Rucks or rubbish, I’ll clean up – Calum Green

In-form Newcastle lock Calum Green finds clearing up rucks much more enjoyable than tidying up after his landlord, England prop Kieran Brookes.
Green moved in with Brookes after joining the Falcons in the summer from Leeds Carnegie, and while the two share living space their idea of domestic standards are somewhat different.
“Kieran and I know each other from our time at Leicester and, when I was looking for somewhere to live in Newcastle, he said I could move in,” Green told TRP.
“He’s away with England at the moment so I’ve got the place to myself which is nice.
“I’m the one that always keeps things tidy and he’s the one that messes it up, so it’s been nice to have a bit of time away time from him!”
Norwich-born Green never tires of getting his hands dirty on the pitch though and relishes the less glamourous side of rugby.
His nitty-gritty work in the tight exchanges may go unnoticed in some quarters, but not with his coaches, Dean Richards and John Wells, who fully appreciate the physicality that he has brought to the Falcons pack since his move from Leeds.
Recently, Richards lavished praise on Green for his “outstanding” contribution this season. “Dean and Wellsy are ‘old school’ Leicester, they want their forwards to be physical and do the hard graft. If you do that they are pretty happy,” Green said.
“I’m not the tallest (6ft 4in) or a traditional sort of lineout forward, but I have other things like getting around the pitch hitting rucks and making tackles. Things like that are what I enjoy doing.”
Green came through Leicester’s academy, like fellow Norfolk natives Ben and Tom Youngs and Ben Pienaar, and he made 20 appearances for the Tigers before spending two successful years at Leeds and although not directly crossing paths with Richards or Wells at Tigers he is enjoying working under them in the North-east.
Green, 24, has started all six Premiership matches and feels his game has continued to develop under their guidance.
“Wellsy is really keen on his attention to detail, at the lineout he wants everything right whether it’s the lift or the jump. He is very technical in the contact area and that really helps develop you.”
Newcastle resume their Premiership campaign away to Bath next weekend, before taking on Sale and Gloucester at home.
“Bath is a good opportunity for us to get a good result as they will be missing a few players,” Green added.
“Then we’ve got two massive games back up here which we can win if we play as well as we know we can.”
JON NEWCOMBE