Cockbain set for Wales Grand Slam glory

BRENT Cockbain has been one of the workhorses in the Welsh boiler room during a march through the Six Nations tournament that has brought them to within a game of their first clean sweep in 27 years.

Yet the joy of Wales’ campaign has been tainted by personal grief for Cockbain following the death of his 13-month old son Toby from a brain tumour last year.

Singled out as the enforcer within the Wales pack, Cockbain, younger brother of World Cup winning Wallaby Matt, has a reputation as one of the game’s real competitors, but it’s his ability to bounce back from one of life’s cruellest blows off the field that marks him out as a man with a difference this season.

There was no prouder man than the 6ft 8in giant when he won his first cap for Wales against Romania in 2003, just six days after his wife Kate gave birth to their first child Toby. Months later he returned to his native Australia for the World Cup, where he was cheered on by his son. Joy turned to despair last summer when Toby was diagnosed with the tumour while Cockbain was away on tour with Wales in South Africa.

The brave tot proved a real chip off the old block when battling his illness, but when the tumour returned despite intense treatment, there was nothing more he or his doting parents could do. Toby passed away at the family home last September.

Six months on and Cockbain will be remembering his son when he takes to the field for the biggest game of his career, pledging to be even stronger after the tragedy.

“Returning to rugby was hard because you don’t just simply bounce back from something like that, I guess you never do,” he said.

“Not that we will ever forget Toby but we know the world keeps turning. At some stage things have to get back to some normality. It doesn’t help anyone to be down in the dumps. Obviously we were devastated but I play the game because I love it and I still want to succeed so I never thought about quitting.

“Even though my perceptions have changed, I still have the same ambitions in rugby and that’s what drives me on. What happened makes that a lot harder but perhaps in some way I have gained some mental strength through the support of my wife, family and friends. We were touched at how everyone pulled together.

“I probably don’t get as nervous before big games anymore. I’ve never really been the nervous type anyway. I tend to enjoy the moment a bit more and think of the positives.

“A few of the guys get sick with nerves before games but when you lose someone close to you, especially a child, then nothing you’re going to face can compare to that. You know it’s going to be a tough game but I tell myself that if I got through the weeks after Toby’s death, anything else is easy.”

Incredibly Cockbain missed just a single game for Neath-Swansea Ospreys following his loss and has since showed immense strength to prove he still has the same hunger for the game to hold onto his Test place.

However, he and his wife have launched the Toby Lloyd Cockbain Foundation as a fund-raising tribute to raise money in aid of a south Wales cancer-care charity.

“Toby’s passing has actually been a catalyst for a lot of things, especially the fundraising and charity work that we’re doing. It’s only going to help so many people, especially kids, so we get a lot of satisfaction from that,” said Cockbain.

“I think my psyche has changed a little. I certainly don’t get as caught up in rugby as much. It’s still very important to me, and a lot of people, but something like this just makes you appreciate that family really does come first. There are more important things out there in life, especially after what happened over Christmas in Asia.

“But there’s no question about my commitment. I still give as good as I get on the field. The media had this idea at the World Cup that I was the enforcer of the team but it’s just about not taking a backwards step. You can’t do that in rugby, especially in my position because we’re the piano movers. We’re there to do the hard work, win the ball and make the fancy boys like Gavin Henson and Shane Williams look good.”

Cockbain and the rest of the Wales forwards certainly helped the likes of Henson look good both on and off the field.

A ceramic cast of the boots Henson used to kick the winning penalty against England were recently auctioned for £8,500 for Cockbain’s charity; such is the public excitement within Wales for the rugby revival. What a pair of boots would fetch should Wales beat Ireland for their first Grand Slam since 1978 is anyone’s guess.

“I think most people would agree that we have made a huge improvement in recent years, especially since the World Cup but we really need that one big win to get the monkey off our backs,” said Cockbain.

“What Mike has done is adapted the set-up rather than just coming in and totally changing everything. We’ve still got similar faces behind the scenes which was important for continuity. You need that for openness and unity within a squad.”

Wales will need that unity in spades if they want to fulfil their destiny against Ireland at the Millennium Stadium today.