Hobbes Hopes

New Zealand stand-off Calvin Howarth has been a big hit with the fans since his move to Boroughmuir two and a half years ago. The no. 10’s exciting and exhilarating style of play has been welcomed by everyone and has been a major factor in the success the club has achieved in the past year and a half.

Calvin was first contacted by the club through an acquaintance of Sean Lineen’s at North Harbour, the provincial side he then played for, after completing his teacher training course in his native land. A combination of not being treated as well as he might at North Harbour plus the opportunity to move half the way round the world to play his rugby, led Calvin to come to the conclusion that Boroughmuir was the club for him. ‘Hobbes’, as he is known by both players and fans, got a good impression of the club from the moment he arrived, “I absolutely loved it. At first I was living with five South Africans and another Kiwi so it wasn’t too daunting but the club basically opened its arms and welcomed us so quickly and I’ve never wanted to leave. I was also being played in my favourite position of stand-off. At North Harbour I was playing at full back so it was good to get back to no. 10 which is where I have played the rest of my career” .

Having played in both Northern and Southern Hemispheres, Calvin is in a good position to compare the levels in the two, “Its not easy to tell because it’s a different style and there are so many more players in New Zealand, three or four per position. Personally, I think that Boroughmuir would definitely give my old club Silverdale a match and would probably be between them and North Harbour. I would also say that the Super Districts are at NPC level and maybe a bit higher but having not really played at these levels it is more difficult to tell”.

On a more personal note, Calvin knows what he wants to achieve with his rugby, “Firstly I want to become a professional. I think its every rugby player’s dream to be paid for what they do. I also want to play against professional players. When I first came here I thought I would be playing against professionals, I didn’t know about the Super Districts but I don’t mind that because I’m having so much fun. I want to play against professionals so that I can find out how I would do, and whether I could succeed at that level. I’m 24 now and I reckon I’ve only got about three years left at my best so I want to do it now and ideally here in Scotland but if that’s not possible then I may have to look elsewhere”. Turning professional is a big step for any player and affects people in different ways and Hobbes is just the same, “It would change me immensely, both on and off the park. When you are a professional the rugby side of things is much more organised. You have coaches who can spend their whole time working on the sessions and you have fitness coaches who work with you personally. Also with the amount of training you do, everybody knows much more of what will be going on in the game which obviously makes my job somewhat easier. Off the pitch, I think I would definitely have to sacrifice some of my nights out. You can still do that to a certain extent when you’re a professional, but definitely not as much as I do now”.

Everybody plays rugby for a different reason and with so much talent, Calvin must have something that makes him tick, “Winning! I play to win. Also I enjoy the social side of rugby, especially here at Boroughmuir. Everyone is so friendly that it really makes it easy to enjoy yourself”.

After the success of last season, there was a certain level of expectation at the start of the year but that level has been exceeded already. “If we can get through January unscathed then we have a good chance of taking the league and cup double. We have some hard games coming up, Heriot’s, Watsonians and Aberdeen but so do Hawick and I believe they will still lose a game, maybe two”.

With such a level of youthful talent at the club, the Howarth feels the future looks bright, “I think this club can achieve so much. With such a young squad there is no limit if they can be kept together. People around the world have heard of Melrose, with them having dominated for so long and the Melrose sevens and I believe that  Boroughmuir can be the Edinburgh equivalent of that and can stay there for a long time”.

Calvin Howarth is the sort of player that every club, not just amateur sides like Boroughmuir, want in their team. He can control a match either through his pin-point long range kicking, his tactical awareness or his abundance of natural talent and flair. With Calvin and the many others like him at the club, Boroughmuir can expect a long and fruitful stay at the top of Scottish rugby.

Simon Furnivall