Luke Cowan-Dickie excited with new role at hooker for Plymouth Albion

ENGLAND Under-20 forward Luke Cowan-Dickie was quite happy with how his first experience of playing hooker went, even though Plymouth Albion lost 21-3 to Rotherham last weekend.

Cowan-Dickie, normally a loose-head prop, was given a chance to try to prove he can make a successful transition to the centre of the front-row in the British & Irish Cup match at Brickfields.

England and his parent club Exeter believe his long-term future could be at hooker and Albion, where he is dual registered, agreed to give him a try in that position.

"It was good," Cowan-Dickie told Herald Sport. "The first line-out I missed and I thought I was going to be in for a long run, but it went well after that and I was pleased."

Cowan-Dickie admits he did find quite a bit of difference between the two positions.

"As it was my first game there I was concentrating on my throwing," he said. "But the scrum is a lot different. It's just things I have to work on."

But the youngster is still up for the experiment. "I am always excited for challenges," he said.

"I just have to train harder, get a bit more throwing practice, and, hopefully, I will come through."

He added: "I am still going to be playing loose-head as well, but now I can play both.

"That gives me more of an advantage as I can go from loose-head to hooker or hooker to loose-head."

Cowan-Dickie got the nod to start the Rotherham match ahead of his older brother, Tom, and Jamie Salter, who had been looking for a chance to play with regular first choice hooker Jon Vickers being rested.

However, Cowan-Dickie admitted all the other Albion players were happy for him to play there.

"I come down here on Tuesday nights and the lads were fine with it," he said. "We had a conversation about me playing hooker and they all backed me up. Everyone was wishing me good luck and it was really good.

"They are helping me out down here and I'm getting help up in Exeter as well."

Cowan-Dickie says he is learning from his brother, who also made the switch from prop to hooker.

"He did it, but at an earlier age," said Cowan-Dickie.

"He was fine with it and said 'just give it a go'. He does not mind helping me out. He has done some extra practice with me.

"It is good having your older brother playing hooker as he can help you out."

Cowan-Dickie, along with fellow dual registered Albion players Henry Slade and Jack Arnott, was last week named in the England Under-20 squad for the Six Nations and IRB Junior World Cup.

When asked if he is in the squad to play prop or hooker, Cowan-Dickie said: "I am not too sure. I am in there as a prop at the minute, but they might give me a chance at hooker. I am not too sure yet. We'll just have to see."

The Cornishman is just excited to be in the squad, along with four other Exeter Chiefs players.

"I was in it last year and I am really excited to go through it all again," he said. "Hopefully, we can do well.

"There are quite a few of us (Exeter players) in the squad.

"It is good to have people from your club going with you.

"It is people to fall back on. If you ask them what went wrong they will be brutally honest and that always helps you out at the end of the day."

England's first Under-20 Six Nations match will be against Scotland and will be played at Albion's Brickfields ground on February 1.

"It is good to have our first game at home," said Cowan-Dickie.

"All my friends are texting saying they are going to be coming to watch. It is always good to hear your family and friends in the crowd. It is going to be good."

Cowan-Dickie is just hoping the weather will be better than Albion have experienced at home this season.

"We are getting used to it (the heavy rain) now," he said.

"We have had three or four games where it has just been muddy.

"A few of the boys have played on this pitch and experienced it, so we can go back to the England camp and explain what it is like and take it from there."