James Haskell - Part Three

James Haskell has a bright future and if he can continue to improve and learn from those around him he may well earn as many England caps as his hero Lawrence Dallaglio. Today I ask him about his future in the England team and what he has gained from players and coaches at Wasps.
Haskell is a down to earth guy who knows he’s good but also knows he could be better.

“I think I’ve still got a long way to go, I feel confident and pleased with my ability, I’m trying to work as hard as I can in the areas I need to polish up.”

“I always need to improve skills, my tackling, my ball carrying things like that, all the little nuances, the rucking, you can only train so much which its about playing, I’m only 22 and only played about 35 games if that.”

When asked about his chances for selection for the Six Nations, his modesty kicks in.

“To be honest with you, I genuinely haven’t thought about it. I think if you do well playing for your club, especially one like Wasps, then hopefully, you will be considered.”

“Thinking about it now, I would be very disappointed if I didn’t have an opportunity, but nothing is guaranteed and you have to keep playing well, there are so many talented back row guys out there, it’s matter of keeping performing really. I would love to get another opportunity, to be involved again.”

Coaching Cream

At only 22 James is still in the infancy of his career, however he has already the chance to work and play with some of the best in the world.

With Sean Edwards lurking in the background James was quick to praise the coaching team.

“We’ve got a fantastic coaching setup, Sean is a legend an amazing coach and he’s very passionate about the game, he doesn’t just turn up, he thinks about it all the time.”

“Dowdy (Craig Dowd) is the most capped All Black prop, so he keeps our feet on the ground, I’m like a sponge just trying to soak it all up really.”

Welsh Kiwi

He also had the chance to gain experience from Warren Gatland the new Wales Coach.“He was a great man manager, a great coach in terms of the way he gave me and Tom (Rees) opportunities, he brought out the Wasps attitude of work hard play hard.”

And what of Warren’s new job?

“I think it will be very good for Wales, I was disappointed England didn’t look at him and might have taken him, because he is such a good coach.”

Heroes

It’s not just the coaches at Wasps, the players also inspire and encourage Haskell.

“The senior players like Lawrence, that is who I look at, Tom (Rees) and I are still very much learning, these guys have been there done it, witnessed the pitfalls.”

“Reesy and me have been in a similar boat, Tom has forged ahead and had the chance to play four or five games and establish his talent, I want to emulate him and get those opportunities.

“When he got into the World Cup I was gutted he didn’t play as much as he should have done, I would have liked to have done that but u know, I’m still fairly young so we’ve got a lot of time on our side to do things.”

This is the last part of my interview with James Haskell, I would like to thank both James and Wasps for the opportunity to do this.