“How long before I get in? Before it starts, before I begin? How long before you decide, Before I know what it feels like?”
The first verse of Coldplay’s Speed of Sound. It is one of the songs that James Haskell plays on his iPod before matches to bring him to the correct preparatory pitch. “You choose tracks not so much for the words but for the impact, the emotion they bring out and the feelings of confidence,” he says. He might not have chosen it for the words, but “How long before I get in?” might well be his career question.
Haskell, in essence, has it all. He is nearly 6ft 4in, weighs in at more than 17st, has pace, good hands, is athletic and frighteningly dedicated. This is the man who stays behind after Wasps training for extra tackling sessions. With Joe Worsley. Full on, in a small five-metre channel. Just Haskell, and the hardest tackler in the England game.
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