PHILLIPS MIKE SNUBBED HOOK COULD BECOME WALES’ ZLATAN
One of the perks of being teammates with Dan Carter is getting tickets to the President’s Lounge at Paris Saint-Germain.
We watched last week’s Champions League tie against Chelsea — alongside Robert Pires and Brazil legend Ronaldo — and I was amazed by the quality of touch and vision on display.
Players like Angel di Maria and Zlatan Ibrahimovic have a wonderful ability to put team-mates into space and there’s plenty for rugby to learn from the sport.
James Hook is one of the most gifted footballers I’ve played with but he doesn’t get a look in with Wales. He’s a complete natural yet the coaches just don’t like him.
With talk of an injury to Jonathan Davies this week, I don’t know why Hook’s name wasn’t mentioned as a potential replacement. Instead, they were looking to shift George north, who is a world-class winger, to provide midfield cover.
Hooky could score four tries in training and the coaches still wouldn’t look at him. He’s playing really well for Gloucester and as far as I’m concerned he’s one of the best Welsh players of the last decade.
Warren Gatland loves the power game. He likes big, strong athletes who run hard and get over the gain line. It’s nothing personal, maybe Hooky doesn’t suit that style — it comes down to finding a balance.
Hopefully there will be more trips to the Parc des Princes, but Carter needs to scratch up on his football knowledge. Pires came over and introduced Dan to all his friends as the best rugby player in the world.
Once Pires left, Dan asked me who he was — I’m not sure they watch much football in new Zealand!