Rock Hayman aims to take control

HE could have been made to measure, Carl Hayman; if you’re looking for an interviewee who embodies the All-Black, it’s this grizzly-bear of a man from Opunake in Otago.

He’s big for a prop, 1.93m, 120kg (about 6’3” and 18st 8lbs in old money), but we’re not talking just of size here, of beef; we’re talking rock, granite.

As befits a front-row also he’s confrontational, catches and holds the eye of his interviewer, engages in a little staring competition, establishing who’s the one in control.

And he gives nothing away, nothing. His answers are short, peremptory almost, yet to the point; they do not invite follow-up, no openings conceded.

A flavour of some of those answers, before we attempt to analyse the man. This was Carl on his own personal battle in New Zealand’s World Cup opener in Marseille tomorrow, against a highly-rated Italian front-row.

Yourself and the two men in black alongside you will earn your corn?

“Oh definitely, that’s the same in every test. Over the last wee while Italy have pushed a lot of teams pretty close in the Six-Nations. They’re obviously competitive, it’s going to be a tough match.” Stop.

There’s a lot depending on ye though, Carl? “There always is, in every game, and this game is no different. Another test, we prepare like any other test, try to be as prepared as well as we can.” Stop.

No flow, no stream of consciousness — Pádraig Harrington, this definitely is not. But we persevere.

A few years ago, around the time of the last World Cup especially, people spoke of the New Zealand scrum as being underpowered, sacrilege in the land where forward power is revered, an insult to those such as Hayman as power was sacrificed on the altar of the supercharged, free-flowing running game of the Super 12.

However when Graham Henry took over in New Zealand he re-established the traditional New Zealand power game up front, to the benefit of mountainy men like Carl.

That new emphasis on forward power, on scrummaging especially, has meant a concurrent rise in the value of the tight-head prop, to such an extent now that they are almost as sought after as the best out-halves.

Ironically, it has also meant that, after this World Cup, New Zealand are set to lose the services of Hayman, Newcastle-bound after the Premiership club shelled out the big bucks.

Even should the All-Blacks win this World Cup, there will be no going back for Carl, not yet anyway. “Once I’ve made my mind up, I’m happy with that. I’m happy with what I’ve achieved to date, hopefully we can achieve something more in the next few weeks but the time is right for me, a decision I made.”

So where does that leave us on Carl Hayman? Well first, foremost, he’s a player, a force, the real deal, and Newcastle fans are in for a treat next season. He holds the singular honour of being the 1000th All-Black to be capped, but this doesn’t impress him a whit; just having that test jersey, that’s all that matters.

“At the time it just felt special to be an All-Black. We were aware that someone coming on was going to be the 1000th (he won it as a sub), but at the time it was more the personal satisfaction of just being an All-Black – I’m happy with any number.”

No frills, no fancy, that’s Carl Hayman. He’s in Marseille to do a job; a minor part of that job is to take his turn in the media interview round, but the thrust of that job is to win the World Cup, end all this talk about New Zealand and chokers.

In the former, he might be lacking the polished eloquence of so many of his Irish counterparts; in the latter, he will not be found wanting. Never.

“For a lot of these guys it’s been three or four years preparing for this tournament and when you put that amount of work into something, one goal, obviously you want to do well.”

Physically more powerful than four years ago, but mentally sharper also? “Yeah, from the experiences we’ve had over the years, a lot of tight games; at the end of the tournament those games are going to be like that, they’re going to be tight, they’re going to be fiercely contested. I’m sure we can call on that experience to help us out in our later games.”

For now though, it’s about tomorrow, All-Blacks against Italy, Hayman against Castrogiovanni, two of the most feared names in propping, tightheads both, but the guys who on whom so much hinges. Around Marseille, this one could register on the Richter.