By Duncan Wood
November 14 2002

Paul Johnstone spared me some time this week to chat ahead of the London Irish league clash. We discussed Twickenham, the start to the season, his move to hooker and the Shoguns' prospects on Sunday.

Winding the clock back to the beginning of last season and the Championship final at Twickenham, would you say that was the highlight of your Bristol career so far?

The try at Twickenham was probably the highlight of my career at Bristol so far. I was just disappointed that I didn't play more of the game.

I was hoping that Dean Ryan might get me on at half time but the front row was performing so well against the Gloucester front row so I understood where he was coming from.

But that was definitely the highlight, it was a fantastic memory.

Do you actually remember much about the try itself?

It's a blur. The memory's very, very short!

A friend of ours actually got hold of the photographs from the Evening Post and put the whole series of photos in a frame for me. That hangs in our house and reminds me of it.

You were voted 'Clubman of the Year' last season - how much did that mean to you?

That was also really big for me. In my opinion, obviously your first job is to play and to play well but there's more to it than that and there's more to a club than that.

Dean got me involved in quite a few things last year. I am the PRA rep for the club and it was obviously a really good accolade but you don't need awards to make you feel good about doing things like that.

You had a calf injury at the start of this season - how frustrating was it to miss out on the start of the new campaign?

It was obviously quite upsetting. At the beginning of each season, you put down your marker.

DC played really, really well and I lost my place and he took his chance and he took it really, really well. It was really frustrating.

You always think of the new season as something new, a new start and not being able to be involved was really off putting.

You've moved across to hooker, whose idea was that and how did it come about?

It was Peter's idea. He got wind somewhere along the line that I had played hooker a while back. Not for Bristol, I played a few times while I was at London Scottish and my U21 career in South Africa was at hooker.

When Neil got injured, he (Peter) started looking at other options for the squad. He had to make sure that there was enough cover for the squad and he didn't know whether to look to the transfer market and bring another hooker in.

Then he heard that I'd played hooker before and he spoke to me about it on the Monday. I said no problem, the scrummaging will be fine but the lineout throwing is going to need quite a lot of work - the last time I'd played there was 5 ½ years ago at London Scottish and I'd only played 4 or 5 times at hooker!

Before that it was U21s, 12 years ago! A lot's changed, particularly in the lineout with the throwing so I said to him that you'll have to be patient with me with the throwing but I'll put in all the work you want. It's not something that comes overnight, it's like goalkicking.

Then on the Wednesday, he phoned me up and said "I'm thinking of starting you against Montferrand"! I was a bit taken aback but, in a way, it was a nice compliment that he was willing to get me involved.

I just got my head down and worked. My throwing is still not where I'd like it to be but it's getting better. The rest of the guys in the squad are being really patient and I never got anything like, "Come on Jonno, sort your throwing out".

I suppose the difficulty is that the role is so high profile. When you're throwing in, there's no hiding place?

No hiding place whatsoever! In a way, it's a little bit like goalkicking. In the heat of battle, in the fray, you're all worked up, it's a physical confrontation.

Then you pick the ball up and go to the lineout and you really have to take a deep breath, relax concentrate on a real skill rather than going around and smashing people in the scrum or in the ruck and the maul.

You really have to take a deep breath and relax like you see the goalkickers do when they line up. It's a different sort of skill from what I've been used to.

And which do you prefer - propping or hooking?

I don't know. I think I'm still quite a tight hooker. At the moment I play more like a prop. I'm involved in the defensive lineouts with Alex because he likes me there so I'm not in the 5 metre channel. So, I'm a tighter hooker than you usually find.

When you scrum when you're hooking, you haven't got the weight of the second row and the flank behind you so you're not absorbing so much pressure. So, when you get out of the scrum, you're able to get about the park that little bit more.

You can be more mobile which does suit my game but my lines of running as a hooker and my support play are not 100%, not where they should be. But I have to say that I do enjoy hooking providing that the throwing goes ok. When your throwing starts going wrong, it's very because there's no hiding place and you have to pick yourself up before your head drops.

