My latest piece for The Times, in which Northampton Saints director of rugby Jim Mallinder ponders the use (or non-use) of the TMO by referee Wayne Barnes in the Saints' last-minute 32-20 loss at Bath.
Showing posts with label Northampton Saints. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Northampton Saints. Show all posts
Saturday, 11 February 2017
Sunday, 26 January 2014
England expect Tom Wood to be fit for 6 Nations opener with France despite injury scare
England say flanker Tom Wood will still be in contention for their 6 Nations opener with France, despite being sent for scans following a training ground clash of heads.
Wood has not trained with the Red Rose squad since the injury scare on Tuesday, which was caused by a clash with backrow colleague Tom Johnson. However, England yesterday said that, prior to the accident, Wood had been scheduled to take Thursday and Friday off in any event.
The initial concerns were that Wood could have broken a cheekbone, but tests revealed the Northampton Saints star, who skippered England on last summer’s tour of South America, had suffered no broken bones and was not concussed.
England will monitor Wood as he returns to camp this evening but confirmed yesterday that they expect him to be in contention for selection for ‘Le Crunch’ at the Stade de France on Saturday.
Wood has not trained with the Red Rose squad since the injury scare on Tuesday, which was caused by a clash with backrow colleague Tom Johnson. However, England yesterday said that, prior to the accident, Wood had been scheduled to take Thursday and Friday off in any event.
The initial concerns were that Wood could have broken a cheekbone, but tests revealed the Northampton Saints star, who skippered England on last summer’s tour of South America, had suffered no broken bones and was not concussed.
England will monitor Wood as he returns to camp this evening but confirmed yesterday that they expect him to be in contention for selection for ‘Le Crunch’ at the Stade de France on Saturday.
Thursday, 21 November 2013
Watch out One Direction! There could be a scrum for the Christmas number one
If One Direction started going to the gym, played with oval balls and grew 'taches, the result might be something like this:
And Saracens' Ben Ransom would surely have to be the frontman. Just look at those cherubic features. Watch out Harry Styles!
Wasps' Elliot Daly, meanwhile, looks like he missed his vocation as a RAF pilot. Chocks away, Wing Commander Daly!
To donate to Movember and raise money to support the fight against testicular and prostate cancer, go to http://uk.movember.com/donate
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| (l to r) Chris Bell, Ben Ransom, Elliot Daly, Will Fraser, James Haskell and Dylan Hartley show off their taches after a trip to a barbers in Covent Garden for Movember. Picture: Garry Bowden/Pinnacle |
And Saracens' Ben Ransom would surely have to be the frontman. Just look at those cherubic features. Watch out Harry Styles!
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| Picture: Garry Bowden/Pinnacle |
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| Picture: Garry Bowden/Pinnacle |
To donate to Movember and raise money to support the fight against testicular and prostate cancer, go to http://uk.movember.com/donate
Monday, 2 April 2012
From the most exciting side in the Aviva Premiership to a wet rag of a side
Remember those halcyon days of spring-time electrification at The Rec? Those moments when, with the ground firming up, the daffodils sprouting and the days lengthening, Bath Rugby sent a shiver down the spine with displays of attacking audacity and top-drawer skills?
Days like this:
Where there was once 2,000 volts of electricity, there is now barely a current. And there is certainly no spark.
Bath's display against Northampton Saints on Saturday was awful and embarrassing. So much so that the club's own coaches described it as such, even issuing an apology to the 12,200 fans who had parted with their cash in order to witness such a car crash of a performance.
In both 2010 and 2011, Bath experienced truly grim starts to the season, but salvaged respect and league position with end-of-term displays that blended a heady cocktail of panache and skill.
Lamentably, it's been a different tale this campaign. No fightback, no resilience and all the flair of a wet rag.
What has been the main variable that has changed since 2010, when Bath last secured a play-off spot? The removal of their head coach, Steve Meehan. Following the arrival of Sir Ian McGeechan, Meehan was steadily marginalised during the course of the 2010-11 season, before heading back to Brisbane in June 2011 with a year still to run on his contract.
By his own admission since that parting, Meehan was not always the easiest of coaches to work with and his man-management skills were not up to scratch during his tenure at the club. But a coaching set up is primarily judged on its results, and on that criterion Meehan has the better of McGeechan hands down.
