Luke looking long term
Luke Charteris has an unusual weight problem – working out the right amount to put on, when he laughingly says his natural weight would be five or six stone.
Given that there are plenty of slightly chunkier rugby players who would need to be Charteris' 6'10” to balance their height/weight ratio – and even more among the fans – it is an unusual problem which has taken a few years to get just right.
It is a sign of his impact that the lanky lock will be so badly missed in the Six Nations – with the irony that after neck and back issues which can be traced to his height, it is a more normal wrist injury which rules him out.
At the start of the year it did not look as though he would be a candidate for the Rugby World Cup, niggling injuries limited his training and playing to the extent it was a bit of a surprise he came through the pre-World Cup sessions with fl ying colours.
Height is obviously one of his strengths, along with the athleticism of someone who was a pretty good high hurdler in his youth, but it was the work rate Down Under which dazzled the analysts.
Only Sam Warburton and Toby Faletau averaged more tackles per game in the World Cup, but Charteris was within a tackle per match, which is an incredible record for a second row.
No wonder Wales coach Warren Gatland announced that the previously secure partnership of Alun Wyn Jones and Bradley Davies would be broken up, but it was now a question of which one would partner fi rst choice Charteris.
He made 16 tackles in the fi rst half against Ireland and averaged more than 11 per game (which includes substitutions in matches which lower the fi gures, most players averaged between fi ve and nine). He was quite immense in the 14 man effort against France.
He is also refreshingly honest. When asked about his contract ending this season with plenty of options open to him, he simply said he would like to stay with the Dragons where he is captain this season. Judging from stories since, his agent has had a word about contractual tactics, but those are not his original instincts.
“I came back with mixed feelings from the World Cup,” he reveals. “It was a great experience and the quarter-fi nal was the biggest high of my rugby career and then unfortunately the biggest down was the week after with the semi-fi nal.
“I came back with a lot of what-ifs and a hunger to play more international rugby to prove ourselves on the international scene again.”
That will have to wait a while because of the wrist injury sustained early in the game against South Africa, but which needed an operation to sort it out. However it was the lack of injuries which proved crucial up until that point.
“So much of rugby is just trying to stay clear of injury and the more games you can string together brings better form, because you can develop skills, and your confi dence increases,” he said.
“I do not think there was any major change in the way I was playing or being coached what to do, I was just playing that rugby consistently.
words Hamish Stuart
issue19twothousand&twelve sportingwales
pictures Steve Pope
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