Josh Macleod – A Scarlets’ skipper from Pembrokeshire

 

When PembrokeshireSport.co.uk last wrote about Josh Macleod he was a talented young rugby player from the Dinas area who had achieved success in playing regularly for the Scarlets’ Academy and representing Wales at under 16 and under 18 level.
 
And now, well over a decade later, he has represented the Welsh senior team on five occasions and is captain of The Scarlets Rugby team who has earned respect from team-mates and opponents alike as they recognise his commitment, work rate, tackling and ball carrying in the back row at Parc y Scarlets.
 
He doesn’t quite fit our category because he already is a proud Pembrokeshire man but we were delighted to catch up with him and feature him here because he is a really well-known and respected international player, who returned to our country on this occasion to help raise funds for a very worthwhile charity!
 

A real treat to meet Josh again

 
I bumped into Josh recently when I was invited to be MC at a special evening at the Ocean Bar & Restaurant in Broadhaven, a real treat because I had enjoyed a number of fantastic ‘Lions’ Legends’ evenings with Mostyn and Kay Davies there to raise funds for ‘The Pembrokeshire Friends of Prostate Cymru’ and got to meet famous Welsh Rugby Internationals like Peter Morgan, Eddie Butler, Graham Price, Mike Ruddock, Clive Rowlands and a number of others as I asked them questions put by the audience which had thronged to the venue because they knew what great value it was.
 
On this occasion the aim was to raise funds for the Peter Morgan Charity, the great local character who played for Llanelli, Wales and the British Lions - with his daughters Lowry and Katy also running the London Marathon two days later with Lowry’s husband Laurence Hancock.
 

Josh joined Gareth as nervous star guests

 
Josh was one of the guest speakers alongside Gareth Davies, who is married to Katy, and although Gareth has played 77 times for Wales and also for the British Lions, both would admit they were a little nervous but did a wonderful job talking about the dedication needed to play at their level, with great honesty in their answers, and plenty of humour.
 
Also in attendance was Peter’s smashing wife Helen and her sister, Judith Griffiths, with a further family connection as both were the daughters of the late Ray Williams, the ex-Welsh coach and organiser of the first-ever Rugby World Cup.
 

Josh looked after an old-timer on crutches

 
Throw in the usual top-quality food, a great raffle and auction and it was a brilliant evening. I had arrived on crutches after sustaining a non-sporting injury, with the plan being that Mrs Carne would pick me up and take me home, but Josh stepped in and gave me a lift back to Haverfordwest before Mrs C picked me up - and the big feller was even prepared to run this 79 year-old physical wreck home to Treffgarne if I was stuck!
 

Family matters . . .

 
Although a Welsh Rugby international, Josh is very much a family man who readily admits that he is hugely indebted to his fiancée Caitlin Jones and describes her as his ‘Rock’ because she is not only brilliant with their daughters Imogen (4) and Isobel (not yet a year old) but does a great job of organising him, both at home and certainly with his rugby.
 
Also important in his development have been his parents, Donny and Emma, with dad a regular supporters and mum going sometimes but with her eyes closed a lot because she doesn’t like her ‘little boy’ giving it taking big hits that make her wince!
 

Started at under 16 level for Wales

 
At under 16 level he made his Welsh debut against the USA and his final match was against England, which he can still recall because of the high levels of roster one in both camps.
 
At Welsh under 18 level Josh went to a competition in South Africa and readily admits it was a sharp learning curve whilst playing against top opposition from a range of countries - and he still has his jerseys from both age group, which are carefully looked after by Donny!
 
When Josh was playing for the Scarlets Academy there was a great deal of travel and the need for total commitment - plus an awful time when the coaches decided to give him a change of position in the second row.
“I really hated it,’ admitted Josh, ‘with my head up alongside the hips of some big old props - but luckily the recognised I wasn’t too keen and luckily I was restored to the back row, where I could use my ball-winning skills on the ground.”
 

Not the best start when selected for the  senior team

 
When he was initially selected for The Welsh senior team in an Autumn International, Josh admits that he was still relatively raw and made a few mistakes.

“The week before my big day I was playing for The Scarlets in the mud in Glasgow and I tried to play my normal game without any thought of my Welsh debut - and I managed to pull a hamstring and of course I was gutted when I had to pulled out of the squad!”
 
But Josh trained hard on his return and was eventually rewarded when Dan Lydiate got injured and he was called in to replace him for a Six Nations’ match against Scotland.

“I looked after myself in the build-up and felt good when I arrived at the training ground - but 20 minutes in to our first training session I ruptured my Achilles’ tendon and I was out for 14 months, the worst moment of my playing career!”
 

Third time lucky- but Wales lost to Georgia!

 
But it was a case of third time lucky when I finally returned to full fitness and in the following Autumn, I made my debut against a huge Georgian team that was certainly not out to take prisoners. I’ve never been one to hold back myself and it was a wonderful day, from the time we got to the stadium and I had the chance to walk out onto the pitch and sing the National Anthem - cliched perhaps, but perfectly true!
 
There was no fairytale ending, however, because Josh and Co went down to defeat!
 

Seeing double in Japan

 
Since then, Josh has played against Australia, Japan (twice on tour) and England - and it might come as a surprise to learn that the second game in Japan was the hardest.

“The humidity was horrendous and we all felt drained by half time as the temperature stood at 35 degrees, with high humidity. I battled on until the 77th minute but then I had to wave the white flag because I was seeing three identical opponents running at me and didn’t know which one to tackle!”
 
“But it allowed us to end a string of defeats - although when we went to Twickenham we didn’t win, but the atmosphere was amazing - and almost as good as Cardiff — but not quite!
 

Enjoying Scarlets’ success

 
Going back to The Scarlets, he made his debut as a teenager against Munster and says he was nervous but was told he had done well with his tackling and ball-winning. The highlight was winning the Pro 12 Competition in a terrific squad that included James ‘Cub’ Davies, John Barclay and Aaron Shingler as ball-winning team mates.

“I warmed the bench a bit but I was learning all the time,” says Josh with a chuckle!
 
Josh will be captaining The Scarlets for the fourth year in this new season and says the club has new recruits who might create good things, plus a string of talented younger players out of the Academy.
“Of course, it is vital that the club gains accolades but for me it is not about silverware but giving 100% with a group of like-minded colleagues.
 
“We train four days a week and as captain I want to see everyone totally committed to The Scarlets’ cause, with Gareth Davies sure to be setting the pace, despite being the senior squad member, with 77 caps and hundreds of games for The Scarlets.
 

And finally . . .

 
“My ambition is to keep giving 100% to The Scarlets, on and off the field, and to enjoy as much quality time with my young family as possible!
 
‘PembrokeshireSport.co.uk’ really enjoyed our long chat with Josh Macleod and found it refreshing that he might be a top professional sports player but has no edge - because he just wants to enjoy playing the game he loves to the best of his ability and doesn’t expect anything in return that doesn’t come from his own efforts!