James Hook has become a swiss army knife

James Hook is only worthy of a place on the Welsh bench for Saturdays quarter final against Ireland.

And in doing so has become the Swiss Army knife of Welsh rugby.

He's versatile, reliable, he comes with a cutting edge and he drops neatly into the pocket when required. Ironically, some Swiss Army knives actually come with a hook as standard. Yet there is something unfortunate about becoming a Swiss Army knife when you were originally destined to be a Samurai Sword.

When James Hook made his international debut in 2006, he looked set to become Wales' number 1, number 10. He seemed the obvious successor to Stephen Jones, and quenched the nations thirst for a more creative outside half. Yet Hook's varied and competent skill set has seen him play in four positions in five years.

Hook has been shuffled between 10, 12, 13 and 15. And whilst his versatility is still considered a valuable weapon to Wales, it has undoubtedly blunted his career. There are few players in the world who are able to play in such a wide variety of positions at club level, let alone in the test arena, yet being the 'James of all trades' has denied him the opportunity to become the master of one.

And whilst James Hook is still undoubtedly one of Wales's greatest weapons, the young guns are beginning to pose a real threat to his position in the run-on 15.

Rhys Priestland offers a creative, yet stabilising influence at 10. His line kicking is deeper than Hook's and he is less prone to throwing the odd wild intercept pass that plagued Hook's early outings at stand-off.

Jamie Roberts and Jonathan Davies may not possess Hook's dazzling footwork, hypnotic dummies or dexterous passing, but their ability to crash the line and not concede a single clean line break during the first three games of the Rugby World Cup has been very impressive. Jamie Roberts in particular has been sensational and is fast becoming the darling of the New Zealand press.

Leigh Halfpenny's return to the Welsh squad has been emphatic. Hook and the 'Full Shilling' may be equals underneath the high ball, but Halfpenny's pace allows Wales to counter attack in situations where Hook's lack of top end speed forces him to kick or wait for support.

Sadly, Hook is the Swiss Army knife of Welsh rugby, because as yesterdays team selection has shown, he hasn't hasnt quite made the cut.

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Good pros...!

A little unashamedly harsh on James Hook though... First game back from a shoulder injury he was unlikely to start from anywhere but the bench.

Competition for places and a versatility in the styles of this Welsh team is a positive note.

Strength and depth and encouraging performances.

Hi Maesteg.

I am genuinely concerned that this will becomes Hook’s role long term.
I just hope a stint in France and a long run playing at 10 can turn his fortunes around.
It would be so sad if he becomes a ‘utility player’. Nobody wants that tag.

Is it not his versatility that makes him so much more usefull, what split is the bench made up of for Wales?

Wish he was English.....

Actually no, because Johnno would probably repeat his mistakes of playing natural FHs at 12.

He's not our best centre, he's not our best 10 and he's nowhere near our best 15. He's without doubt our best utility back.

I think it's a combination of the Ospreys not playing him at 10 and then perhaps his own game has not always being there when he's been given the chance. Yes - he could well be our swiss army knife. Maybe in France he can secure one role and put his hand up.

'James Hook has become a swiss army knife'

That's some metamorphosis!

James Hook is a jack of all trades. Master of none.

offload wrote:He's not our best centre, he's not our best 10 and he's nowhere near our best 15. He's without doubt our best utility back.

I think it's a combination of the Ospreys not playing him at 10 and then perhaps his own game has not always being there when he's been given the chance. Yes - he could well be our swiss army knife. Maybe in France he can secure one role and put his hand up.

Completely agree. He's not the best in any one position, but is very good in a number of them. Therefore, he is the ideal utility sub. Until a coach at club level consistently picks him in 1 position so that he becomes amazing there to the detriment of his ability elsewhere on the pitch, then he is always going to the go to bench man. For the game on saturday we now have bench cover for 10, 12, 13 and 15 with him there. That's a coach's dream surely? It's just unfortunate for him. Maybe Perpignan will stick with him at 10?

James Hook = Mike Catt. Brilliant at times and usually influential but not the best player in any position but brilliant cover in many.

I am not a fan of Hook, and I don't think it is his versatility that is his down side, I think it is his lack of specialisation that hold him back. He is a good all around player, but in more of a sevens role than at XVs. If he were a native of NZ he would probably not play XVs at all and be one of the 7s players that do the circuit full time.

Griff wrote:

offload wrote:He's not our best centre, he's not our best 10 and he's nowhere near our best 15. He's without doubt our best utility back.

I think it's a combination of the Ospreys not playing him at 10 and then perhaps his own game has not always being there when he's been given the chance. Yes - he could well be our swiss army knife. Maybe in France he can secure one role and put his hand up.

