Rake’s Progress: Improving Roach To Fire Woodies’ Challenge
by Paul Cook -
Last August, the rugby world already appeared to be at young Hugh Roach’s feet. The then 21-year-old had just completed a significant double achievement, lifting the Shute Shield Premiership with his club side Eastwood, to back-up the Super Rugby winners medal he had earned only two weeks earlier for his role in the New South Wales Waratahs’ landmark title win.
Considering it was his first full season in the professional arena, it was some marker to lay down for the future, and while his impact on the Tahs’ success was largely limited to the training paddock, his debut off the bench against the Lions at Allianz Stadium, followed by another replacement stint in victory over the reigning champion Chiefs in Hamilton, were two nights he’ll certainly never forget.
But while he was ticking off some pretty serious boxes, the gun hooker would have been the first to admit he had a long, long way to go to cement himself as a regular fixture in the professional arena, si