Calm Warren gave us the boost we needed – Hook

Feb 4 2008 Tim Lewis, Western Mail

OFFICIAL man of the match James Hook has revealed the spirit that galvanised the Welsh players at half-time and pushed them forward to an unlikely victory.

He emphasised there was no shouting or bawling from Warren Gatland in the dressing room during the interval, just quiet words of wisdom and a number of key ideas that convinced the players they could turn the game around.

Hook’s majestic second-half display and flawless goalkicking enabled Wales to climb back from a heavy points deficit to achieve a remarkable victory.

He insisted, “Every single one of us believed the whole week that we could win, well for the last couple of weeks, really.

“The first half didn’t go our way and Johnny Wilkinson kicked his goals, so we went into the break behind.

“But we never stopped believing we could turn it around and that’s what we did. The second half was a tremendous effort from us and you could see from the look on our faces at the end how much it meant to us.”

Gatland’s first half-time team talk in his guise as Wales coach could not have come at a more daunting time, with a 20-year run of Twickenham defeats hanging around the neck of the Welsh squad and a points hammering being predicted.

Outlining what Gatland said in his team talk, Hook said, “Not as much as you might think. We didn’t have much possession in the first half and Warren told us very calmly to get hold of the ball and play our own game. Play some rugby.

“It was more a case of looking around at the players sitting next to you and remembering just what every single one of us is capable of.

“Someone just said ‘Look at the talent here’ and when we did, we each had total confidence in each other, just genuine belief that we could do it.”

Two penalties, a drop goal and a conversion from a Toby Flood try in the first half from Wilkinson put England in the ascendency and Hook said it was nothing more than Wales could have expected from one of the best outside halves in the world.

Hook explained, “We were giving away far too many silly penalties and you just can’t give a player of Wilkinson’s class chances like that because he really doesn’t miss many.

“We managed to keep our own points tally ticking over and when we went in at half-time we knew we had the players to still make things happen.”

As Welsh confidence grew after the interval, Hook said, “I remember looking up at one point and seeing Gavin Henson make a great break after we had been on the back foot and digging deep. That moment lifted every one of us.

“Gavin left Wilkinson for dead and I just turned and said to him “Outstanding!” – after that you could just see the belief in the players growing with every move and every tackle.

“Then we looked at England and saw they were being worn down.

“Those last 25 minutes were just awesome to play in. Of course it was good to be involved in the first try, but I wouldn’t even dare to take any credit for it – this was really about the team.”

Hook also produced outstanding displays against Australia, when he replaced Stephen Jones and transformed Wales’ fortunes, and against England last year when the Scarlets man was injured.

“Some people have said it’s my best game for Wales, but I will probably have a better idea when I have time to look back at it – but it has to be up there,” smiled Hook.

“I’m learning every game, and I’m not getting ahead of myself here, but I expect more of myself in that sense every time.

“We will expect more next time out. We know that wasn’t the best we can offer and that we can step it up a gear when we cut out the mistakes.”

Wales play Scotland at the Millennium Stadium next week and will go into the match as favourites.

Hook said, “The best thing about tournaments like the Six Nations is that there is another day and another game in front of you before you even have time to think about the last one.

“I’m not expecting Scotland to be a lot different in their approach as they were in the World Cup. They looked quite sharp out in France and Frank Hadden has got them functioning as a unit – being only one of two home nations to reach the quarter-finals deserves a bit of respect.”