Back in the lockdown summer of 2020, with all live sport cancelled, rugby fan Jonathan Lock had resigned himself to watching an old British and Irish Lions match to try and get his fix of his beloved sport. His son Rocco, then aged four, was watching along with him and, as always, had plenty of questions about the game and the players.
In particular, his eye was caught by the tape Alun Wyn Jones was wearing on his ears.
“He asked me why he was wearing the tape,” Jonathan, from Mountain Ash, tells WalesOnline. “I explained it to him and then thought it would be fun to tape his ears up too. So that’s what we did and then we were just playing around out the front with him looking like Alun Wyn. He was running around with a ball pretending to be him.”
With mum Kelly recording the hilarious impression, the couple thought it nothing more than just a bit of fun. However, they had no idea just where the video or Rocco's dazzling showmanship would end up taking them.
"I just started recording it all on my phone and I sent the video to a few of my friends for a laugh," said Kelly. "They found it really funny and asked if they could put it on Twitter and Facebook. Neither of us were on Twitter so we had no idea what was going on, but then it just went crazy."
The adorable clip quickly went viral and racked up thousands of views, with Rocco becoming an overnight celebrity in Wales and beyond. Before long, he received a personal message from Alun Wyn, while other players got in on the act as the youngster received request after request of who he should impersonate next.
There was a homage to Shane Williams, in which he sidestepped his way to the line to score a trademark try dressed in full Wales kit, as well as a beardy tribute to Adam Jones as he demonstrated the correct way to scrummage. Then there were his takes on the likes of Dan Biggar, who was given the full Macarena treatment, as well as Justin Tipuric, Sam Warburton and, of course, The Sheriff himself - Ken Owens.
After quickly gaining a reputation as Wales' smallest superfan, Rocco has gone on to appear in adverts with his heroes, helping Warburton and Owens promote Lions sponsor Vodafone ahead of the 2021 tour to South Africa while also showing former Wales prop Jones who was boss in another hilarious ad for Rhino Rugby.
Three years on from going viral, Rocco, now seven, is still as enthusiastic as ever when he joins the likes of former Ospreys centre Ben John, Ospreys scrum-half and mental health campaigner Harri Morgan and Wales second-row Gwen Crabb on the pitch at Cardiff Arms Park at an event for rugby mental health charity Looseheadz. While the number of video requests he receives has thankfully eased, his parents say he still gets notice out and about.
"Everywhere we go, someone recognises him," said Jonathan. "He's always being asked for photos and stuff. Every game we play on a Sunday, there's always someone who goes, 'oh, is that Rocco over there?'"
"We went to rugby last week down Dunvant and James Hook was there," Kelly added. "He recognised Rocco, he loved seeing him really. But we've been spotted in all kinds of places.
"We were up Pen y Fan one day back when it first sort of started. We were just walking along at the top of the mountain and we heard ‘is that Rocco?!’ and it was another group up there who stopped us for a chat. But we've been stopped in the street too, he was out shopping with his Nanny once and a man has stopped them to ask if his daughter could have a photo with him!"
Rocco's newfound fame saw him rub shoulders with some of the greatest names in Welsh rugby, with Six Nations-winning captains now considered his mates. But while the likes of Owens and Adam Jones make his list of favourites, there is one name in particular who made the whirlwind experience particularly special for the whole family.
Quizzed on who he enjoyed meeting the most, seven-year-old Rocco paused to think. "Err," he said. "I definitely like the Sheriff and Adam. But I think my favourite is Sam Warburton."
"Sam was great," said Jonathan. "When we were filming for the Vodafone advert we did, he came to our house and was just so friendly and great with Rocco." Kelly added: "He came and picked us up in his car and he was playing on the floor with Rocco in our house and all sorts. He was brilliant."
"We did a thing for Rhino as well," Jonathan added. "We were doing tackling and scrummaging drills with Adam Jones and that was great fun. And when he did his impression of the Sheriff, he did a Zoom call with him straight away, it was like an hour phone call, it was brilliant. The players have been absolutely great with it too, all of them have sent messages and videos and things like that back to us after seeing his impressions."
These days, Rocco is taking the first steps towards launching a playing career of his own, having joined the minis section at Mountain Ash RFC, where his dad coaches the senior team as well as the juniors.
"I'm a busy man," Jonathan laughed. "But Rocco has been loving it. They’re working on tackling at the moment and he's not scared to put a tackle in, to be fair to him. He’s a year younger and smaller than a lot of them but he gets stuck in."
"Yeah, I like tackling," Rocco added as he threw the ball he was holding into the air.
But it's not just the rugby field where the youngster shines, as he has taken his obvious talent for performing to the school stage.
"Concerts in school, he's always the first one there," Kelly laughed. "He just loves being the centre of attention, really! But he likes his singing and his dancing."
Dad Jonathan added: "We're getting married in a few weeks' time and he's doing a speech for us, so I'm looking forward to that! I think he's going to surprise us with something."
Asked how his speech was coming along, Rocco was as cool as ever. "I haven’t got anything sorted," he admitted. "But I’m not nervous. I want to do it!"
So, what about the future? Will we see anymore tributes to Rocco's Welsh rugby heroes, particularly as a few of them have now decided to hang up their boots?
"When it all took off, everyone was making requests asking if we could do this player or that player. Looking back, it got a bit out of control, really," said Jonathan. "We were really busy for a while, so we’ve had a bit of a break now - but we’ll be getting back to it at some point. It can be hard to think of what impressions to do next, to be honest!"
And for Rocco? Well, he knows exactly what's next for him. "I want to be a rugby player and play for Wales," he said.
Well, if he can perform on the pitch as well as he can in front of the camera, he's sure to make it.
Rocco and his family were speaking at a promotional event for rugby mental health charity LooseHeadz. The charity is on a mission to place a mental health lead at every rugby club in the world and have worked with grassroots clubs throughout Wales. You can find out more here.
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