To be in the engine room, he is obviously very powerful and he is also a line out forward and has a great off-loading game and has been a stand out performer. From all of those players from that French U20 side which beat England, like Romain Ntamack, Demba Bamba, Julien Marchand and Jean-Baptiste Gros, he could develop into the best of all of them. He can become a real danger in a French side that is the best in the world.”
Woki was marked for rugby greatness after scoring a try to help France defeat an England team featuring Marcus Smith 33-25 to win their first World Rugby U20 title in 2018. Now four years later the pair will meet again with another major title on the line for the French.
Woki is a creation of the remarkable rugby “factory” that is the Massy club in Paris which has also produced in quick succession Yacouba Camara, Sekou Macalou, Judicaël Cancoriet and it was no surprise that Top14 contracts were put on the table. Bordeaux won the race to sign Woki and that brought him into close contact with former World Cup winning England flanker Joe Worsley who was the club’s defence coach, and for a short period their head coach, during a seven-year association.
Worsley took up the defence role with Castres in 2019 and believes the tough time Wales gave France at the line out in Cardiff where Les Bleus struggled to win 13-9, will ensure Woki takes his frustration out on England. “Cameron was calling the lineouts against Wales,” explained Worsley. “He wouldn’t have been happy with his performance against Wales and when you do get the line out throw right there are not many players in the world who can take it off him. That kind of ability is gold dust but calling the line out is a big job and maybe that is an area where he needs to do more work on what is another skill.
“His older brother is even bigger than Cameron but not as explosive but he is around 115kg and 120kgs and that is pretty big and he is not the kind of player to use his weight to smash through opponents and hit rucks which he can do. He is much more about speed and footwork and having a great game sense to create breaks. I am not sure he is a second row and in France they don’t think of the back row in terms of if you are a 6 or 7, it is about the aerial threat you bring.
“Racing normally have first dips on players from Massy but Bordeaux managed to get hold of Cameron and he is a fantastic player and I could tell from day one that he was a real talent who is so easy to lift in the line out. His handling and speed were also there from the start and like a lot of youngsters he had to learn about working hard and did that to become the player we see now.
“At first it was would Woki change his mind set and take advice from other players and he did and has a real hunger. It was pretty clear that he would be playing test rugby sooner rather than later.
“France are not the finished article by a country mile and the Ireland and Wales games could have gone the other way and despite the depth of talent there are still some issues -but the potential is huge. There is a big margin of development for France which is both pleasing and scary. The team is moving towards the World Cup in France in 2023 and winning the Grand Slam would be a step on the way. Having nearly thrown it away against Wales I cannot see them repeating that against England.”
And what does Worsley think about Haskell, his former Wasps teammate, being named checked by Woki? “I can tell you that Cameron never mentioned Hask to me. Maybe he was referring to Hask’s play in the bars and nightclubs of Paris.”
Comments on RugbyPass
The events at this year’s six nations should undermine many of the arguments made against promotion and relegation between the six nations and the REC. If Italy had been allowed to yo-yo between divisions it conceivably could have really hurt their development, but if Italy, Wales, and Scotland are all at risk of relegation, with none of them being relegated more often than once every 3 or 4 years, you’d have to back all of them to muddle on through it, especially when you factor in the likelihood they’ll still be guaranteed world league matches against tier 1 opponents. Another way of looking at italys resurgence would be to say that the development model of adding an extra team to the six nations has worked, and now must be done again. Georgia could join to make it a 7 team round robin, and if and when Georgia demonstrate an ability to consistently win games, Portugal can also be added to make it an 8 team 2 conference competition. Frankly at this point I think it falls to world rugby to demand that the 6N act in the interests of the game. If the 6N won’t commit to expansion then the 6N teams should be handicapped in world cup draws (i.e. world cup seedings would not be based on their ranking points, but on their ranking points minus a 5 point penalty).
4 Go to commentsSteve Borthwick deserves credit for releasing the shackles on his England side and letting them play in a manner that somewhat resembles the top sides in the Gallagher Premiership. Will they revert to type in New Zealand in July.?
27 Go to commentsJames Lowe wouldn't get in any other 6N team. He's a great example of Farrell’s brilliance, and the Irish system. He is slow. His footwork is poor. But he fits perfectly in that Irish system, and has a superb impact. But put him in another team, and he'll look bang average.
