Mullet goes as Cowan-Dickie prepares to give French the chop
THERE’S not much of the shrinking violet about the Exeter Chiefs and England hooker Luke Cowan-Dickie. Like any ambitious player the young Cornishman likes to be noticed, which, he says, explains the mullet that he sported for umpteen seasons, below right, before he had it lopped off recently.
“I’d had the mullet for a long time. It was different,” Cowan-Dickie says. “People said it was because I come from Cornwall, but mullets are not that common there. It means there’s a bit of banter, and it gets you noticed – but then Alec Hepburn joined the Chiefs and his is a lot bigger, so he’s the new mullet king.”
Exeter fans will be praying that there is no sign of Samson syndrome when the new-look Cowan-Dickie and his Chiefs team-mates take on Top 14 leaders Clermont at Sandy Park today in their European Cup pool opener. They know the star-studded French side will be on a mission after Exeter qualified for last season’s quarterfinals at their expense after a bizarre last round shoot out (see Strettle above), and that it will take all of Cowan-Dickie’s brawn and energy to send them home empty-handed.
Cowan-Dickie limbered up for the challenge by doing a little extra-curricular work in the strong-arm department last weekend when he and some teammates took part in the local Darts Farm butcher-shop challenge. This involved a 25kg lamb-hold contest between the England hooker, former Red Rose backrower Tom Johnson, Italian centre Michele Campagnaro, and squad hooker Shaun Malton. Cowan-Dickie says the result – with the winner based on who could hold the carcass in front of them with arms straight at chest height for longest -- was a three-way tie. However, he adds: “There was a little bit of bent arms, but mine were the the straightest.”
That’s good news because physical strength, whether farmyard or gym reared, will be essential against a Clermont pack crammed with quality Test-hardened forwards.
With French internationals Damien Chouly, Ben Kayser, Alexandre Lapandry, Sebastien Vahaamahina, Thomas Domingo, and Paul Jedrasiak augmented by South Africa’s Flip van der Merwe, Australia’s Sitaleki Timani, Portugal’s Julien Bardy, Fiji’s Peceli Yato, and Georgia’s Davit Zirakashvili and Viktor Kolelishvili, Clermont have firepower in every department up front.
However, Exeter take great pride in the prowess of their driving maul, and Cowan-Dickie and his mates have shown already this season that, however illustrious the opposition, they are capable of bending any pack out of shape.
One of Cowan-Dickie’s outstanding qualities is the remarkable number of times you see him on the ball during a match, and his effectiveness. Last month he scored a hat-trick of close quarter tries at Sandy Park against a Harlequins side which included England squad-mates Chris Robshaw, Joe Marler, Jack Clifford and Kyle Sinckler.
“The driving maul is hard for teams to defend, however big they are”
He did it with a helping hand from Premiership tryace Thomas Waldrom, who moved from the driving seat at the back of the maul to help the rugged 23-year-old hooker get over the line.
Cowan-Dickie says he believes the Chiefs batter-
ing-ram can be just as damaging against the Clermont: “It’s hard for teams to defend, however big they are. The crucial thing is to get the drive on as soon as possible, and to do the same with the transfer of the ball to the last man – who is the hooker, because you threw it in.”
Having just been bumped down the England rankings to fourth-in-line after being leap-frogged by Tommy Taylor of Wasps, the Truroborn Cowan-Dickie says he wants to make enough of an impression to be back in the selection frame for the Autumn Internationals.
Capped four times since his debut against France in 2015, all of them off the bench, Cowan-Dickie says the Clermont clash is an opportunity to re-assert his credentials as Dylan Hartley’s main challenger.
Yet, he says he has an obstacle to overcome first that is much closer to home, in the guise of his club rival, Exeter captain Jack Yeandle.
“Every game is an opportunity to do my best and get back in the (England match) squad. It’s a bit disappointing, but all you can do is concentrate on your own performance each week, and with Jack Yeandle and Shaun Malton it’s always competitive between the hookers here at the Chiefs.
“We’re here every day training hard and Yeandle and me are both pushing for the right to be out there.”
This time the honour is CowanDickie’s, and expect him to make the most of it.