England players close to breaking Crusader Goodhue is wise beyond his years
Brotherly love keeps rising All Blacks midfield star firmly grounded.
COACHES and directors of rugby at four of the English clubs that provide the majority of the players to Eddie Jones’s squad have revealed this week that their players have returned in a state of extreme fatigue.
The feedback presents yet another picture of a team that underperformed because of the excessive workload both in the Aviva Premiership and inside England’s training camp.
Some coaches have also referenced the number of injuries suffered by England players in training. During the course of the Natwest Six Nations, England lost Jack Nowell, Sam Underhill, Dylan Hartley, Harry Williams and Gary Graham all to training-ground injuries.
How England have managed their players’ workload has been at the heart of the inquest that has followed their three consecutive defeats. Some players declare that they are actually not fatigued at all. ‘‘We couldn’t have had a better two weeks’ prep,’’ was Danny Care’s comment after England lost to Scotland.
‘‘We train very hard and it pays off,’’ was Jonny May’s comment after England lost to France. Yet it The return to the winning circle for the Crusaders against the Bulls was spearheaded by two tries from Jack Goodhue, a 22-year-old from the Bay of Islands, who has found his rugby home in Christchurch.
As a midfielder, Goodhue increasingly sparks memories of Conrad Smith, unflashy but effective, cool under pressure, unselfish and accurate.
If Goodhue on the field seems a measured and thinking player, it’s really a reflection of the man himself.
He was brought up on a dairy farm outside Kawakawa. His twin brother Josh (a lock in the Blues squad) and he were the youngest in the family, with two older brothers, Axel, now farming and playing club rugby in Northland, and Cameron, a loose forward for the Blues and later London Welsh before a back injury ended his career. His only sister, Samantha, now works in London.
So a rugby mad family? Yep. ‘‘Dad’s been the club captain at United Kawakawa for at least 20 years now, mowing the grass, organising the registrations, taking the rubbish to the dump’’ Jack. ‘‘And he’s coached all of us.’’ Forget backyard cricket.
‘‘We played it occasionally, but the main summer sport was two versus two touch. So it was me and Axel versus Josh and Cameron. The first team to score 10 tries. Games would sometimes go for a couple of hours.’’
Boarding school in Auckland came after the twins had their first high school year in Kamo. For the next four years they studied at Mt Albert Grammar School.
Goodhue has no sad stories from MAGS. He had his brother in his corner for a start.
‘‘Josh was about 6ft 6in when he was 12 years old.’’ He laughs. ‘‘So nobody was going to mess with him. I’d like to think they might have been scared of me as well, but I don’t think that was the case.’’
In fact there was no real need for a minder, and certainly no horror stories of bullying or mistreatment.
‘‘MAGS was a very fair environment. There was a lot of fun, a lot of good mates, a lot of afternoons playing touch, indoor soccer, then evenings in the gym, which is basically on site.’’
Rugby played a role in Goodhue’s move to Christchurch in 2014, but there was no contract involved.
‘‘It may be hard to believe, but it was basically the degree that got me down here. I wanted to study agricultural science and you could only do it at Lincoln or Massey and I thought that Christchurch would probably have a better club competition. I wasn’t in the (Canterbury rugby) academy when I came down, that came later.’’
In June of 2015, Jack and Josh were in the New Zealand under-20 team, coached by Scott Robertson, that won the world title, beating England in the final in Cremono in Italy.
Two months later Jack’s stellar season came to a crashing halt.
‘‘In the second round of the ITM Cup, we (Canterbury) were playing against Counties and, as a Counties player was making a tackle, as sometimes happens, a leg swung round and caught me on the outside of my knee, which caused it to cave in.’’
It was eight months before Goodhue would play again, but if there was a bright side to a serious knee injury it came in the full recovery (‘‘It’s strong now, and doesn’t give me any issues’’) and the companionship of fellow Canterbury players, loose forward Jed Brown and prop Tim Perry, all three rehabbing together.
Being named an All Black for the northern tour at the end of last year was shared with his grandparents in Whangarei. Goodhue had played the 2017 provincial season with Northland, and the Northland players ‘‘had a wee function at our flat in Whangarei’’.
But Goodhue started to feel unwell, so decided ‘‘I’ve got to tap out and go to my grandparents, Nic and Truus Kaptein. I was having a cup of tea with them the next morning. I knew the All Blacks team was being named at some stage, but I didn’t know when. Then I got the text, so Grandma and Grandad were the first family members to know. That was quite cool.’’
Still feeling seedy, he went to the family doctor in Kawakawa, who diagnosed mumps, so Goodhue’s departure for Europe was delayed by a week. He finally got to wear the black jersey against a French XV in Lyon, three games into the tour.
Fully immersed in the world of a professional player Goodhue knows he needs balance in his life.
‘‘I’m quite a man of faith, and go to church when I can, which is good for me to get away from the rugby world. It’s important to me.
‘‘I also help out with Big Brothers and Big Sisters, which is a mentoring charity. I don’t have any little brothers, so I see this guy every week or so, and we’ll just hang out. He’s just started intermediate school. He’s worked out I’m a rugby player, and he’s now been to a few games with his brother and his Mum.
‘‘It is important to find the time to take a break from rugby.’’