Hook’s rugby dream becomes children’s book

One would usually expect someone at Hook’s stage of his career – recently retired, albeit that Covid saw to it he didn’t receive the send-off he deserved – to release an autobiography. He would undoubtedly have many an interesting tale to tell after a glittering resumé with major European clubs, and that’s before factoring in his international honours.

Nonetheless, there is a distinctly autobiographical flavour to Chasing a Rugby Dream, the first in a planned series of books Hook has co-authored with David Brayley. There is fun to be had in figuring out who and what the inspirations may be for the characters and situations in ten-year-old Jimmy Joseph’s life.

The tyrannical new teacher, Mr Kane, for example? “He’s a mixture of a few different coaches I had at both school and pro level,” confesses Hook. “I remember when I was playing U12s rugby and went to a schoolboys trial. The coach didn’t put me on the whole time, then he finally gave me two minutes. I came on, made a break and set up a try for the team. Then he brought me straight off.”

Hook thought he’d been subbed because the coach had seen enough, but he didn’t end up making the cut. “Everyone can relate to something like that in their life,” he says. “It might be a coach or a teacher. Sometimes your face doesn’t fit for whatever reason.”

It’s a scene that is echoed in the book but, along with the bully whose story is more complex than it first appears, the positive elements from Hook’s life shine through too. His grandparents, who have been ever-present for Hook, are portrayed as fondly in Jimmy’s world as you imagine they are for Hook in real life. “That was a big thing for me, getting across the relationship I have with my grandparents,” he says. “They’ve followed me and supported me since the day I was born. I went up to visit them recently and I read them a few chapters. They enjoyed that.”

Another force for good in Chasing a Rugby Dream is the character of Peter Clement, head coach of the Eagles (you don’t need to look too far to see who their real-life counterpart might be). “Everyone has a local legend in their village or their town, and when I was growing up we had Matthew McCarthy who played for Neath and Aberavon,” Hook says. “He took me and my brother, Mike, for a kicking session over at the Gnoll a couple of times when I was Jimmy’s age.

“All these big Welsh internationals played on that pitch and here’s Matthew McCarthy taking us for a session. He probably doesn’t even remember it, but me and my brother always will.” (In a way, readers can have their own Matthew McCarthy experience with Hook himself, since he’s set up a YouTube page featuring skills that Jimmy works on in the book.)

Despite achieving so much in the game, Hook was eager that he and Brayley convey one message in particular: success requires hard work. As Hook explains: “We wanted to make it a nice story, but realistic too. Young children might look at international players on TV and think it’s a straight line to the top. The truth is that it takes a lot of hard work. You’ll have people saying you can’t do this or that, and you’ll get bumps in the road. But if you put in that hard work then you can get there and prove them wrong.”

The theme of teamwork, also featured, extended to the writing process. “Once I met Dave, I had a load of ideas written down about how I wanted the story to come across,” he says. “There was a lot of toing and froing, and we had to get on the same page pretty quickly.”

Many aspects of Jimmy’s life are more directly linked to Hook’s own than others. “I wanted my grandparents to be involved, and I had an amazing mum growing up; my parents also divorced when I was young, like Jimmy’s; the ups and downs of selection were something I always went through. If you’re lucky, you’ll be that person that gets picked every time, but I certainly wasn’t.

“I was also asthmatic from a young age, and I wore glasses. I’m short-sighted, so I’ve had contacts since I was 14 – without them my eyesight is terrible. All that is directly relatable to me.”

Jimmy’s friend Kitty, a girl who can outperform the boys at school when it comes to sports, was Swansea-based writer Brayley’s idea. “Dave’s daughter, Olivia, played in an all-boys football team in primary school. That’s something that we see more and more of now, which can only be a good thing. Sport is for everyone.”

The launch of the book has been a while coming, he says, referring to the delayed release due to the pandemic. “There was a plan to release the second book pre-Christmas, but that’s been pushed back to the new year now.” So what can we expect from the sequel? “There are ups and downs in Book Two, I can tell you. If these books go well, we have aspirations and ideas for a third and fourth book, so we’ll see how this one goes.”

Book One has already received glowing praise from children’s authors, educators and British and Irish Lions alike, so it’s likely that kids and adults will be enjoying the journey of Jimmy Joseph for some years to come.

‘Chasing a Rugby Dream: Book One’ by James Hook with David Brayley is available to buy in bookstores from Thursday 1st October, and can be pre-ordered here.