Completely agree. He's not the best in any one position, but is very good in a number of them. Therefore, he is the ideal utility sub. Until a coach at club level consistently picks him in 1 position so that he becomes amazing there to the detriment of his ability elsewhere on the pitch, then he is always going to the go to bench man. For the game on saturday we now have bench cover for 10, 12, 13 and 15 with him there. That's a coach's dream surely? It's just unfortunate for him. Maybe Perpignan will stick with him at 10?

I would not expect him to get too much time at fly half in USAP, after all the French are one of those nations that seem to play players in numerous positions. I think he may well end up bouncing around in different shirts more there than he does over here

mckay1402 wrote:James Hook = Mike Catt. Brilliant at times and usually influential but not the best player in any position but brilliant cover in many.

I was thinking more Austin Healey, as in if the country say they need him to play in any shirt he will do it, but just not as good as someone who speciallises in that position.

he's the new ceri sweeney. hook could get lots off caps off the bench now.

Hook will go to France, play at 10 and then challenge Priestland for the Welsh jersey.

Which can only be good for Wales to have these 2 fight it out and push each other further. Both of these could be around for the next 2 world cups.

But for this Saturday, its the right call. He has been injured. Priestland has been playing well, so would not be fair to oust him.

Elsewhere we have 3 centres also playing well and Halfpenny at 15 where I have wanted him to play for ages.

With 3 backs selected on the bench, I think we have the right choices there is Lloyd Williams who has made an impact when he has come on, Scott Williams who is our top try scorer and was unlucky to miss out starting and then Hook. Who provides cover all across the back line from 10 - 15.

Looking forward to it.

Come on Wales..

It will take just one crap game from Priestland to set off a clamour for "Hook back to 10." Let's hope it's not the next one.

No where is james hook when you need hiim, I can't find my corkscrew.

dogtooth wrote:he's the new ceri sweeney. hook could get lots off caps off the bench now.

Ouch......that's a bit harsh. I think Hook's a fine player!

Hook has 60 caps already. Priestland has 6. Agewise, there's only 18 months between them.

At some point RP will go through a bad patch. All players do.

biltongbek wrote:No where is james hook when you need hiim, I can't find my corkscrew.

Biltong - if you need a corkscrew mate, you're drinking the wrong beer!!

Don't you know, Bitling takes his biltong with a glass of Cabernet Sauvignon, usually the 1997 which is renowned for his earthy textures.

samuraidragon wrote:Don't you know, Bitling takes his biltong with a glass of Cabernet Sauvignon, usually the 1997 which is renowned for his earthy textures.

Ha! and I thought all South Africans preferred the 95' .....a classic vintage

A good port does the job equally well.

ScarletSpiderman wrote:

mckay1402 wrote:James Hook = Mike Catt. Brilliant at times and usually influential but not the best player in any position but brilliant cover in many.

I was thinking more Austin Healey, as in if the country say they need him to play in any shirt he will do it, but just not as good as someone who speciallises in that position.

Actually I really rated Healey. he wasn't a great SH but he was a superb winger. Very dangerous with ball in hand. The worst thing he ever did was use the word plank.

I always worry when Hook is named in the side. I can't quite put my finger one why either. He hasn't showed any defensive frailties particularly but I feel like Wales are a more solid side without him. Glad he and Scott Williams have made the bench. They are both very good replacements to bring on.

McKay - I didn't mean it as an insult to compare him to Healey, as Healey did always answer his countries call, whether it was whether he should play or not. Hook does do the dame think for Wales, and is either praised or slated for it depending on your view of him.

I personally am not a fan of his, and I too worry about his inclusion in the team sometimes, over players who specialise in the role that he has been chosen for that particular match. Also I have started to find I dislike him more due to the amount of people who quote stats about win ratios for him and Jones when starting at fly half, it has that feel of massiah making that happened with Henson.

i've said it many times, even when hook was at 10 in the ospreys for so long, he never cracked the skill set of the position as a whole, he always wants to 'do something' when all you need to do is whats required in your position.
for the posters who think its coaches moving him around has caused this situation, i turn that on its head and ask the question WHY ? why has EVERY coach moved him around.if he had been that good in one place he would have stayed there. SURELY every coach wants the best man for the job.
The welsh fans psyche, and the press, have tried to create a 'rinky dinky, off the cuff 10,' no room for that sorry. structure, structure ,structure and making something happen WHEN ITS ON , not every time you get the ball anywhere on the park. sad but true.

gavstar

total agree. I think Hook does the extra bits well but not so much the basics maybe.

Gavstar, you're talking a lot of sense there. Probably too much sense for these boards!

luckless_pedestrian wrote:Gavstar, you're talking a lot of sense there. Probably too much sense for these boards!

