Rugby: Young hooker hopes for the best

Aled de Malmanche tackles Hurricane Jeremy Thrush. Photo / Getty Images

Aled de Malmanche admits that it's going to be a nervous wait to see if he is the starting hooker for the Chiefs in their first Super 14 final.

All he can be sure of is that he gave himself the best chance of selection by another high-energy 65 minutes against the Hurricanes.

The 24-year-old has been one of the Super 14 highlights this year. We could start with his name - Aled coming from his mother's side and the de Malmanche from his father.

Mum was born in New Zealand but grew up in Wales with her Welsh parents. All three generations are living here now but de Malmanche has the Valleys in his blood even though he's never actually been to Wales.

His father's family, despite the French origin, have been in New Zealand for more than a century. He's an intriguing mix of Celtic and Gallic which gave him a problem when he was younger. "It took me a long time to be able to say Aled de Malmanche," he joked. "Even longer to be able to spell it."

He's mastered rugby a little quicker. He is, possibly, the biggest improver of the season. When Hika Elliott joined the Chiefs in the draft, no one thought they would see much of de Malmanche.

Yet, his bulldozing runs have been one of the most memorable features of the Chiefs campaign. At 112kg and with a surprising fuel injection in his engine, de Malmanche tends to go forward when he carries the ball.

"That's the idea," he says. "It's an area of my game I have worked on really hard. I have been up at 116kg when I was playing both prop and hooker.

"But I have done less in the gym this year and done more aerobic work so I can get around the field playing hooker."

There is no question he gets around the field. His throwing is a different matter. A few years ago he was a prop who could play hooker if he had to. Now he's a hooker who could play prop but he really doesn't want to. Accuracy has occasionally escaped him at the lineout but his performance on Friday was good. Very good in that department and he puts it down to less mucking about.

"The lineout works best for us when it is higher tempo," he said, meaning the less time from the set, to the throw, the better.

If he can continue to refine the technical side of his craft, the All Blacks are going to be interested in a player who packs such an obvious punch in the loose.

And they have to be, because the Welsh have sniffed around de Malmanche. Remember who is coach of the Welsh national team ... it's Warren Gatland - the man who "discovered" de Malmanche while he was coach of Waikato and encouraged him to play hooker.

Gatland has made tentative inquiries that have been rebuffed. "I have just signed with the New Zealand Rugby Union through to 2011," says de Malmanche.

He's New Zealand's, for now, but, as he says: "I have got a lot of family who are Welsh and tell me all about the Valleys."