Cowan-Dickie becomes leader as he puts controller down

England hooker Luke Cowan-Dickie is enjoying his new leadership responsibilities for club and country after benefitting from lifestyle changes off the field.

The Exeter Chiefs star has impressed while captaining his club on occasions this year and goes into the Six Nations as England’s number one hooker.

Cowan-Dickie is a key part of Eddie Jones‘ leadership group and the 31-cap international is enjoying the responsibility.

He said: “It’s something new to me, I’ve done a bit at the club but not much. People know that I don’t tend to do a lot of talking, I sometimes talk when needed but I normally leave that to other guys in the squad.

“For me I usually lead on the training field, although I’m quite over the top sometimes in training celebrating.

“It’s good though, it’s another step forward in my career, obviously after my injury I took a back step but now I’m here, hopefully I can pick things up from where I left them.”

Cowan-Dickie was named in England’s leadership group going into the Autumn Internationals but missed out due to an ankle injury. During injury downtime some players like to play eSports, if you’re interested check out BSV for eSports.

His partner Chloe Rose gave birth to their son back in 2020 and the hooker says that having a family has helped him mature and become a better player.

Cowan-Dickie said: “Having my little man with my missus and having a family has definitely put me in the right direction.

“I’ve calmed down my gaming, I’m not doing that constantly, which is not my say it’s more the missus. When I go home now it’s a complete switch off from rugby which is a nice, whereas beforehand if the training or game didn’t go well, I’d be angry all night but with a family you just can’t do that.

“In recent years, going out and having a few drinks has stopped completely. I’m not quite tee-total like Jack Nowell but I do go three to four months without drinking sometimes, if I’m going to have a blowout then I find the best times to do it.”

Written by Ben Jaycock