5 Go to commentsCrusaders reached their heights through recruitment of North Island players, often leaving those NI teams bereft of key players. Example: Scott Barrett and Sam Whitelock robbed the Canes of their lineout and AB locks. For years the Canes have struggled at lock. This rabid recruitment was iniated by rule changes by a Crusader dominated NZR Head Office. Now this aggressive recruitment has back-fired, going after young inside back Hamilton Boys stars. They now have 4 Chiefs region 10s and not one with the requisite experience at Super level. Problems of their own making!
2 Go to commentsOver rated for a long time…exposed at scrum time too.
3 Go to comments“Firing me” should have been Gatland’s answer.
2 Go to commentsFinn Russell logic: “World” = 4 countries. Ireland may be at or near the top. FR’s bigger concern should be he and his fellow Scots (incl. the Bloemfontein ones) sliding back down to below top 10
42 Go to commentsMind games have begun. Ireland learned their lesson after saying they could beat England with 13 players or whatever. Still, if they win at Loftus, that would be impressive - final frontier etc.
58 Go to comments$950k for a Prop that isn’t fit enough to play 10 mins of rugby? Surely there is someone better to replace Big Mike with
3 Go to commentsFour Kiwis in that backline. A solid statement on the lack of invention, risk-taking and joy in the NH game; game of attrition and head- banging tedium. Longterm medical problems aplenty in the future!
5 Go to commentsGood article, I learnt quite a lot. A big sliding door moment was in the mid 00s when they rejected Steve Anderson's long term transformation and he wrote Ireland's strategy instead.
2 Go to commentsHi Dr Nick! I'm worried that I've started to enjoy watching England and have actually wanted them to win their last two games. What would you prescribe? On a more serious note, I've noticed that the standard of play in March is often better than early February. Do you think this is because of the weather or because the players have been together for longer?
27 Go to commentsMy question in all this brett is who is going to wear the consequences of these actions? Surely just getting the sack isn’t sufficient? A teenager working the till at woolies would probably get taken to court if they took $20 out of the till. You mean to tell me that someone can spend $2.6 million and get away with it? Where was it spent? What companies/people were the beneficiaries etc? How is it just being talked about as an ‘oopsie’ and we all just move on and not a matter of the court for gross negligence, fraud, take your pick…
20 Go to commentslove Manu too but England have relied on him coming back from injury for far too long and not sorted the position with someone else long term . It will be a blessing he has gone . Huge shame he was so injury prone . God speed Manu .
3 Go to commentsI agree with Ben Smith about Brett Cameron. The No. 6 position has to be a monster and a genuine lineout option, like Ollivon, Lawes (now Chessum), Du Toit, etc. The only player who fits that bill right now is Scott Barrett. A fit and fizzing Tuipolotu together with one of the young towers, Sam Darry or Josh Lord, would give Razor the freedom to play Barret at 6.
16 Go to commentsOutstanding article, Graham. Agree with all of it. And enjoy the style of writing too (particularly Grand Slap!).
3 Go to commentsI wouldn't pay a cent for that loafer. He just stands around, waiting for play to come his way. He won't make the Wallabies.
3 Go to commentsGood bit of te reo maori Nic. Or is that Niko or Nikora? On the theme of trees the Oaks v Totara. Game plan would be key. I have one but it would cost you.
27 Go to comments> Shaun Edwards’ You should not have to score 30 points to win a game, as exciting as it is. This statement was surprising to me. It is nonsensical .I guess it is a defence coach speaking. But head coach, defence and attacking coaches all work together. They are inseparable. You score more than the opposition to win. It only needs to be one score. You score whatever the game demands, whatever the opposition demand. You defend whatever it takes. The attack coach needs to be able to clock up 30pts if need be.
27 Go to commentsWho’d have thought, not having Farrell & Youngs kicking the ball at every possible opportunity and playing flat and allowing your centres to run and pass would pay off? No one could possibly have seen this coming. FML. It took a LONG time coming but at least that time has finally come. England need to find a backup to Lawrence. Freeman is the best candidate for me, I see no reason why he can't play 12. He's big, strong, fast and has great hands.
27 Go to comments