Hibbard reflects on life as a Lion while he awaits another call
RICHARD Hibbard may be a long shot for Lions selection next week, but the Wales hooker will still have his fingers crossed his phone rings with the obligatory congratulations from family and friends.
The former Ospreys powerhouse, now at Gloucester, remembers well the feeling of elation at making the cut to tour Australia in 2013, and the part he played in the first Lions series win for 16 years.
So what’s it like to get the nod and go on to experience what most believe is the ultimate honour in the game? In an interview with England Women’s Grand Slam winner Marlie Packer after she had, of all things, helped repair the boiler in his house, Hibbard revealed all... The feeling of being chosen It is difficult to put it into words. It’s amazing from that very day until you tour.
It’s a long tour, and come the final day you do want to go home but what an experience.
Apart from winning your first international cap I think it’s the ultimate experience in rugby.
When you get picked to go you still don’t believe it.
Last time it was a live selection and nobody knew. You are just thinking ‘am I in or not?’
It’s a horrible way of doing it for the players but I suppose everyone else loves it.
When it happens you don’t believe it, then your telephone starts ringing and you get texts off your mates. Finally, you meet up with the squad. Meeting up and training It’s like the first day at school, you don’t know anyone that well and you are sheepish. Everyone is really quiet and talking in corners.
But within two weeks of being in camp it is like you’ve known them all for ages. That’s what rugby is like.
Normally you play against these guys and you form certain opinions of them. There are some really tough players in the squad and you imagine beforehand what they are like.
Then you meet them, maybe room with them, and they are completely different to what you expected. They turn out to be exactly the same as you, just from a different country.
The rivalry quickly goes out of the window.
In the first two weeks of camp they usually take everyone out for a few beers so the players can let their hair down and mingle.
That’s when you see people’s proper personalities come out! Getting to know Paul O’Connell In fairness there were no run-ins or scraps! One of my favourite parts was meeting people I hated playing against.
For example, I had played many times against Paul O’Connell for the Ospreys against Munster and he was a nightmare to face on the field.
But when I roomed with him he was a completely different character. He was funny, he cracked me up the whole time. This year’s captain Everyone has their picks, it is tough to choose one but I think it will be one of the captains of the Six Nations sides.
There is Dylan Hartley, Rory Best and, my favourite, Alun Wyn Jones as I’ve played with him so much and know what kind of a captain he can be.
He was captain in the last Test in the last series so that, I think, will be a big help.
Al leads from the front and never asks you to do anything he would not do himself. He’s always first out for training and last back in.
He’s the ultimate professional in terms of analysis, recovery and training itself.
I remember in the second Lions Test (in Australia) he was subbed and he sprinted 65m to the bench to prove he wasn’t tired!
That’s the specimen he is, he never has a bad day at the office and never breaks down. Selection next week There are not many dead set people, so selection will be interesting. It will be a good headache for Warren.
New Zealand is one of the toughest places in the world to play rugby but the way it is being played up here at the moment, with all teams pushing each other and everyone playing well, it’s going to be a fantastic squad.
Richard Hibbard was speaking to HomeServe engineer and England women’s Grand Slam winner Marlie Packer, after she put the finishing touches to the replacement of his boiler and heating system.