One would never imagine Nathan Hines being fearful of anything on a rugby pitch.
The former Leinster lock is current on the Scotland coaching staff plotting to beat Ireland this weekend.
Hines spent two seasons with Leinster and left on a Heineken Cup-winning note in 2011. He describes his team in Ireland as “special” and states that an IRFU dictat, rather than the wishes of his team or anything personal, saw him move on to Clermont.
The IRFU wanted to develop the likes of young locks such as Devin Toner, Ben Marshall and Mark Flanagan. Experienced, foreign locks were too much of a luxury so Hines was forced to move on.
Asked by SportsJOE why Leinster have struggled to replace him, he jokes, “They did a pretty good job of replacing me with Thorny [Brad Thorn]. Ah, it worked out well for Dev in the end so they [the IRFU] were justified.”
Renowned, in his day, as a fierce competitor, we asked Hines for his toughest opponents on the pitch and the players he dread tackling.
Toughest opponents
“Thierry Dusatoir was a nightmare to play against. He is hard as nails and never gave an inch.
“Victor Matfield and Bakkies Botha are right up there too, for different reasons. One was unflappable while the other would do anything it took to win.
“And any small, fast guy. Shane Williams comes to mind there.”
Toughest to tackle
“Tackling Louis Picamoles was always a huge challenge. He was just so tough to ground. From a power perspective, he was the toughest guy to tackle.
“From an agility perspective, I go back to Shane Williams. Put a back in front of me and I was always liable to miss him.”
