By Graham Thomas
As a former carpenter Scott Baldwin knows the value of a rigid framework, which is why he appreciates the reconstruction of England captain Dylan Hartley.
Once all jagged edges, unstable core, and susceptible to pressure, Hartley is now more smoothed and polished and Baldwin – his rival hooker when Wales face England next week – recognises the change.
“He has shown his maturity since being appointed England captain,” says Baldwin.
“A few things have been said about him but he has not bitten whereas he may have done in the past. He is an aggressive player who wants to do well for his country and he has led from the front for his side.
“His core skills for a hooker are on the money: he is good in the scrums and lineouts and he gets around the park, carrying and making tackles. He is an all-round player who does his job.
“It will be nice to get out there and have a little tussle with him. But I will not be looking to wind him up – that is not part of my game. If I am selected, I will look forward to a tough battle against a good player.
“In the last game he played before Ireland, people were trying to make something out of nothing, with him hitting rucks and stuff. He’s just an aggressive player who wants to do well for his country, and he’s led from the front for England.”
Six years ago, Baldwin, 27, used to get up every morning at 5am to go and make wooden panels on a building site. The only concession to rugby was that the foreman allowed him to make wooden hoops so that he could practice his line-out throws during downtime on the site.
“I would make a panel, then go and do 10 throws, then make another panel. It was outdoors and pretty horrible in the rain and snow – not something I would want to go back to.”
The Ospreys front rower should be free of those concerns for a while as he has gone from Bridgend regular in the Premier Division to first choice for his country.
Next Saturday’s probable Six Nations decider at Twickenham will be his 19th cap, gained in less than three years as he has battled past rivals Richard Hibbard and Ken Owens.
Baldwin played a key part in Wales’ victory over England in the World Cup, but is honest enough to admit they got lucky that day and fortune will not favour them again unless they are brave.
“We know the task we face. England are a tough team at home and we were stung there two years ago. They will be motivated by our victory at Twickenham in the World Cup because most of their players were involved then and they are building as a team. Eddie Jones has given them confidence but we are building as well and it should be an exciting match.
“We know that beating England would set us up with a game against Italy to win the title and we are not going to be resting on the World Cup win over them a few months ago. We were probably a bit lucky to get away with that as we were not on the money for the first 20 or so minutes. Although we did beat France on Friday, that performance brought us back down to earth because it showed we need to improve.
“There were seven-pointers that we did not finish and sometimes they can bite you in the backside later in the game. There were some dubious decisions against us, especially in the first half, but you get those in matches and you have to work around the interpretations of a referee.
“We have stuff to work on but that is good when you face a massive challenge such as Twickenham. We are happy with the way our set pieces are going and I thought we were good around the field against France with the forwards hitting rucks and the half-backs steering us around the field. It was a positive night for us but there is always room for improvement.”
If England beat Wales and France fail to overcome Scotland at Murrayfield the following day, the red rose ribbons will be tied on the trophy with one round of the tournament still remaining.
But a Wales victory would leave them needing to only defeat Italy in Cardiff on the final day to clinch their third title in five seasons.
Baldwin adds: “The World Cup game is going to be sitting in the back of their minds because a lot the players are the same ones who were involved then. But Eddie Jones has probably given them confidence. They are building as a team, but we feel we are building as well, so it will be an exciting match and one we’ll look forward to.”
