Nick Cain talks to James Haskell about his world tour of self discovery

James Haskell doesn’t do run-of-the-mill. If the guinea-pig generation of Academy pro-players are among the most pampered but least colourful that English Rugby Union has produced, the new Wasps captain has been the exception to the rule.
If one side of Haskell is the extrovert, breaking the mould with his health and nutrition business ventures – such as ‘Angry Squirrel’, a performance-enhancing coffee — the other is a player who has pushed the boundaries further than the vast majority of his contemporaries. And not just in terms of self- promotion, because the flanker’s 51 England caps are testament not only to talent, but to durability, dedication, and a restless spirit.
Where others plied their trade within the confines of the Premiership, Haskell, who signed for Wasps at 17, and won his first two caps there and helped the club to win the Heineken Cup in 2007, spread his wings, leaving for Stade Francais in 2009.
Then, having accumulated more than 40 England caps – the majority on Martin Johnson’s watch – he risked it all. After being a starter for most of the 2011 World Cup campaign Haskell decided on a ‘gap-year’, which included joining the Ricoh Black Rams in Japan, and then playing a Super 15 season for the Highlanders in New Zealand.
Initially, on his return to Wasps in 2012, his buccaneering venture appeared to have backfired. With the club having just survived liquidation after a brutal relegation struggle they were rebuilding, as were England under Stuart Lancaster – and Haskell was not in his backrow mix.
However, bit-part roles followed, and by 2013 he was included in the match 23 for the entire Six Nations, though mainly off the bench. Then, after being surplus to Red Rose requirements for the most of last season, he was recalled for the tour of New Zealand in June.
It was a watershed for Haskell, because, at 29, he wondered before the fixture clash between the Premiership final and the first Test in Auckland opened the door to an England return, whether he would play at international level again. He was recalled to the starting lineup, and on the eve of that match, having been asked by Lancaster to address the squad on what playing for England meant to him, he was moved to tears.

The next evening Haskell was back to his rumbustious best at Eden Park in a knife-edge defeat, and although he did not get another tilt at the All Blacks on tour, he was equally conspicuous in the emphatic victory over the Crusaders.
Haskell reflects: “Being honest, I got an opportunity because somebody made a balls-up on the dates surrounding the Premiership final. I got the chance to pull the shirt on again, which I thought might not happen. I loved the tour, and despite the result of the series, it is my favourite England experience. I did my best against New Zealand in the first Test, and again against the Crusaders, and I enjoyed it.”
He adds: “This is an England set-up that boys look forward to attending. It’s a professional, competitive, transparent environment and there’s a genuine buzz about the place.”
On his return, the self-styled ‘Archbishop of Banterbury’, as the ebullient Haskell had anointed himself, was offered another unexpected opportunity when Wasps director of rugby, Dai Young, asked him to swap the role of joker for that of leader.
Haskell says he didn’t hesitate. “I’ve always adopted a leadership role in teams because I’ve always communicated when appropriate. Chris Bell did a great job in captaining Wasps last year but in some games I picked up the armband, so when Dai spoke to me I was very keen. But I didn’t want to be captain if I wasn’t the right man for the job.” He explains: “The most important thing as captain is to play well, and to make sure that you don’t get distracted or change your game. I was excited, especially as being asked to captain the club wasn’t very likely when I returned two years ago. I don’t think my game was there, and because of my individualism in terms of training I needed to be more involved with the squad. But I worked on that…
“It’s brought out the best in me, especially in terms of maintaining standards of professionalism – which is something I’ve always strived to do. I’ve had leadership qualities but haven’t been considered as captain mainly because of a larger-than-life personality that doesn’t always conform. I was probably seen as a bit of a risk.”
He adds: “But captaincy has ignited in me the sense of setting an example. I care a great deal about this club, and this team, and it’s given me a platform to have an effect on that. I’m lucky I’ve got Chris Bell, Matt Mullan, and young guys like Joe Launchbury, Sam Jones and Elliott Daly here.”
Haskell believes that the bedrock for this sense of responsibility was laid during his rugby travels. “It gave me confidence, and a challenge, mainly because to get into those starting lineups I had to compete and measure up alongside the best: guys like Sergio Parisse at Stade Francais, Ma’a Nonu at Ricoh Black Rams, and Aaron Smith at the Highlanders.”
He says: “It also taught me not to be precious. I had quite a privileged background, and I’ve been lucky, but as part of the first Academy batch after the game went fully pro I wanted to stand on my own feet and be self-reliant. That meant learning how to adapt to different environments. Like putting up with cold fish on Christmas Day for your post-match meal in Japan, learning how to make the most of Dunedin when downtown isn’t exactly buzzing, and staying sharp for late kick-offs in the Top 14.”

