Peter Jackson: Luke Charteris’ uncool hands mean try wait goes on

Luke Charteris threw himself back into the day job in France at the weekend, wondering why there is still no international try to his name after all these years.  It will take the tallest of British international locks more than a week to answer the tallest of stories – how he failed to break one of the longest ducks in the game despite crossing the Tongan line twice and walking off with the Man of the Match award.
Perpignan’s not unreasonable request that their largest employee presented himself for Top 14 duty rather than stay away for an out-of-window Test against Australia eliminated the last hope of his avoiding another year without a Test try.
When he resumes national service during the Six Nations in February, Charteris will be approaching the tenth anniversary of his Wales debut. It will also put him close to the select category of tight-five forwards who have gone a decade without a try to their name.
He is in some exalted company alongside those ultimate team players who will argue that they have been too busy securing the ball for others to hog the glory of touching it down over the line.
Of contemporary players, Nicholas Mas heads the list of leading non-scorers, ten years national service duly completed for France spanning 66 Tests, one more than another prop, Allan Jacobsen, notched up for Scotland before he retired two years ago.
All Black prop Owen Franks (54 Tests) is the only other current international yet to cross the line despite more than half a century of attempts. Paul James (48 Tests) will inevitably join him at some point in the New Year.
Charteris will try again soon enough, hoping for better luck in his 44th Test, against Italy in the opening round of the Six Nations, than he had against Tonga in the 43rd. The first time the Welsh beanpole got over the line, he had the ball jolted from his grasp a split-second before he could complete the hazardous business of putting it down.
Luke’s cool hand having deserted him at the critical moment after waiting nine years to get into a position where it looked more difficult not to score, lo and behold much the same thing befell him again ten minutes later on the opposite side of the Tongan in-goal area.
In trying to smooth the way for George North to do what he’s supposed to do, Charteris hoped to bring some semblance of order to a shambles of a second half so dreadful that the WRU ought to have given the customers half their money back.
He had done more than most to provide some entertainment, but on this occasion his unwitting intervention caused North’s try to be disallowed because of obstruction. Charteris still has time on his side.
He will have to plough his way through another 20 non-scoring matches for Wales before equalling the record for the most Tests by a second row without a try – Daniel Vickerman’s 63 for Australia.
The all-time high – 83 matches by the Italian prop Salvatore Perugini – will take some matching but other totals are well within his reach. Huw Bennett (51 caps for Wales), Julian White (54 for England), Duncan Jones (57 for Wales) and Graham Rowntree (57 for England) all maintained a splendid level of consistency in managing to avoid anything as showy as a try between them.
Some of the most most durable front-five practitioners almost managed to keep their names out of the scorers’ book. Jason Leonard (119 Tests, 1 try) blotted his copybook once (in his 51st match for England, against Argentina at Twickenham in 1996).
John Hayes went one better (107 Tests, 2 tries). His Munster side-kick Donncha O’Callaghan has scored once in 98 internationals for Ireland and the Lions, Adam Jones twice in 94, Martin Johnson twice in 92.
Charteris is slowly ascending towards some lofty company but then at 6ft 9in he’s usually been head and shoulders above most.