There is one thing Joe Hawkins won’t let happen in the coming days and weeks.
The spotlight will be on him as a new boy to the Six Nations and there may be many requests for media interviews and photographs.
Hawkins will oblige all-comers on that front, because he is personable, confident and articulate — that much was evident from the time he gave a Wales U20 interview over Zoom as an 18-year-old and took to the task as if he’d been doing it all his life.
But whatever happens over the next six weeks, he won’t get carried away. It simply isn’t his style.
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He is a youngster, after all, who sometimes still returns to watch his old mates from Neath Athletic Youth in action.
“Joe may be playing for Wales this week, but it wouldn’t surprise me if he came to see us play the next time he has a free weekend,” the club’s youth team manager George Russ tells us. “He is that kind of boy.
“I had him with me just for a year. He had always said he’d head back to Pontardawe, where he’d played his junior rugby, when they started up a youth side and he proved as good as his word. It was his village and we had no problems with that.
“Even after he went back, he’d come and watch us if they didn’t have a game, and even after he stepped up to the Ospreys that was still the case.”
There will be a lot of focus on Hawkins this weekend, with the youngster handed a Six Nations debut for the game with Ireland in Cardiff. It is a bold call by Warren Gatland, picking one so young, but the Osprey is mature beyond his years, as evidenced by the way he led Wales during the U20 Summer Series in Italy last year.
One moment particularly attracted attention, when Hawkins gathered his side together after they had reached the final by beating the hosts. He went on to deliver an on-pitch speech that Alun Wyn Jones or Sam Warburton might have applauded.
“Boys, how good does that feel?” Hawkins said that night in Treviso. “All the work we’ve put in, the weeks building — coming out here and the weeks out here. We dug in against Georgia, we had to dig in again today, but it’s worth it and we did it for each other. And we can enjoy tonight when we go back to the hotel. We’ll come firing into that final next week, yeah?”
There was a chorus of approval from his fellow players.
But there had been deeds to match the words, with the centre having led by example on the pitch throughout. When Wales needed someone to step up and bang over a kick from 45 metres to put them ahead with five minutes to play, Hawkins stepped up and did the job himself. He also defended solidly and displayed all-round generalship, making good decisions and mixing up his game. His coach that night, Byron Hayward, later described him as "world-class" at U20s level.
Gatland was also impressed with him against Australia in November. "I thought he was really, really good,” said Wales’ head coach. “He makes really good decisions. I know a lot has been spoken in the past about using guys to get across the gainline, Jamie Roberts, but you have to find other ways. This is a new team with players with different skills and different strengths, and he brings something that is a little bit different. He’s a lovely footballer and I wanted to give him the reassurance and confidence after the Australia performance to start again."
Hawkins will appreciate the vote of confidence.
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His footballing skills were evident from a young age, with the Swansea-born talent operating at fly-half during his junior rugby with Pontardawe. He also tried his hand in rugby league with West Wales Raiders. At Neath Athletic, he was part of a strong age-grade side that included Oli Burrows, who has gone on to feature for Exeter Chiefs, as well as Ellis Horgan, the scrum-half son of Neath RFC coach Patrick Horgan.
“It was a good group,” said Lee Tregoning, their coach back then. “We had Oliver, Joe, Ellis, Jordan Evans, who’s now a back rower for Llandovery, and my son Jac played fly-half. Joe was a big lad but there was more to him than just power. As a coach, I have always tried to develop people so they can pass off both hands and kick with both feet and become more rounded players. Joe had those skills.
“I thought he would enjoy a good career. I coached for 20-odd years at Coleg Sir Gar and worked with Gareth Davies, Scott Williams and Josh Adams, and Joe had similar characteristics. All of them are driven, quietly confident, determined and have their feet on the ground.
“I’m sure Joe will continue to do well. Facing the world’s number one-ranked side on your Six Nations debut is a challenge, but every time he has had to step up, whether for Wales against Australia in the autumn or for Wales U20s as captain or for the Ospreys, he has handled it.” You can read more here about the Wales new boy who offers something different here.
Teachers and pupils at Cwmtawe School will watch the game against Ireland with extra interest, as well, with Hawkins a fondly remembered past pupil. Unsurprisingly, he didn’t spend his break-times letting down the tyres of the physics teacher’s bicycle. Nor was there a flow of self-written sick notes absenting himself for PE. That wasn’t his style, either.
“Joe was a level-headed lad who was popular with teachers and fellow pupils alike,” said his old head of year teacher, Rhys Ayre. “From an early age you could see he would do well.
“It was the way he conducted himself. He was polite, hard-working and determined academically and in his sport.
“His PE teacher thought he was going to do something special and it’s been great to see Joe making his way in rugby. He played football as well. He was very grounded, a genuinely nice boy and we are all extremely proud of him.”
At 20, Hawkins would be the first to admit he still has stuff to learn. But he’s always been willing to apply himself. He will deal with challenges as they come, retain perspective and push on to the next one.
Oh, and he’ll stay grounded. It has always been his way. It's not going to change now.
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