>> Hook: Privilege to play for Wales, in all jerseys!
JAMES HOOK will make it his business to inspire the next generation of Welsh playmakers as he sets sights on becoming a best-selling author as well as a top kicking coach.
Hook, 34, confirmed his retirement a fortnight ago, bringing down the curtain on a hugely successful career in which he won 81 Wales caps, two Celtic League titles with the Ospreys and came so close to helping his country reach the 2011 World Cup final.
Although his maverick tendencies split opinion at times, Hook’s versatility stood him in good stead with Wales until Warren Gatland elected not to pick him after 2015.
Hook told The Rugby
Paper: “When you look back, it’s not a bad career, is it? People say I should have had a few more caps, but I kind of knew the 2015 World Cup quarter-final against South Africa would be my last game because I’d been going out of favour with the coaches.
“I wish Warren had picked me a bit more but I can’t grumble really because between 2008, when we won the Grand Slam, and 2011, I started a lot of games. There were so many different opinions around whether I should have played at 10, 12, 13 or 15, but I’d just like to be remembered as someone who did their best wherever they were asked to play.
“Should I have stood my ground and said, ‘No, I just want to play at 10’? I could have, but when you’re asked to play for your country, whatever the position, you have to take it.
“I always go back to the 2011 Six Nations where I’d established myself as a 10, but I started against England at 15, played against Scotland at 10 and then started against Ireland at 13 after Jonathan Davies got injured. We won all three matches and it was easy for the coaches to slot me in where I was needed, so that was the story of my Test career.”
From being at the sharp end of playing for so long, Hook has fresh ambitions.
He explained: “I want to go into coaching in some capacity. I’ve been doing my Level 3 course and the WRU