Fisherman Luke still angling for an England recall
EXETER HOOKER OUT TO REEL IN EUROPE’S FINEST
IF the nets had been cast in another direction, Luke CowanDickie would be angling for his catch of the day, not an England recall.
The 24-year- old Exeter Chief might have become a fisherman if rugby union had not hauled him in first. For Cowan- Dickie’s Cornish family trade, like teammate Jack Nowell’s, is trawling.
One trip was enough for the hooker, though.
‘I went out to sea for nine days before I played for Exeter,’ he says. ‘It gave me a bit of money for an Xbox — I don’t think the money warranted it!
‘My dad, Adam, has been doing it for years, so hats off to him — I wouldn’t really like to do it. It is pretty tough. I am a big fan of my sleep and you barely get any! You work for six hours, sleep for six. That takes a toll.
‘And then the food is not great and you are in a little shack for a whole week!’
With the console safely secured that was it for Cowan-Dickie — off the field, shoot-’emup games are his passion. ‘I am a big Call of
Duty fan,’ he explains. ‘On the Call of Duty remastered game I was No 1 in the world on the “search and destroy’’ mode, so I put some hours in to get that.’
The time spent gaming probably does not come close to the hours he has committed to perfecting his lineout-throwing technique. Chucking the ball in is the most technical of skills for hookers. One second your heart is racing at 180bpm as you smash into tackles, the next you must stand still and hit a moving target perfectly or the game could be lost.
As a youngster, Cowan-Dickie would throw 140 lineouts a week to perfect his art. Now it is less quantity, more quality — he stands on wobble-boards or is tied up in resistance bands in order to test his throw.
‘It is all well and good throwing in training,’ he says. ‘I could stand and throw into a pole, but when it is in the game there are little pressures, something might flick in your head or you might be feeling low on confidence, so a game is a little bit different.’
Throughout Cowan-Dickie’s career he has had Nowell by his side. The pair first played together aged five at Penzance & Newlyn RFC in Cornwall — even sometimes dominating the midfield together on the football pitch. From there it was county, England age groups, the 2013 U20 World Cup win in a team with Anthony Watson, Henry Slade and new call-up Alec Hepburn, before the Cornish kids signed deals at the Chiefs.
Since Nowell’s career has sky-rocketed — with 23 England caps and two for the Lions by the age of 24 — Cowan-Dickie’s has been dogged by injuries. His last international — and fourth cap — came when England beat Australia in 2016.
A lack of games has hampered his chances of catching Eddie Jones’ eye for this year’s tournament too — captain Dylan Hartley, Lion Jamie George and Bath’s Tom Dunn all preferred for now.
But there is no envy when Cowan-Dickie looks at Nowell, more a desire to experience it all with him again.
‘I was really proud, it was a massive achievement for him,’ he says of Nowell touring with the Lions.
‘Coming up through school he never thought he would make it, which was daft! He was always a quality player.
‘Playing for England would be class. Jack has played so many games, so to see those boys out there performing so well playing for England is something most people would like a taste of.’
For now, though, European matters dominate. The Chiefs head to Glasgow today, knowing they must secure a four-try win before waiting nervously to find out if they have qualified.
Exeter could be the only English side left in the Champions Cup come tomorrow night — but Cowan-Dickie believes they are ready to plunge into the deep sea with the biggest fish. ‘They are one-off, knockout games and we are quite good at them,’ he added. ‘If we get the result and get through we’ll be excited.’