Three top tips to make it as a modern day hooker

Get these parts of your game sorted and Joe Schmidt could be showing up at your next game.

Rob Herring has already tasted the lung-searing thrill of running out for Ireland in a Test match. The 25-year-old, originally from South Africa, made his Ireland debut in the summer of 2014 and has since been involved in training squads. Having just signed a contract extension with Ulster, he is hoping to permanently break into the Irish set-up in 2016. Herring kindly passed on his take on the three areas of the game that every aspiring hooker needs to work on. He says, "Lineout throwing. That is something I work on with [Ulster assistant coach] Allen Clarke every week. "Scrummaging is right up there with throwing. As a hooker, you get judged on your set-piece. Those are the two main elements... It is a very technical art - knowing when and where to make adjustments - and that is why some hookers don't really hit their peak until they are that bit older. "Aside from that, you have your general play. Working on your jackaling [breakdown poaching], your attack and defence. "However, if I was talking to a young player, I would say throwing and scrumming are the two things you need to work on." [caption id="attachment_7813" align="alignnone" width="630"] Herring tackles Leinster's Tadhg Furlong.[/caption] Herring praises Ulster teammate, and rival, Rory Best on his work at the breakdown and Ireland international Sean Cronin for his ball-carries and line breaks but holds up his general defensive play as his trump card. "I always try to be the guys with the most tackles in a game, and the most effective tackles too," he says. "I always prided myself on my fitness but when I came over here and saw how effective Rory was in the jackal [ball-stealing] position, I tried to emulate that as much as I can."