Players / My World

Jamie Roberts

/ Cardiff Blues and Wales

One of the strangest sights in a very peculiar Six Nations season was the sight of pocket dynamo Shane Williams on one wing against Scotland and man-mountain debutee Jamie Roberts on the other. His bulk belies his undoubted skill and a ready smile disguises the fact that it was only half a decade since he was captaining Cardiff Under-15s from full-back. Within a few short months of making his first team debut he’s played in a Grand Slam campaign for his country and enjoyed some unforgettable Heineken Cup exploits with Cardiff Blues. It’s alright for some…

---

I’d rather cram two days into one than do a nine to five job. I combine a rugby career with my medical studies. We train four days a week from nine in the morning til 1-ish. Then I spend the rest of my day as a third year medical student on work placement. I’m either on the ward round, in theatre or in the outpatients clinic, sitting with consultants, sucking  in the experience.

 

I get my competitive spirit from my childhood rivalry with my older brother. We haven’t got a massive sporting background in the family or anything, but when we were kids we would compete for absolutely everything. Then my brother got dumped when he was nine or ten and broke his collar bone. That was that really.

 

I’m lucky that I don’t get two many of those mornings when I just can’t be bothered. I was skinny and lanky when I was playing junior rugby and you have to do a lot of hard work in the gym to put on that extra bulk. It’s quite intense in pre-season training - a lot of power-lifting goes on these days. Fortunately I enjoy it.

 

It feels like I have come a long way in a very short time. I only made my debut for Cardiff Blues at the start of this season. I played in a pre-season match against Pontypridd two years ago, but I made my proper debut at home against The Ospreys.

 

It could so easily have gone horribly wrong.
I gave a penalty away in the last minute of the match. Stefan Terblanche came off his wing and I tackled him without the ball. It was a surefire penalty, no doubt and Shaun Connor would normally have slotted it nine times out of ten. Fortunately for me he missed and we won 17-15 – I would have struggled to explain it away in the dressing room if they’d scored those extra three points.

 

The last time I was genuinely frightened was when I saw the movie 1408. It stars Samuel L Jackson and John Cusack. It really freaked me out it did. The last time I was frightened on the pitch was when I thought my shoulder had gone. It was a false alarm, though, thankfully.

 

Everybody wants to know the secret to Wales’ success. People aren’t really all that entertained by the answer, but there’s no denying it – the work ethic of the players has stepped up massively and everyone is signed up to it. It’s all new to me anyway, so I’m probably not the right man to ask how it differs from previous regimes.