As someone who has been here for several years, what are your thoughts on this current crop of players?

The way we do analysis is that we look at the opposition and we look at the individual players. If I were an opposing coach or player looking at our squad of players, I'd be really pessimistic on a weekly basis.

I know our results haven't gone the way we would have liked them to but our squad of players is really strong. We've got some really talented guys developing, like Phil Christophers and Andy Higgins. When Andy Higgins first arrived last year, you could just see the ability that he's got and it's really good to see him winning Man of the Match awards.

We've got some good U21s - Rhys Oakley, Chris Morgs, Chris Rowland, Richard Hunt. Richard Skuse was on loan at Caerphilly but is back now - he's a fantastic young tight head but he needs a little bit of experience and a little bit of confidence and he's there to step up.

We really have got a strong squad and it's about getting to a stage where we really believe in ourselves and believe in our ability and just go and perform to our potential.

Looking ahead to Irish, they're usually very close games. What are you expecting from them and who will be the men to watch?

I know they had a dodgy start to the season a bit like ourselves but I watched their game against Gloucester and they pushed Gloucester very, very close. The scoreline doesn't really reflect it but they were well in the game up until the last 15 or 20 minutes.

They have got a couple of key players who we have to keep an eye out for.

Chris Sheasby, despite his age, is still a fantastic player going forward, he really is a gamebreaker. He has a tendency when the game gets tight and, when he's on the back foot, to disappear a bit and not be as high profile. But if we pay them too much respect and give them too much room, he will relish it and he'll run the game.

Obviously, Barry Everitt is one to watch and we'll have to watch our penalties. I know his kicking didn't start off too well but he was good against Gloucester. He's a good drop kicker too so we're going to have to close him down really quickly. But in doing that, in our half, we'll have to be careful about giving away penalties because he will punish us.

They've made a lot about Brendan Venter coming back and he's a very good ball carrier and a very good leader too. But Gloucester put him under all sorts of pressure and there's pressure of other sorts when you're the player coach. While he has the ability to be a real talisman and provide a real lift, he could also be a stumbling block if we get to him. He's a fiery guy. In a way, he could be the winning and the losing of it for them.

And, of course, Daryl Gibson will know him very well from Super 12s?

Exactly, and the way Higgy's playing, I don't think that we've got anything to worry about from the physical side of it. But he's obviously a good player.

You're likely to be facing an ex Springbok in Naka Drotske. Have you played against him before?

Played against him at U20 level in South Africa. He's a good, hard player. He does his job well. He's a good hooker, he carries the ball well and gets about the park.

But, with the props that I've got, DC and Emi, I'm not overly phased about facing him and the fact that he's a Springbok. But he is a good player and I'll give him that respect.

But you face good hookers every week?

Absolutely. Every week.

Finally, what are your goals for the rest of the season?

Just to get us into what I think is a respectable position.

We've left ourselves a hell of a lot of work. Had we won a couple of games, Wasps and Northampton, we'd be sitting quite comfortably in the middle of the table. We need to be up near the 5th to 7th places but it's going to take a hell of a lot of work.

As a senior player and as someone who has had this sort of pressure at the bottom of the table before, I think one of my big jobs is just to keep everyone positive.

A couple of bad results doesn't make you a bad rugby player. But a lot of the young guys can lose confidence very quickly and a couple of losses can lead them to question their own ability and question whether they are good players.

As an older player, I've been around the block enough times to know that you're not a bad player overnight. They just need to stick with it and do all that we can, and that little bit more, and things will start to go our way, they have to.

Decisions go against you but sometimes they go for you too. You have to make sure that you're in a position so that when a decision goes your way, you're in a position to win the game. If you give up early and you're too far behind, getting that decision in your favour won't make any difference. So, I've got to help Bristol get to a respectable position in the league table and keep the guys motivated and focussed.