He adds: “It taught me how to cope with coaches who don’t back you. At Stade I had one coach who made my life a living hell, but you learn to deal with it. Playing under different captains has also shown me when to keep calm, and when to indulge in a bit of a negativity session!”
Haskell concludes: “You can’t do that if you are not hard-working and highly professional, so this tag that follows me around (of having too many distractions) is a little unfounded, because if I was a nightmare, and had not adapted quickly, I would not have survived.”
His response to what he learned from his time in New Zealand is succinct: “It taught me that rugby is rugby wherever you go, and that the idea they have a secret brand of it that we don’t understand is wrong. Their perception of our rugby as ‘ten-man and kick’ is also wrong.
“Compared to the Premiership the Super 15 is about small squads and short seasons, and I thought that Jamie Joseph at the Highlanders was a fantastic coach. His approach was very game specific with a strong emphasis on counter-attack.”
It also gave Haskell first-hand knowledge of players who have emerged since as the game’s brightest new stars. “The two who stood out for me as outstanding in Super 15 were Ben Smith at the Highlanders, and Michael Hooper – and they’ve both gone on to prove it at international level.”
They are not alone in proving their worth, because over the last year Haskell has consistently been kicking up a storm for Wasps, and, when he’s been given the chance, England.
At 6ft 4in and just under 18st (114kg) he has always been an imposing athlete, but now he has drawn all the parts of his career jigsaw together, he has become a highly effective, experienced flanker, whether wearing 6 or 7.
Size and good speed make him a bruising carrier, while his interest in mixed martial arts training – wrestling and ju-jitsu in particular – has helped him to become  difficult to shift when he’s over the ball at the breakdown, and like a fork-lift truck when it comes to shifting opposition bodies.
Haskell says there are other beneficial spin-offs in tackling technique and match conditioning. “Getting your feet close to the player you intend to tackle, or takedown, is crucial.”
He continues: “The issue I’ve had for a large part of my career has been over-training and turning up on match day physically sore, whereas now I always go into games fresh. As they say, there’s no point in training like Tarzan and playing like Jane.”

The upshot is that Haskell has become a serious rival not only for incumbent England captain Chris Robshaw at openside, but also for Tom Wood and Tom Croft at blindside – and he is candid about his ambitions for club and country in World Cup year.
“Even though Wasps are in a development stage it is important to move on from that and establish a winning environment. There has been good recruitment under our new owner, Derek Richardson, we’ve got a good coaching staff, and I want to be up there fighting it out in the Premiership and also in the European Champions Cup.”
He says that after last weekend’s away loss to Harlequins, his side need to get back to winning ways at home to Newcastle today: “Our physicality has to improve against Newcastle. We set standards against Northampton, and against Quins we dropped below that. We cannot take Newcastle lightly because they have some X-factor players and we will have to be on full mettle to get a victory.”
As for the rumoured Wasps move from Adams Park to the Ricoh Stadium in Coventry, Haskell says simply: “It’s important whether it’s there, or elsewhere, because we’ve been looking to get our own stadium for ten years.”
We end on his England aspirations. “I want the opportunity to put that white shirt on again, and to fight for it. I’ve played for the last four years at 7, and I’m comfortable there…but whether I pack down at 6 or 7 in an England shirt, I’ll be happy.
“I just want to make sure I’ve done everything in my power to do that – and I don’t want to say any more than that I’m aiming at playing in the autumn internationals.”
Haskell has the pedigree to make that statement of intent a reality.
*This article was first published in The Rugby Paper on September 28.