Cowan-Dickie ready to explode on Test scene
ENGLAND hooker Luke Cowan-Dickie has vowed to meet the physical challenge of South Africa head-on and stake a claim for inclusion in next year’s World Cup squad.
A combination of injury and doubts over his lineout throwing has limited Cowan-Dickie to five Test caps since his debut against France in August 2015. However, the converted prop has excelled in that department for Exeter this year and is ready to hit top form. Cowan-Dickie, 25, told
The Rugby Paper: “The physical aspect of this tour to South Africa really appeals to me. I’m a physical player who loves that nitty-gritty stuff – pack against pack – and South Africa will offer the ultimate challenge on their own patch.
“I’m really excited by that and feel my set-piece is pretty good as well now. I’m always working on my throwing and my lineout accuracy is really coming through.
“I don’t look at stats too much because you can get hung up on things like that, but I do lots of analysis with our coaches and they’re happy with how it’s going. I’m at a good age to hit my peak now and hopefully I can get a good chance in South Africa.”
After missing last summer’s tour of Argentina in favour of knee surgery, Cowan-Dickie’s latest chance comes in ironic circumstances, with captain Dylan Hartley electing to forego this tour in order to fully recover from a concussion suffered in the Six Nations.
It is an opportunity Cowan-Dickie intends to seize, though, explaining: “It’s never nice to hear of a player having to take downtime but it opens doors for me.
“It’s the same at your club when you’re coming up through the academy, your chances normally come when the main guys are unavailable through injury, so hopefully I can take my chance now and stake a claim for what’s coming with England in future.”
Cowan-Dickie added: “It was the right decision to miss Argentina last year. We spoke about going or not going and getting the knee right, but I’ve had a decent run of games now, everything’s back to normal and it’s probably been my best season to date.
“I wasn’t expecting the England call-up too much as my mind’s been strictly with the Chiefs and making the play-offs, but you do keep in contact with the international coaches so this has been a real bonus and I’m raring to go to South Africa now.”
While five caps seems a paltry return for a man who promises so much, Cowan-Dickie said: “It would have been nice to get a few more, but injuries haven’t helped and I’m certainly not stuck as I’ve been lucky to be involved in a quite few England camps.
“Jamie George is on fire and there are other guys who will challenge, but there’s a lot more to come from me and hopefully over the next couple of years I can come into my own. I’m really excited about helping England to win in South Africa now.”