London Irish are preparing for the Premiership Rugby Cup Final on Sunday, when they take on Exeter Chiefs. Versatile forward Jack Cooke has extra motivation heading into the match, as the 25-year-old is a lifelong Exiles supporter, and wants to bring his boyhood club their first piece of silverware in over 10 years.
“It means a lot to everyone, and everyone has their own their own motivations. But yeah, 100% being a supporter, having been ball boy, mascot at London Irish when they were at the Madejski years ago, and supporting the club season ticket holder for years, yeah, it definitely definitely motivates me. And every time I put on the shirt, it’s a proud moment for me and my family. But everyone has their own things and their own motivations.”
“We’ll take a lot of motivation from the way the season ended last season. Both in in the cup, losing in the final and then losing to Bath at the end of the season in the Premiership, it wasn’t how we wanted our season to finish. So there’ll be a lot of motivation taken from that, but also, there’s enough motivation as it’s an important game for the club anyway, ignoring what happened last season. So yeah, we’re looking forward to an exciting time for the club.”
Re-wind to this time last year, and London Irish were beaten in the Premiership Rugby Cup Final, by the narrowest of margins. Steve Diamond led his Worcester Warriors side out at the G-tech Community Stadium, who drew the match 25-25 after 80 minutes. The last-minute equaliser from Kyle Hatherell was the Warrior’s saving grace, as then in bizarre style the match was decided on tries scored, after a 30-minute extra-time stalemate.
But now London Irish are back in the final, and after the semi-final victory against Northampton Saints, former Irish back-rower turned Defence Coach Declan Danaher said how the Exiles have ‘unfinished business’ in the competition. Cooke certainly echoes these thoughts, and after being left out of the final last year he is ready to claim the trophy, which eluded the Exiles by the narrowest of margins.
“It was a selection (decision). I wasn’t selected, obviously I was disappointed not to play and then obviously just disappointed that we didn’t win, but hopefully we can change that.”
“We do have unfinished business. Very frustrating how it all finished last year, especially with the game going on to extra time and then drawing the game, which was pretty different for final you don’t really see finals end in a draw, normally one team wins. But 100%, there’s unfinished business and we’ll look to make things right on Sunday.”
Cooke has been entrusted in leadership roles throughout Irish’s Premiership Rugby Cup campaigns, having taken up the captaincy last season yet overlooked in the final. Cooke has once again worn the invisible armband for the Exiles so far in this season’s competition, yet did not ever expect to ever have the honour bestowed to him. Cooke aims to fulfil all his responsibilities as captain, with one of which being lifting a long-awaited trophy for London Irish.
“It’s a proud moment for me and I love being captain, but it’s never something I ever thought I’d be. I always wanted to play for London Irish and I guess I imagined playing for London Irish, but I never saw myself coming through as a captain. But being asked to captain the team and to lead the team is something I do with a lot of pride. And yeah I hope at the end of Sunday we will be lifting the cup.
“I’ve learned so many different things from so many of the leaders within the group. And they’ve been amazing to help me there. Yeah, there’s been lots of little things, but one big thing for me is I’ve learned how everyone within the squad is different, and people need to be spoken to differently.
“You’ll motivate people differently, and everyone has their own motivations within the game. And then I guess I’ve learned little things about making decisions within games. But it’s not all just down to me, there’s so many leaders in the first team and also in the ‘cup team’. There’ll be so many people who I can rely on, and will help me and I won’t be making decisions by myself. So yeah, we’ve got a pretty good squad at the moment within within the leadership group.”
London Irish Academy Forwards Coach Jonathan Fisher spoke highly of Cooke, and is impressed with how the back-rower is coming along so far in his Exiles career.
“I think predominantly Jack adds value culturally for the team. I think he’s someone that people appreciate, will always give the very best account of himself, in the I suppose the intangible aspects of the game, that rely on mentality and work ethic and commitment.
“You know, he has a unique skill set in the sense that he’s very quick. He’s a very athletic and fast off-the-floor line-out forward. And his defence in particular, his work in the tackle areas improved consistently, in a variety different ways over time. So I think probably “Cookie’s” biggest strengths are the fact that he’s someone that you want to be out there with.
“He’s confrontational. And in around the set piece in particular lineout time, it gives you opportunities to win the ball, and he puts a lot of pressure on line-out defences.”
The Premiership Rugby Cup Final will once again be held at London Irish’s home, the G-tech Community Stadium. Cooke is excited to compete for the cup on home turf, as the Exiles have built up a recent reputation within the GCS,. The back-rower is also ready to send the ‘Exile Nation’ celebrating into the night, as Irish host their St Patrick’s Weekend Party.
“We’re doing our best to make it a fortress, making it a hard place for anyone to come and play. And guess you can see that’s coming through at the moment, and I’d like to think no one wants to come and play us at Brentford.”
“It’s amazing (the final being at home). Honestly, I think we’ve got one of the best stadiums in the league. It’s in such a good spot and just an amazing stadium, supporters love coming in. We love having the supporters there, and I’m sure the supporters will be there, cheering us on and we’ll definitely be there to help us push through.
The Premiership Cup Final has an earlier Kick Off time of 2pm this Sunday, with the match covered on BT Sport. It is lining up to be an exciting end to the tournament.