By Simon Roberts
Dewi Lake has enlisted the help of an England World Cup winner to ensure he lands his darts as a line-out thrower.
The Ospreys hooker – who could make his comeback from injury against Montpellier in the Heineken Champions Cup this weekend – is taking advice from Simon Hardy, a line-out specialist with Sir Clive Woodward’s all-conquering World Cup winning side of 2003.
Lake, who has been transformed from a No.8 to an all-action hooker in the professional ranks, has been having one-to-one coaching with Hardy at the Ospreys.
Hardy was one of batch of specialist coaches employed by Sir Clive and was drafted in by Toby Booth, the Ospreys head coach, to teach Lake the art of throwing.
The Bridgend-born front rower, who is sidelined with a shoulder injury but expected back for the trip to France, has revealed he has been doing between 30 to 50 line-out throws a day to hone a new but key part to his role.
“There is plenty to work on for me and for it’s a still relatively new thing for me,” said Lake.
“But the last year and a half, and if you speak to any hooker, it’s all about the daily work and if you don’t do that, you lose the rhythm.
“It’s like golf and a golfer’s swing, it’s all about the muscle memory and the repetition.”
Lake, 23, is one of a batch of youngsters at the Ospreys, along with Jac Morgan and centre Joe Hawkins, who have emerged from the regional ranks and started to make an impact at Test level.
Hawkins and Morgan both played against Leicester Tigers on Sunday, but could not prevent the regions from losing their opening European tie, 23-17 to the English champions.
To add to the Ospreys’ upset, they also lost Wales star George North with a suspected fractured cheekbone.
The Ospreys have missed Lake’s physical and abrasive approach around the field which has won him plaudits, especially during Wales’s first historic win for the men’s side against the Springboks on South African soil this summer.
Buthe admits he still has work to do on a key element of the hooker’s role.
“It’s about getting to the weekend and when you are tired in a game, or things aren’t going your way, you just need to have that ‘I have done this before, let’s get on with it,’” said Lake.
“Because it’s a new position for me, I probably haven’t got as much repetition as other players have and those who have played in the position all their careers.
“Look at Ken Owens and his career. He has been throwing for 10 to 15 years, whereas I am new to it. I know I have time to work on my throwing-in, specifically.”
Huge thanks to @ospreys & @WelshRugbyUnion hooker @Dewi_Lake for his brilliant delivery with tonight’s ‘Hooked on Throwing’ CPD 🏉
Great to see so many coaches from across the region attending with their hookers to upskill both coach and player 👍🏻 pic.twitter.com/psyxTACBef
— Bryntirion Rugby (@BryntirionRugby) October 10, 2022
Lake is already being seen as the heir apparent to Wales and Lions hooker Owens and will be a new face for returning Wales coach, Warren Gatland, to run the rule over.
The six-times capped Welsh international gives a real insight to the challenge of the new skill and process he has had to adopt in a new role as hooker.
“Every hooker has a different process,” said Lake.
“Mine is to get to the line, spin the ball in my hands just to get a feel for it, I probably do that subconsciously.
“Take a couple of deep breaths to settle, because the thing about throwing a ball in is you go from being a headless banshee around the field wanting to hurt people, to being very calm.
“I know I have to be precise and flick the switch as soon as the ball leaves my hand, to having to hurt someone again.
“It’s about flicking the switch from being in a mentality of being on the rugby pitch to being off the pitch and throwing in.
“It’s about setting yourself and getting things right and trying to stop the adrenaline.”
Lots being made about that Ospreys attendance but fair play to those who turned up on a freezing cold Sunday night to a game that was live on free-to-air. With cost of living and other factors, pro rugby in Wales is a hard sell atm.
— Jamie Phillips (@JNPhillips4) December 11, 2022
Lake admits the challenge for him has been to trust his own process and to adopt new rituals so throwing-in becomes second-nature during the cauldron of a game.
“My process or ritual is to spin the ball to calm myself and I am sure every hooker has their own way of switching their mindset too,” said Lake.
“Then you process the call, and the tough thing about throwing in is you don’t really have a target, like in basketball, it’s about knowing the height you have to hit with the throw.
“It’s about hitting a moving target and that is the difficulty, but that is why repetition is important and just trusting the catcher will be there at the time you throw-in.”
