Ospreys coach Jonathan Humphreys has called on Richard Hibbard to be selected by the Lions for the June tour to Australia.
Hibbard will compete with Matthew Rees and Ken Owens for the Wales hooker shirt during the upcoming Six Nations, but Humphreys believes that he has the potential to wear another famous red jersey.
"I think he is the best hooker in Europe," said Humphreys.
"I'm biased but I spend my life looking at opposition, looking at other hookers' strength and weaknesses.
"The kid is 112kg, phenomenally aggressive, outstanding at set piece. What more do you want? The kid can change games. He is very important to us [the Ospreys].
"If it were up to me to pick (for the Lions) - yes he would be there. I thought he was phenomenal on the weekend. Here is a kid who has got a bad shoulder. We had to manage it all week and the first couple of minutes in the game he is smashing into people.
"He's a loyal kid. He wants to play. He wants to do his best. With one shoulder he was phenomenal and I hope he starts for Wales."
Comments
APV1 says...
I thought the Welsh were into sheep, not baby goats...
;-)
Posted 13:52 21st January 2013
makemehappy says...
@Heathy - you obviously haven't watched much rugby full stop! He's clearly the best 2 in Wales at the moment, and therfore clearly a Lions candidate. If you want to stuff the Aussie scrum, then he's your man!
Posted 13:11 21st January 2013
99call says...
I think you have to be first choice for your country before you talk about the Lions, so lets see if he gets the nod in the 6N and if so how he performs.
I personnaly think hes a good player and can offer something but the best hooker in the europe, no chance I think Best Hartley and Rees might have something to say about that
Posted 11:55 21st January 2013
melkdave says...
Certinally the best welsh hooker atm,by a country mile,and he is definatly in with a good chance of getting on the Lions tour.Got to agree though that his behind his english and irish counterparts,though well ahead of R.Ford and the other celtic contenders.M.Rees has absolutely no chance and K.Owens seems quitea bit behind him for Wales
Posted 19:21 20th January 2013
Heathy says...
@ makemehappy - I think you have been watching a different game to the rest of us. We're talking about rugby!! Hubbard is an okay hooker. He's not necessarily the best in Wales let alone the UK. There are many ahead of him which have been listed. He's inconsistent and has never been a standout player. Lions? You must be blinking joking. Humphreys has had a bang on the head as bless him, he wasn't/isn't the brightest spark either.
Posted 19:19 20th January 2013
pantreac says...
I don't know what Mr Humprey's is on, nor do I care. The facts are all 3 Irish hookers are better than Hibbard also Young and Rees.We can all appreciate him wanting to bolster and support his own player but please face reality!
Posted 14:56 20th January 2013
makemehappy says...
Definitely in the top 3 hookers in the UK. Ahead of the others in Wales and definitely the best around in scrummaging terms. Slightly dodgy throwing at the lineout on occasions though.
Posted 10:20 20th January 2013
pentwynfarm says...
Why do we keep getting all these articles trumpeting Welsh players for the Lions. So far we've had suggestions for the complete Welsh front row, Leigh Halfpenny, George North, Cuthbert, Jonathan Davies and Mike Phillips.
Who's next James Hook?
Why not take the entire Welsh squad, I mean they have such a great record down under?
Posted 18:24 19th January 2013
cliffguy says...
Tend to agree; I think he COULD be the best, but he's inconsistent. He needs to prove it week in week out - and also, maybe that smashing into people while nursing one shoulder might not be the best idea. He needs more brains, never been the brightest spark. Mind you how many hookers are? And that's weher Best comes in.....
Posted 13:35 19th January 2013
ArmchairGeneral says...
Best Ford Rees. Maybe Youngs if he has a good 6 nations to replace Rees. No need for the two sillable names.
Posted 12:19 19th January 2013
rogidez says...
by the end of the season Hibbard is going to think his name is 'The kid' ....a wildly biased opinion if ever I've heard one. I concur Tom Youngs and Strauss..streaks ahead of the welshkid...er..man.
Posted 10:49 19th January 2013
NHsaints says...
I do think he's the best Welsh hooker, I don't however think he's as good as his English or Irish counterparts.
Posted 09:18 19th January 2013
whatisthis says...
rory best, dylan hartley, richardt strauss, tom youngs, sean cronin, ross ford and matthew rees all ahead of him....
Posted 23:05 18th January 2013