A forgotten Lion still roars for Gloucester
AWelsh Lion sits on top of the English Premiership class for attendance, a record of ever-presence matched by only other from a cast of some 500. Yet the same Test Lion has not been spoken of all season in relation to the Wales team, not even in its broadest context. He may be a permanent fixture at Gloucester but Richard Hibbard is a name that never seems to get a mention, almost as if he has been forgotten.
That the current Lions hooker finds himself not so much under the Wales radar as off it completely is a tribute to those who have monopolised the position post-Hibbard: Ken Owens and Scott Baldwin. A third, the Blues’ Kristian Dacey, has been permitted only the very occasional and very brief look-in.
Watching Wales-Ireland during a wedding reception in Gloucester brought Hibbard another reminder, not that he needed it, that his exit from the big arena came against the same country at the same venue. He has not been back since lining up for the first preWorld Cup trial against Ireland in August 2015.
Two other senior players alongside him on that summer’s day also disappeared not to be seen again – Mike Phillips and James Hook. Hibbard could reasonably have expected to make the World Cup as the third hooker.
England took three (Jamie George, Rob Webber, Tom Youngs), Ireland took three (Rory Best, Sean Cronin, Richardt Strauss) and Scotland took three (Fraser Brown, Ross Ford, Kevin Bryce). Wales took two – Baldwin and Owens.
And that is how it has been ever since. Nobody questions their right to head the pecking order but if Hibbard at 33 is in some danger of becoming a forgotten figure in Wales, he deserves better, far better.
This season he has started all 17 Premiership matches for Gloucester, an ever-presence matched only by Northampton prop Alex Waller. That both are at the sharp end of a competition notorious for a physicality which Hibbard describes as ‘savage’ puts the feat into a true perspective.
Unlike other Welsh players in the Aviva Premiership, there are no political reasons behind his exclusion, or at least none that anyone knows of. Hibbard made his move from Ospreys to Gloucester before ‘Gatland’s Law’ supposedly came into force.
A document so full of holes as to be meaningless cannot be put forward as the flimsiest reason for Hibbard’s absence. He is out not because he plays for an English club but because Wales consider they have three better players ahead of him.
The man himself has no qualms about that. “It was the coach’s choice not to pick me for the World Cup,’’ he says. “I did everything I could. I always hoped for another call.
“Any patriotic Welshman will never give up on his country. If it came, I wouldn’t not take the call. I’m happy that I’ve had the chance to play for Wales. I have no bitterness.
“I think I’m playing some of the best rugby of my career. I’d adore to play for Wales again but then you look at it and think: ‘You’ve had your opportunity.’
“The other three (Owens, Baldwin, Dacey) have been there since the World Cup. There haven’t been any injury issues and I suppose now they’re looking to the next World Cup. And when that comes round I won’t exactly be a spring chicken.
“As well as the three in the current squad, they’ve got other hookers coming through – Elliot Dee at the Dragons and Sam Parry at the Ospreys. And as for the Lions, Ken is doing a fantastic job for Wales and people like Best, George and Hartley are all pushing hard.’’
During the autumn series in 2014, the Welsh management threw a wobbly over Hibbard who had damaged a foot during a scruffy home win over Fiji. They released him back to his club and were far from amused when Gloucester put the Wales hooker on their bench for a Premiership match that weekend.
Despite warning him that he had put his Test future in jeopardy, Wales immediately reinstated him as their No. 1 hooker by picking him against the All Blacks the following week. “It was played out in public and became a big thing,’’ he says. “There was a bit of mis- communication.’’
No calls for the best part of two years have allowed Hibbard to devote his bone-crushing energy exclusively to the Gloucester cause. In less than three seasons, he is almost three-quarters of his way towards a century of appearances and will be sticking around for at least two more seasons.
“Every game in the Premiership is absolutely savage,’’ he says. “If you’re not up to it at any stage during a match, you get punished. I love it and I love being at a club where they live and breathe rugby.
“You can’t go anywhere in Gloucester without seeing a jersey. They get frustrated with us at times but they’re always there giving us their support every time we play.
“I’ve re-signed for another two seasons after this one. There are a couple of issues at the moment but a lot of good signings have been made for next season and I will love being part of the squad.’’
Coaches may come and go at Kingsholm but Hibbard will be staying put, ready to keep on busting the proverbial gut reinforcing his home-made inner steel. He doesn’t come from Port Talbot for nothing.