+3

Gavstar

If Hook wasn't Welsh, he'd have been consistently selected as a playmaking 12. Unfortunately for him, he IS Welsh and is a talented ball player so the media and public pressure is he must challenge for the 10 jersey, even though the game (and the way a 10 plays) has moved on immensely from the days of Barry John or Phil Bennett.

Gavstar, you're assuming coaches are always right. They're not. Lievremont is making a huge mistake by playing Parra at 10, I think most people agree. It's no reflection on Parra , who is a fine 9. Likewise Gatland persisted in playing Hook at 15 - not even the Ospreys did that.

From now on the 10 shirt will be between Priestland and Hook. Wellies passed his sell-by date long ago. Right now Priestland is the man in possession and rightly so. He has played with great aplomb and done everything the coach has asked of him. Hook was man-of-the-match versus Ireland at 10 this spring, out-Ogara-ing Ogara with superb long kicking, solid tackling (and no "trying things that aren't on). He also did well at 10 against England and Argentina. He was our best back in the 6 N by some margin.

Agewise there is only 18 months between Hook and Priestland. I think you'd have to say that Priestland is a late developer as he has 6 caps against Hook's 60 and a few years ago he was barely known outside his region. Fair enough. Players develop at different rates and go in and out of form and fashion too (Biggar?).

We'll be hearing a lot more of both these guys. Other NH teams - Ireland excepted - would love to have either of them.

samuraidragon wrote:From now on the 10 shirt will be between Priestland and Hook.

Says who?

Me. It's an opinion, like everything else on this site.

That's fair enough. I just don't think you should just dismiss the claims of others out of hand.

Sure. I'm not dismissing anyone else's opinions, which on this board are generally well informed. There is a tendency amongst fans everywhere for players to go in and out of fashion, and of course this is related to the players themselves going in and out of form, as players do. Phillips, Byrne, and Bennett are prime examples, maybe Powell too.

We also, all of us, have a bias to weight recent experience over prior experience (not just in sport). So if a player plays well/badly in the most recent few games, we tend to extrapolate that performance out into the future and forget about other , less recent games. The contrasting ups and downs in the reputations of Charteris and Bradley Davies would be examples.

Sorry, I meant dismissing the claims of other players for the Welsh number ten jersey, not dismissing the opinions of other posters. (I support the Dragons, guess which outside half I'm thinking of in particular!)

I see what you mean. Yes, I've been impressed with him too. I hope he gets some game-time. RP and JH have each played 4-5 times this year, so I should have said that they are the incumbents. The more challengers the better.

I agree with you there.

I reckon Ceri Sweeney's worth another go!

In fairness to Ceri Sweeney, he looked a great player when he was at the Warriors. He didn't have the best of times at the Dragons though.

Bless him, he just looks like something is consistently eating away at his happiness.

I think he's quite good looking. It must just be me!

Hooky's a good seafood specialist as well...
http://www.jameshooklobster.com/

He's also a 19th century English composer...no Beethoven but he can compose all different types of music...http://www.hoasm.org/VIIJ/Hook.html

did i see 'Biggar' on this forum somewhere? you know gavstar will stick his neck on the block ---- here goes, i think Biggar will come good and get another look at international level. he's 3 yrs( i think ) younger than priestland, so he's got time.
i know people dislike him for whatever reason, but i love his 'can do' and his vision on the park is excellent, his excecution of his kicking game doesnt match his brain ,BUT that can be coached, you cant put a rugby brain in

You are probably right about Biggar. He was hailed as the great Welsh hope, then reviled for not delivering instantly. It's a good example of how fans' perceptions of players change a lot more than the reality of their performances.

Maybe the rule changes had some effect too. He was good at the aerial pingpong (as was Byrne) but seemed to kick too much and with insufficient accuracy after the rules changed.

He's young with a long career ahead of him. I don't think RP was a top player at Biggar's age.

I wouldn't rule out Dan Biggar either. Let's not forget how good he was for the Ospreys when they won the Magners League. He's down the pecking order now, but as others have said, time's on his side and there's nothing to say he can't improve his all-round game.

"Rhys Priestland offers a creative, yet stabilising influence at 10. His line kicking is deeper than Hook's..."

I thought this was a serious post until I read this bit.

Very funny.

which bit do you disagree with Casartelli

Not speaking for Casartelli, but while RP's distribution was excellent today his tactical kicking was dodgy, especially in the first half, with a charge down, garryowens that lacked distance, a couple of missed touches and kicks right down the throats of the ireland back 3. The Daily Telegraph describes it as "naive." I assume the reason Hook was brought on with 3 mins to play was because Gatland wanted the ball down the other end of the pitch.

Just to clarify - if you're going to praise Priestland - do it for his passing or his awareness (the switch to the right to set up JD2 was delicious).

At present his kicking, by international standards, is mediocre. Hook bombs it a mile and his place kicking is world class.