NATHAN DOAK DOESN’T want people to focus on his age. Given what he’s achieved at 20, that’s easier said than done.
The Ulster scrum-half already has wins at the RDS Arena, Stade Marcel-Michelin and Franklin’s Gardens on his CV – the latter of which he started in – and, just to further emphasis the age argument, two of those three came before he’d reached his second decade.
Even last week he continued to defy the belief he is too young to lead Ulster to success. Under the pressure environment of trying to lead them to four wins from four in the Heineken Champions Cup pool stages and home advantage in the knockouts, having missed two identical touchline kicks against Clermont, when presented with a third he brushed aside those previous two misses and slotted it dead centre.
That he’s being entrusted with the kicking duties ahead of Billy Burns, someone seven years more experienced, says enough on its own.
“I wouldn’t shy away from the pressure, I kinda enjoy that,” says the former Wallace High stand-out assuredly.
“I never put added pressure on myself. I kinda look at these games as an opportunity rather than pressure. A rugby game is the same to me if I’m playing in front of 10,000 people or 100 people, I still want to produce my best.
“Having the extra pressure I feel brings the best out of me, it narrows my focus and I enjoy doing it in front of so many people. So I’ve loved playing in the big games and getting a taste of it now, I want more. It’s meant so much to play in front of that many people at Kingspan, growing up watching it and now doing it, it feels so special.
“To be honest, I wouldn’t say I felt the pressure all that much. I’ve been given a lot of faith to go out and back myself, so I’d say I’ve had a lot of pressure taken off me and I’ve been told to go out and be myself, which has helped.”
Doak’s learned from the best. He grew up watching Ruan Pienaar strut his stuff so effortlessly back when the stadium was still called Ravenhill, then when he himself started breaking into the system it was John Cooney who had taken over behind the scrum and is now a team-mate.
Both are cited as influences on his journey to where he is now – “I did notice I used to try and do things that Pienaar did,” smiles Doak – as are former assistant coach Dwayne Peel, whose Scarlets side he will face tonight, fly-half Billy Burns and No.8 Duane Vermeulen – “he’s great, he makes you feel chilled out, relaxed.”
But, of course, the greatest influence has been dad Neil. He was part of European Cup-winning squad back in 1999 and was then part of the coaching staff between 2008 and 2017, Doak Snr has left a significant shadow at the province and, naturally, the association of the surname is enough to draw comparisons.
It’s not one that Nathan shies away from, acknowledging that a great amount of his talent has been down to the tutelage of his father while growing up. But, at the same time, naturally there is a desire to emerge from that shadow and stand on his own two feet as Nathan Doak in his own right.
“My dad kinda jokes about it sometimes, to be fair, when am I going to stop getting called my dad’s son,” he laughs.
“That’s not something I focus on. It’s a bit of banter me and my dad would have been us but I know he looks at me as my own person, and I suppose it is something that I probably do want to do is be looked at as my own person.
“I know I do and that’s the main thing for me. I’ve always looked at myself as Nathan Doak and I haven’t got where I am because of my dad. I’ve worked hard and I hope everyone else can see that. I am who I am.”
Who he is is someone who has emerged as a shining light for Ulster this season, finally giving them the homegrown scrum-half that they have been yearning for since Paul Marshall’s retirement. That’s not to downplay Cooney’s influence, of course, who is about as adopted a son as there could possibly be, but the cries for an Ulster born and bred scrum-half have been loud.
His ascent through the ranks has been undoubtedly impressive, his talent already well telegraphed through his performances for the Ireland Under-20s during last year’s Six Nations, but few could have predicted how well he would take to the professional game when thrust into the spotlight due to an injury to Cooney in their opening game of the season against Glasgow Warriors.
Since then it’s been hard to keep him down. Man of the Match awards flowed his way in his first two senior starts against Zebre and Benetton. Tries weren’t short in supply either, with the pick of the bunch coming at Franklin’s Gardens two weeks ago when he finished off a rapid counter-attack against Northampton Saints.
“If you’d told me at the start of the season I’d have played this many minutes I’d have bitten your hand off. I know they’ve come through unfortunate injuries to John, but that’s rugby and life,” he says sagely.
“Since I was a young kid, I just wanted to take my opportunity and I’ve been lucky enough to try and put my hand up every week. The coaches show a lot of faith in me to keep picking me, it’s meant a lot. I want to keep improving throughout the season.
“I’ve definitely learnt a lot so far but I definitely have a lot more to give. We’re about halfway through the season now, we’ve still got the back end of the season to go and hopefully I can keep getting better.”
That, you sense, can only lead to recognition at a higher level. There were already calls for him to be included in the Ireland squad for the autumn internationals, and leading Ulster to wins over Northampton and Clermont will only further the belief he’s not far off breaking into the set-up.
While he is still green around the edges – an ill-advised cross-field kick against the Ospreys while trailing on the scoreboard indicated a lapse in game management – there’s not a lot that needs drastically improved, and the basics are all there. His pass is crisp, his box kicks are generally contestable and his goal kicking is arrow straight.
All the rest will come with age. Just don’t ask him about that.
“If you’re good enough, you’re old enough – that’s something I’ve always lived by,” he grins.
ULSTER
15. Ethan McIlroy; 14. Craig Gilroy, 13. Ben Moxham, 12. Angus Curtis, 11. Rob Lyttle; 10. Billy Burns, 9. Nathan Doak; 1. Eric O’Sullivan, 2. John Andrew, 3. Marty Moore; 4. Alan O’Connor (captain), 5. Sam Carter; 6. Greg Jones, 7. Marcus Rea, 8. Duane Vermeulen.
Replacements: 16. Brad Roberts, 17. Jack McGrath, 18. Gareth Milasinovich, 19. Mick Kearney, 20. David McCann, 21. David Shanahan, 22. Ian Madigan, 23. Aaron Sexton.
SCARLETS
15. Ioan Nicholas; 14. Tom Rogers, 13. Tyler Morgan, 12. Steff Hughes, 11. Ryan Conbeer; 10. Dan Jones, 9. Dane Blacker; 1. Steff Thomas, 2. Daf Hughes (captain), 3. Samson Lee; 4. Sam Lousi, 5. Morgan Jones; 6. Sione Kalamafoni, 7. Shaun Evans, 8. Carwyn Tuipulotu.
Replacements: 16. Marc Jones, 17. Kemsley Mathias, 18. Javan Sebastian, 19. Josh Helps, 20. Aaron Shingler, 21. Kieran Hardy, 22. Sam Costelow, 23. Steff Evans.
Referee: Jaco Peyper (South Africa)
– Article amended to state that Neil Doak was part of the Ulster squad that won the 1999 European Cup, and was not the starting scrum-half.
The42 Rugby Weekly / SoundCloud
Bernard Jackman, Murray Kinsella, and Gavan Casey glance ahead to the Six Nations, chat about the Irish provinces’ progress in Europe, then discuss the latest off-the-pitch drama in Welsh rugby.
