"“You wouldn't want to be Paul van Ass right now" - Sam Ward weighs in on coach's conundrum even as UP Rudras seek SF spot [Exclusive]

Sam Ward has been one of the livewires for the UP Rudras team in the ongoing Hockey India League despite having missed the first couple of matches owing to a back problem.

A win against the Hyderabad Toofans would have enabled the Rudras to secure a semifinal spot but Paul van Ass' side crashed to a 1-3 defeat as a result of which they are now in a must-win situation in their last pool game.

In an exclusive interview with Sportskeeda, Sam Ward outlined the challenges facing the Rudras, shed light on the aspect of the game he loves the most, and turned the clock back on his epic comeback post injury.

The Hockey India League features some of the biggest names on the international stage sharing their expertise with young and upcoming Indian players. Coaches are still coming to terms with a rule specifying that a maximum of five overseas players can be on the pitch at any time during a match.

The regulation, which seeks to ensure that budding Indian players get a fair share of match experience, comes with its challenges especially when teams are in crunch situations.

The think tanks of many teams have often resorted to replacing an overseas goalkeeper with an Indian custodian to ensure that a team can have five attacking foreign players on the pitch.

Sam Ward delved into the conundrum facing Paul van Ass, who is finding it tough to come up with the right blend of players when having to defend in numbers in the face of an onslaught or when committing personnel up-front.

"You have the challenge of how many foreign people you can have on the pitch at a time. if you want to shore up your defence, you probably don't want to use your forwards. And then obviously, when you're chasing goals, you do want to use your forwards. So it's about getting the right blend. It's a tough job. You wouldn't want to be Paul Van Ass right now," Sam Ward explained.

The Rudras take on the Tamil Nadu Dragons on Wednesday (January 29) with the race for semifinal spots tight as ever.

The UP side is currently in fifth place on the Hockey India League points table and needs a win to give themselves a chance of progressing to the playoffs. Goalscoring has been a tough ask for the Rudras, who have netted the least number of goals (16) in the tournament despite the presence of strikers of quality such as Lalit Upadhyay, and Tanguy Cosyns.

Sam Ward has scored a couple of penalty corner goals for the Rudras even as Kane Russell, who has been called upon to take the corners more often, has netted four goals. Ward stressed that having more drag-flickers is an asset since it confuses the opposition runners.

"Kane. obviously, is doing well at the moment. If you're flicking a corner well, you should back your flicker to keep on flicking. The more flickers you can have on the pitch, the better, because there are distractions and the runners don't know where to run. That's part of the excitement," the man with the mask reckoned.

Not too many international players are equally adept at scoring from penalty corners and open play. Sam Ward does both with aplomb but ironically enough loves pressing and defending the most.

"Ironically enough, I actually enjoy pressing and defending a lot. That's probably one of the things that brings forth the energy. I also try and win as much of the ball as possible,. Obviously, when we've got the ball, we can attack from there. So weirdly enough, that is probably my favourite bit of the game," he revealed.

"I like a bit of a battle on the pitch. So that's why I wouldn't say penalty corner goals or open play goals are more special to me. What's special is making sure that the team wins and doing everything we can to be as good as possible for the team. So if I don't score a goal for the whole tournament, I wouldn't mind as long as we keep winning games and you doing my part in defending and creating chances as much as possible," Ward stressed.

Much like coach Paul van Ass, who spoke highly of Sudeep Chirmako during an interaction with Sportskeeda, Sam Ward praised the young striker from Odisha who often turns to him for advice.

"Gurjot Singh and Sudeep Chirmako are both excellent strikers. Sudeep loves to ask questions and ask for advice on things. And yeah, that's why we're here at the end of the day. It's all about growing the game of hockey for India. And if I can do a small bit and help Sudeep where I can, then yeah, it's great," Sam Ward observed.

"There are people in the world who don't have the opportunity but would love to play for their country" - Sam Ward looks back at inspiring comeback

Sam Ward met with an unfortunate injury in 2019 but manufactured an inspiring comeback - Source: Getty

Sam Ward is more than familiar with the rigors of international hockey. Back in 2018, Ward had to leave midway through the Odisha World Cup following a concussion before a more serious mishap occurred during the Olympic qualifiers in 2019.

After being hit by a ball, which resulted in facial fractures and loss of vision in his left eye, it was presumed that Ward's career would come to a premature end. Playing for the country was, however, paramount for the striker from Leicester who was motivated to give it his "best shot".

"I was in a fortunate position despite the loss of vision in the left eye and the major injury. There are people out there in the world who don't have the opportunity but would love to play for their country. And people like that actually inspire me," said Ward in an attempt to explain the magnitude of the comeback.

"People who maybe do not have the ability, but would love to play for their country. For someone like me, I felt that I really owed it to these people to go out there and give it my best shot. And obviously, I did give it my best shot and I'm still going strong right now," the ace forward and drag-flicker stated.

Sam Ward is delighted to have had the opportunity to play under the tutelage of Paul van Ass, who he describes as "crazy and funny" but also excellent.

"He's a crazy man. He's very funny, but he's excellent. He's got a fountain of knowledge and many, many medals behind his back. So to be able to play under someone a bit different and learn new experiences is amazing. No matter how old you are, whatever age, it's great to play under different coaches because you can always learn more," the ever-humble Olympian noted.

Sam Ward and the UP Rudras will be hoping that Paul van Ass can come up with a game plan good enough to outmaneuver the Tamil Nadu Dragons, who have been one of the most compact and consistent teams in the ongoing Hockey India League.