‘I have the mindset of going until my body says no more’
Richard Hibbard goes for glory tonight and has no intention of quitting, he tells Daniel Schofield
At 33, an age at which many of his contemporaries are announcing their retirement, Gloucester hooker Richard Hibbard believes that he is playing the best rugby of his career, heading into tonight’s Challenge Cup final against Stade Français at BT Murrayfield.
In the past week, Hibbard has picked up the supporters’ and players’ player-of-the-year awards after an excellent third season at Kingsholm. Yet on Tuesday, when the Wales squad to tour New Zealand was announced, his phone remained silent. His last conversation with Warren Gatland came when he informed Hibbard that he was not in Wales’s squad for the 2015 World Cup. If a hint is being made, Hibbard, who has won 38 Wales caps and featured in the Lions series victory against Australia in 2013, is not willing to take it.
“I have not retired from international rugby and I would never say no to them, but I understand the direction the coaches are going with younger players,” Hibbard says.
Tonight will be another opportunity for Hibbard to show that age is just a number. More importantly, it represents an opportunity for Gloucester to finish a frustrating season on a high. Home victories against Saracens and Wasps, as well as being the only team to defeat Top 14 leaders La Rochelle away, hint at what David Humphreys’ side are capable of; a ninth-place league finish containing 13 defeats demonstrates their fallibility.
“Silverware certainly would go a long way to salvaging the season, not just for the boys and coaches but the whole backroom staff and the supporters,” Hibbard says. “We know watching Gloucester is very frustrating, but they still turn up every week and are super loud and super supportive.
“It is as frustrating playing as it is watching. We know we have thrown away victories. But on our day we can beat anyone. Look at La Rochelle: they had not lost at home for two years, but we executed our game plan perfectly, we frustrated them and we won in the end. We will have another plan for Stade, we just need to put it into place.”
Ironically for a player never renowned for his great appetite for training, he credits his consistency this season to a conditioning programme devised last summer by the Gloucester strength and conditioning staff. “Rugby evolves so quickly that you either adapt or die,” Hibbard said. “If you look after your body then it does make a big difference. I lost a few kilos and I am really seeing the benefits in terms of my overall fitness and impact on the game. I think I am playing the best that I have ever played. This league is a tough league and I always wanted to be one of the best players in this league. I thought that I was OK for the first two seasons, but I want to be one of the top players. To do that you have to perform every single week, and this season I feel I have done that.”
Hibbard has signed on for another two years, and sees no reason why he cannot extend his Indian summer. Just as importantly as keeping his body in shape is the mental challenge of preventing season after season becoming a grind.
Whether or not it is coincidence, it seems that the players who are able to play well into their thirties are those who are avoiding the conventional academy route, such as Nick Easter and Hibbard’s great friend Adam Jones; real characters who have retained their sense of fun in an increasingly po-faced professional era.
“It is strange when you see so many players you know and you have played with retiring. I just think you look at the people who have had these long careers and they absolutely adore the game. Adam adores the game. Nick Easter, too, adores the game. It is not a job if you absolutely love it.
“I quite like the soreness and the bumps after a game, even when there are mornings when I can hardly move. I have the mindset of going until my body says no more. I would much rather go on too long than think back that I still had a couple of years left in me.”
Hibbard started out at Aberavon Quins and also had a clandestine spell at the Aberavon Fighting Irish rugby league side when he was on the books of the Ospreys. Hibbard played under the alias “Hugo Richards” for the best part of a summer.
“I really enjoyed it,” says Hibbard. “It is a great crack and they were a really good bunch of boys. Then Sean Holley [Ospreys coach] turned up to one of the games and saw me and went mad. The dream was over. He found out my trick and kept checking the local newspapers to see if Hugo Richards appeared. ”
‘Rugby evolves so quickly that you either adapt or die’