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'I thought Cork was a small place but the rugby world is even smaller'

(Photo by Alex Pantling/Getty Images)

Two weeks on from the amazing sight of Oli Hoskins stepping off the Wallabies bench with twelve minutes to go versus England at Twickenham, London Irish boss Declan Kidney is still beaming about how the uncapped tighthead became an emergency call-up, going from club training that Monday to make a Test debut five days later.      

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The 28-year-old had been playing the fantasy-fiction game Dungeons and Dragons with some friends on November 7 when he noticed he had two missed called from a random number. It was Petrus du Plessis, the Wallabies scrum coach and his old Irish teammate, wondering if his pal Hoskins was fit. 

The next day, Hoskins was training away in the gym at Irish when he was told at 11am he had officially been called up by Australia. 

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Guess the celebrity Rose | Karen Carney | England Rugby

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Guess the celebrity Rose | Karen Carney | England Rugby

Twenty minutes later he was bounding in the doors of the Wallabies team hotel at The Lensbury. That was Monday and three days later he was named on the replacements bench versus England as concussions had ruled out tightheads Taniela Tupou and Allan Alaalatoa. Two days after that he was replacing James Slipper in front of 82,000 people at Twickenham. Wow!

Two weeks on from that incredible moment, Hoskins will be back in the vicinity of Twickenham this Saturday, packing down for London Irish as they take on Harlequins in a Premiership match at The Stoop.  

“I thought Cork was a small place but the rugby world is even smaller,” quipped Irish boss Kidney to RugbyPass when asked for his thoughts on how the son of English parents, who grew up in Perth dreaming of representing the Wallabies, finally lived that dream in the most amazingly spontaneously way. “Petrus who was working here, he was tighthead here with Oli and then Petrus started his scrum coaching here as player-coach.

“He then headed off to Glasgow, did a little bit there and now he is in with the Aussies as scrum coach and Petrus went the back door route to ask Oli was he fit. So the official enquiries came in after that. It was all done very quickly.

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“He enjoyed it. There is enough stuff on YouTube and everything about what it meant to him [Hoskins shed tears at the Wallabies team announcement]. He will probably get ribbed about that at some stage but it was just one of those really good sporting moments.  

“He has been training well since he came in. It was a story that shows all schoolboys that if you stick at it you never know what is going to come your way and he really enjoyed his time in camp. It was odds-on that if the lads passed their HIA test that they were going to come back in for that last Test (against Wales) but he really enjoyed his experience and he will be all the richer for it. He is going to be up against it the weekend with Joe Marler, so another big task ahead of him on Saturday.”

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O
Oh no, not him again? 2 hours ago
England internationals disagree on final play execution vs All Blacks

Okay, so we blew it big time on Saturday. So rather than repeating what most people have all ready said, what do I want to see from Borthwick going forward?


Let's keep Marcus Smith on the pitch if he's fit and playing well. I was really pleased with his goal kicking. It used to be his weakness. I feel sympathy for George Ford who hadn't kicked all match and then had a kick to win the game. You hear pundits and commentators commend kickers who have come off the bench and pulled that off. Its not easy. If Steve B continues to substitute players with no clear reason then he is going to get criticised.


On paper I thought England would beat NZ if they played to their potential and didn't show NZ too much respect. Okay, the off the ball tackles certainly stopped England scoring tries, but I would have liked to see more smashing over gainlines and less kicking for position. Yes, I also know it's the Springbok endorsed world cup double winning formula but the Kiwi defence isn't the Bok defence, is it. If you have the power to put Smith on the front foot then why muzzle him? I guess what I'm saying is back, yourself. Why give the momentum to a team like NZ? Why feed the beast? Don't give the ball to NZ. Well d'uh.


Our scrum is a long term weakness. If you are going to play Itoje then he needs an ogre next door and a decent front row. Where is our third world class lock? Where are are realible front row bench replacements? The England scrum has been flakey for a while now. It blows hot and cold. Our front five bench is not world class.


On the positive side I love our starting backrow right now. I'd like to see them stick together through to the next world cup.


Anyway, there is always another Saturday.

7 Go to comments
C
CO 2 hours ago
Scott Robertson responds to criticism over All Blacks' handling errors

Robertson is more a manager of coaches than a coach so it comes down to intent of outcomes at a high level. I like his intent, I like the fact his Allblacks are really driving the outcomes however as he's pointed out the high error rates are not test level and their control of the game is driving both wins and losses. England didn't have to play a lot of rugby, they made far fewer mistakes and were extremely unlucky not to win.


In fact the English team were very early in their season and should've been comfortably beaten by an Allblacks team that had played multiple tests together.


Razor has himself recognised that to be the best they'll have to sort out the crisis levels of mistakes that have really increased since the first two tests against England.


Early tackles were a classic example of hyper enthusiasm to not give an inch, that passion that Razor has achieved is going to be formidable once the unforced errors are eliminated.


That's his secret, he's already rebuilt the passion and that's the most important aspect, its inevitable that he'll now eradicate the unforced errors. When that happens a fellow tier one nation is going to get thrashed. I don't think it will be until 2025 though.


The Allblacks will lose both tests against Ireland and France if they play high error rates rugby like they did against England.


To get the unforced errors under control he's going to be needing to handover the number eight role to Sititi and reset expectations of what loose forwards do. Establish a clear distinction with a large, swarthy lineout jumper at six that is a feared runner and dominant tackler and a turnover specialist at seven that is abrasive in contact. He'll then need to build depth behind the three starters and ruthlessly select for that group to be peaking in 2027 in hit Australian conditions on firm, dry grounds.


It's going to help him that Savea is shifting to the worst super rugby franchise where he's going to struggle behind a beaten pack every week.


The under performing loose forward trio is the key driver of the high error rates and unacceptable turn overs due to awol link work. Sititi is looking like he's superman compared to his openside and eight.


At this late stage in the season they shouldn't be operating with just the one outstanding loose forward out of four selected for the English test. That's an abject failure but I think Robertson's sacrificing link quality on purpose to build passion amongst the junior Allblacks as they see the reverential treatment the old warhorses are receiving for their long term hard graft.


It's unfortunately losing test matches and making what should be comfortable wins into nail biters but it's early in the world cup cycle so perhaps it's a sacrifice worth making.


However if this was F1 then Sam Cane would be Riccardo and Ardie would be heading into Perez territory so the loose forwards desperately need revitalisation through a rebuild over the next season to complement the formidable tight five.

28 Go to comments
LONG READ
LONG READ England need to face a few home truths if they are to relearn that winning habit England need to face a few home truths if they are to relearn that winning habit
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