YOUNG GUNS
Dad’s happy for me to play where, and for who, I want
Lucas Brooke has a decision to make. As the son of All Blacks legend Zinzan, you’d think that might involve choosing between tying his flag to the mast of New Zealand or England. Instead, though, it revolves around what his best position might be.
Recently called into the England U20s squad for the Six Nations, whenever that is played, Brooke, who played his mini and junior rugby with Windsor RFC before joining London Irish’s academy at 13, explains: “I’m bouncing around between flanker and hooker at the moment and Agustin Creevy’s been really helpful with the throwing aspects of that.
“My long-term position has not been decided so at the moment I’m just enjoying learning new skills and Agustin’s giving me lots of advice in terms of my work around the park. As a flanker, I’ve also been in and out with the first team at Irish, doing the units stuff with live mauls and lineouts, and it’s been great to gain that experience of the physicality of it all.”
Having been raised in England, donning the Red Rose will be a nobrainer for Brooke when the time comes. “I’m really pleased and proud to have been selected for the U20s,” he says, “My family were rooting for me and when they found out the news, they were really happy.
“They’d want me to play for New Zealand but I grew up here, this is my home and dad just wants me to play rugby and make my own decisions. He’s always said that he’s not forcing me to play anywhere, whether that be position or country, and he just wants me to get on the pitch and play wherever I want to. It’s great to have such a good role model.
“I started at Windsor RFC when I was five or six and dad’s always given me little tips and bits of advice. Having him on the side of the pitch is always nice.”
With the pandemic having wrecked the playing programmes for so many young players, Brooke, who turns 19 tomorrow, was grateful for the chance to play in the pre-Christmas North v South U20s series which laid the foundation for his selection for England’s latest U20s squad.
He said: “I played No.7 in the first two games and found them really useful, especially the first one because I hadn’t played any rugby since mid-February last year. I loved getting back on the pitch again and it was great to get a run and regain that feel for the game.”
As a flanker by trade, Brooke would love to emulate two other role models. He added: “For me, Ardie Savea is the man and I’ve been looking at him in a lot of All Blacks games. Also, Tom Curry brings an incredible skillset and huge physicality so, while I might still end up as a hooker, if I could implant a mix of those two in my game it would be ideal.”