Luke Cowan-Dickie hooked on new role

Even by England’s precocious standards loosehead prop Luke Cowan-Dickie stood out as an early developer – now the Chiefs teenager has taken the bold move of converting to hooker.
Two years ago Cowan-Dickie made his England U20s debut at 17, coming off the bench against Italy in the Six Nations, replacing Mako Vunipola.
Fast-forward two seasons and Vunipola and Joe Marler, both 22, seemingly have the England loosehead jersey sewn up for years and Cowan-Dickie has begun the process of becoming a No.2.
The Truro-born youngster explains that the decision came purely down to size, and admits the reduced scrummaging load has allowed him to have an even greater influence around the park.
“I am enjoying both positions but I think long-term the plan will be to end up at hooker,” said Cowan-Dickie, who has played both positions for England U20s during the Six Nations.
“I’m not the biggest guy in the world, and I’m never going to be, so I will probably end up being better-suited to playing at hooker.
“That’s probably the main reason I’ve changed, it made sense when we realised how big I would be.
“It was really a joint decision made by Exeter and the U20s. They had a chat between the staff and the guys at the club and decided it was the best move.
“It’s a good thing to be able to cover two positions, it gives me one up on some of the guys fighting for a spot and might get me a bit more game time.
“On the pitch the scrummaging hasn’t been too tough, it’s not a massive change to what I was used to as a prop.
“I do find it’s a little less tiring though so I have a bit more energy to get around the park and get my hands on the ball. I really enjoy that part of the game so hopefully I’ll be able to get more and more involved.”
If shifting one position to his right when it comes to scrummaging has been all too easy for Cowan-Dickie, he admits lineout throwing has been a tough skill to grasp. Like current England first-choice Tom Youngs, whose lineout work also came under severe scrutiny when he swapped from centre to hooker, Cowan-Dickie has been working with England lineout guru Simon Hardy.
The man who masterminded Steve Thompson’s perfect throw that sparked that winning Jonny Wilkinson drop-goal in the World Cup final against Australia in Sydney ten years ago, has already had a big impact on Youngs, and Cowan-Dickie is optimistic he can make the same transition.
He added: “We have lineout sessions at the club and Simon Hardy has come down to do some one-on-one work with us as well. We’ve also got Ian Peel helping from the RFU, but it’s a big change.
“If you think about it, the scrummaging is almost the same, but I’m going from lifting in the lineout to throwing the ball in. It still feels a little bit strange, and I’m not going to be perfect straight away.
“That obviously takes a little bit of time to get used to so I’m having to work hard on it, but it’s improving.
“I’ll have to keep working on it and get up to speed as quickly as possible, but I’m enjoying the switch so far and still happy to play at loosehead when I’m needed.”
PAUL EDDISON