Hook insists ambition to make mark at top is still burning bright
JAMES Hook turns 33 in June and is coming to the end of his 14th season of professional rugby, but the Ospreys favourite insists he still has the drive and ambition to make a mark in the twilight of his career.
Hook is set to make his first Guinness PRO14 start of 2018 when the Ospreys take on Italian strugglers Zebre in a rearranged clash in Parma on Saturday evening.
It has been a frustrating homecoming campaign for a player who left the Liberty for the lure of then French giants Perpignan back in 2011.
He has seen Dan Biggar and Sam Davies share the fly-half duties; Owen Watkin, Kieron Fonotia and Ashley Beck fill the midfield berths since the turn of the year and Dan Evans be an ever-present at full-back.
But speaking to the 81-cap playmaker at the region’s training base at Llandarcy, it is clear he hasn’t lost any of the desire that saw him propelled onto the international stage 12 long years ago.
It is also clear why Ospreys interim coach Allen Clark has described Hook as one of the best professionals he has ever worked with.
“It has been a bit frustrating,” said Hook.
“I started a lot of games at the start of the season and it didn’t go as well as I would have wanted to, but I have still played 19 games, which is quite a lot.
“The last couple of months I haven’t played as much as I would have liked to, but I have realised it wasn’t going to be the same coming back as the first time I was here.”
Hook has another two years remaining of a contract that has come on the back of spells in the south of France and in the west country with Gloucester.
“It was important for me to get that balance of playing and at the same time trying to help the younger boys who are not playing and not just mope around and strop, if you like,” he added.
“I have been in teams where players who are not picked just mope around and are not happy; it doesn’t help the team and it doesn’t help yourself. I don’t want to be that type of player.
“At the same time I am still playing and I don’t want to neglect that side of things.
“I still have the drive and ambition to do well for myself and obviously the team.
“I am 33 this year, I still feel fit and strong and every time I get the opportunity I want to go out there and do my best for this region.
“I have obviously grown up here and it is something special for me and my family. I am not just doing it for myself, but for them as well.”
With two matches remaining in the regular season, Hook and his team-mates find themselves in a strange situation of limbo.
They cannot overhaul Cardiff Blues for an automatic European Champions Cup berth and cannot be caught by Connacht, who are one place blow them in the Conference A standings.
Which means, the only result that will truly matter over the next month or so is the play-off – away to either Edinburgh, Ulster or Benetton on the weekend of May 18-20 – which will decide who gets the final place in Europe’s top tier for next season.
“We know these next two games are not going to affect the league standing in any way, but it is a chance for the boys who are playing to still put their hand up,” added Hook.
“When I was with Gloucester we were in this situation for two years running. We played Connacht and Bordeaux in the play-off and it is quite strange, especially when you have a three-week break before it.
“It is a cup final as far as we are concerned. We have a lot of experienced boys who have been involved in big games and we will fancy our chances whoever it will be.
“It is not the play-off that we want, but it is what it is and we have got to go there and do the job.”