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When Warren Gatland was asked which of his Lions players he was most looking forward to having a beer with, he did not hesitate about his answer: 'It's gotta be Luke Cowan-Dickie'.
The 28-year-old hooker has family fishing roots in Cornwall where, as a teenager, he went out on a nine-day haul in the English Channel. Scrumpy was the order of the day.
'It wasn't too bad on the deck but you'd only get three or four hours kip,' he recalled. 'After four or five days, you were shattered. Dover sole was the main fish we caught. We would split all the Dover sole up and put it into boxes and then we'd have all the other fish, like plaice.
Luke Cowan-Dickie is hoping to make an impact with the Lions on their South Africa tour
'Ours was a smaller boat so the only dodgy bit was when we emptied all the fish on to the deck. You had to go inside the net to get out all the fish, which was hard if it was choppy. If the boat was swaying around you had to be careful — you could get knocked over the side.'
It is safe to say Cowan-Dickie preferred the knees-up back on dry land. The locals share stories about their biggest catch — often at the rough and ready Swordfish Inn in Newlyn Harbour that is now owned by Jack Nowell — and Cowan-Dickie has plenty of tales to tell.
'There were a few little stories before I grew up a bit,' he laughed. 'There weren't too many places to go so it sometimes got a bit messy! I'm not sure they would let me take Cornish cider across