Showman Haskell is serious about reclaiming his England place
Flanker is addicted to Jones’s set-up, and will fight to get back in, he tells Charlie Morgan
James Haskell is in a bouncy mood, his arid sense of humour is in overdrive. On hearing that Dai Young, Wasps’ director of rugby, has publicly praised his display against Leicester Tigers, the 32-year-old feigns shock and fires out three sarcastic questions.
“Was he feeling ill? Was he under duress? Did he have a gun to his head?”
When conversation swings around to Sunday’s Champions Cup opponents, free-running Top 14 leaders La Rochelle, Haskell cycles through a few defensive plans to employ at the imposing Stade Marcel-deflandre.
“We could blockade their team bus before they get to the ground,” he ponders. “That would be Plan A. If that fails, my Plan B would be some sort of drone strike. Plan C might have to do – just tackle them.
“They love attack. They’ve obviously got big ball-carriers, but they can all offload. Rene Ranger seems to have about a million hands. He’s like an octopus. We all know this. But there’s nothing better than going over to a top team and getting involved.”
Relaxed and entertaining, this is the Haskell that is so highly valued by colleagues away from the field. And, not far beneath the showmanship, sits humility. Those who caught Sky Sports’ coverage of England’s opening autumn international against Argentina will have seen an insightful analysis segment from Haskell at half-time. The subject he volunteered? Sam Underhill’s excellence at openside flanker over the first 40 minutes.
“I was just in the truck on the side of the pitch – I’ve forgotten what they call it now – and someone asked what I thought the highlights of the game were,” Haskell explains. “I told them I thought Sam was going really well. Defensively, he had been outstanding. Why not talk him up? End my career, promote his career.”
The comic pause is just long enough to eke out a cringe. Haskell, a big fan of the cringecomedy television classic The Office, continues with a grin.
“I’m always pretty fair-handed. I’m not a position-hater. I like to think I am honest and open. If a bloke goes well, a bloke goes well, and I flag that up. Do I respect my competition? Yeah. Do I always
think that I could do a better job? Of course. We all think like that. Otherwise, we’d all stay at home wouldn’t we?”
According to Haskell, Eddie Jones’s England set-up is “addictive”. However, he also knows that as far as back-row options go – even with Maro Itoje’s broken jaw – there are “more cabs on the rank than at a London airport”. His performances after the British and Irish Lions tour, as Wasps stuttered to a string of defeats, did not merit inclusion for England.
“I wasn’t playing badly. I wasn’t making loads of mistakes. We live in a very fickle world. You have to keep putting your hand up consistently by doing what you do best. For me, that is physicality.
“I was probably over-working, trying too hard to make things happen. I ended up stuck between pillar and post as opposed to being a bit more precise.”
There is a valid argument that England’s sluggish recycling last month suffered from Haskell’s absence. He now feels back in form, spurred by a commitment to enjoying the here-and-now with Wasps – a focus that is even overshadowing impending contract negotiations.
“Genuinely, there isn’t anything to talk about,” Haskell adds with a laugh. “It’s a clear decision for anyone: If you leave the UK, you shut the door on England. If you stay in the UK, you’re fighting it out for England. My interest at the moment is to be the best player for Wasps and to play for England
‘I wasn’t playing badly. I wasn’t making loads of mistakes. We live in a very fickle world’
again. Staying in the UK would be a preference, staying at Wasps would be a preference, but there is nothing on the horizon either way.
“My phone is not blowing up and neither am I calling people. I should probably be a bit more concerned. I’ve still got my digger driving, my fitness business and my Dj-ing to fall back on.”
As Young sagely suggests, Haskell’s prospects of making Rugby World Cup 2019 will have a significant influence on his next deal. Precisely a decade and a day stretches between Haskell’s Test debut in 2007 and his 75th and most recent cap in Dublin this March.
“If I were to finish today, I’d be very happy with what I’ve done. I’d know that I’d left no stone unturned on the way to trying to be the best I could be. But I never sit down and think about my career because you always want more. At the moment, I’m very hungry to have more.”