The grind and the glory: Anatomy of a sevens hooker

Australia’s two-time Olympic men’s hooker Henry Hutchison knows exactly when he has had a good game. 

“If I don’t feel like I’ve been hit by a train, I haven’t really done my job,” Hutchison laughed. “My role is to get the work, grind for the team and get it done.” 

While that might not sound too glamorous, Hutchison, who played on the wing for his first couple of seasons as an international, would disagree. The grind is where the glory is, according to the Australian. 

“While a winger has got to have out-and-out speed, ball players have got to see the game well and props have to carry strong, the hooker kind of needs to do it all very well. At a level of about 90 per cent,” Hutchison said. 

“You need to be a hybrid. You need to be strong in the contact because you are stuck in the middle of the field. You end up hitting a lot of rucks. You end up hitting a lot of two-man tackles. You need to cover for people. You need to cover good play.” 

‘The name is almost a bit pointless’

In essence, fans of 15s rugby can forget what they know about hookers. 

“The name is almost a bit pointless,” Hutchison agreed. “You find yourself at half-back, you find yourself at 10 and if you are lazy you can find yourself on the wing as well.”

It is no wonder Hutchison and Great Britain’s Jamie Barden look like beefed-up whippets. For the latter, a man who at 24 years old has already captained England, it is the ultimate challenge. 

“You’ve got to be the link man,” Barden said, with undisguised relish. “You’re not the playmaker in respect of a nine or 10 and you’re not an edge forward, like your props and your wingers. You are that link role, getting through so much work in attack and defence.” 

The duo, who both hope to be in Madrid for the climax of the HSBC SVNS 2024 series, agree the pressure is relentless. While all the top teams desire a game-changing winger, they absolutely must have a quality hooker. 

“You have players that can deliver a 10/10 performance and then sometimes the next performance is a 4/10 and you carry those players in the squad because they pull out a 10/10 when you need them and that can break the game open,” Hutchison explained. 

“But my thought process is that if I can deliver an 8/10 for six matches over the weekend and occasionally a 10 or a 9/10, then that’s the job.”

Scrum role

While the look of both players – Barden stands at 1.82m and 86kg and Hutchison locks in at 1.75m and 86kg – backs up the Australian’s assertion that, "you can forget the big fella who throws the ball into the lineout and is big in the scrum", Barden has found that his remit has got bigger in recent years. 

“When I first started in 2018, the term they used (at scrum-time) was GA – Gentleman’s Agreement. You’d all get there, you’d pack down and no one would really look to try and compete,” Barden said.

“Then, in the last two to three years, because scrummaging has become such an attacking platform for a lot of teams, teams now try and disrupt the platform. 

“So, scrums have become really technical and quite a big aspect of the game.”

Barden cites the New Zealand front-row trio of Scott Curry (1.94m and 96kg), Sam Dickson (1.93m and 104kg) and Tone Ng Shiu (1.89m and 98kg) as an example of the units now operating in the men’s game. 

With scrum-halves throwing in at the lineout, a hooker’s role in sevens’ other set piece is less formulaic. But there’s no time for a breather, with the number two normally lifting at the front and/or receiving the ball from the jumper. 

Fittest / funnest

To take care of all this and play a full 14 minutes – a "key requirement" according to both Barden and Hutchison – it is no wonder the Aussie is adamant a hooker, “has to be the fittest on the team”. 

Recently recovered from 12 months on the sidelines with an ACL injury, Hutchison is looking to channel his inner Kwagga Smith – the double Rugby World Cup-winner and former Springbok sevens star is, "the best sevens hooker" Hutchison has ever played against – all the way to his third Olympic Games in Paris.

Barden, who will miss this weekend’s Singapore leg as he recovers from concussion, very much hopes to join him there. 

One thing is for certain, neither man ever wants to play in any other position. 

“It is demanding, it’s gruelling but it’s also the most fun,” Hutchison said.

By Luke Norman

See the HSBC SVNS champions crowned in Madrid, 31 May-2 June. Tickets from €10 available to purchase here.