Bruce Craig's huge investment in Bath Rugby since he bought the club two years ago has yielded the square root of zilch. Bath are a flimsy proposition when they play at The Rec, and are currently an Amlin Cup-quality team. At best.
Big things were said at the start of the season about how The Rec would once more become a terrifying place for visiting teams. Yet Saracens, Harlequins, Sale, Gloucester and Northampton have all won there so far this campaign. That is not the record of a team on the right track, particularly given that the worst of those losses – against Northampton – was the most recent.
After Saturday's non-event, all bets will be off over what happens over the next few days at Farleigh House. That sumptuous rural manor was intended by Craig to be an inspirational club HQ from which plots of European domination could be devised. The Northampton debacle will have left Craig apoplectic. I think it unlikely that he will wait until the end of the season before acting.
Although unconfirmed, I understand that there are discussions taking place about the possibility of an immediate change to the Bath set up.
That would be the right thing for the board to do. The natives in the East Stand are justly pulling their hair out, while the players – on Saturday's performance – look bewildered.
Yet, thanks to other mid-table sides also losing, there is still a chance for Bath to sneak into next season's Heineken Cup. There is still more than pride to play for, although pride will surely be the principal motivation when Bath take to the field against Sale Sharks in south Manchester a week on Friday.
It has been a season in which Bath's ability to frustrate has been exceeded only by their capacity to botch up the basics. Bruce Craig, the city and the supporters deserve better.
Days like this:
Where there was once 2,000 volts of electricity, there is now barely a current. And there is certainly no spark.
Bath's display against Northampton Saints on Saturday was awful and embarrassing. So much so that the club's own coaches described it as such, even issuing an apology to the 12,200 fans who had parted with their cash in order to witness such a car crash of a performance.
In both 2010 and 2011, Bath experienced truly grim starts to the season, but salvaged respect and league position with end-of-term displays that blended a heady cocktail of panache and skill.
Lamentably, it's been a different tale this campaign. No fightback, no resilience and all the flair of a wet rag.
What has been the main variable that has changed since 2010, when Bath last secured a play-off spot? The removal of their head coach, Steve Meehan. Following the arrival of Sir Ian McGeechan, Meehan was steadily marginalised during the course of the 2010-11 season, before heading back to Brisbane in June 2011 with a year still to run on his contract.
By his own admission since that parting, Meehan was not always the easiest of coaches to work with and his man-management skills were not up to scratch during his tenure at the club. But a coaching set up is primarily judged on its results, and on that criterion Meehan has the better of McGeechan hands down.
Bruce Craig's huge investment in Bath Rugby since he bought the club two years ago has yielded the square root of zilch. Bath are a flimsy proposition when they play at The Rec, and are currently an Amlin Cup-quality team. At best.
Big things were said at the start of the season about how The Rec would once more become a terrifying place for visiting teams. Yet Saracens, Harlequins, Sale, Gloucester and Northampton have all won there so far this campaign. That is not the record of a team on the right track, particularly given that the worst of those losses – against Northampton – was the most recent.
After Saturday's non-event, all bets will be off over what happens over the next few days at Farleigh House. That sumptuous rural manor was intended by Craig to be an inspirational club HQ from which plots of European domination could be devised. The Northampton debacle will have left Craig apoplectic. I think it unlikely that he will wait until the end of the season before acting.
Although unconfirmed, I understand that there are discussions taking place about the possibility of an immediate change to the Bath set up.
That would be the right thing for the board to do. The natives in the East Stand are justly pulling their hair out, while the players – on Saturday's performance – look bewildered.
Yet, thanks to other mid-table sides also losing, there is still a chance for Bath to sneak into next season's Heineken Cup. There is still more than pride to play for, although pride will surely be the principal motivation when Bath take to the field against Sale Sharks in south Manchester a week on Friday.
It has been a season in which Bath's ability to frustrate has been exceeded only by their capacity to botch up the basics. Bruce Craig, the city and the supporters deserve better.
Friday, 19 March 2010
Who are you backing at the big match?
Could the impossible actually occur this weekend at the big match?
Will the team we sometimes struggle to support manage to cause an upset over the in-form side of the tournament?
Well, I don’t know what you think, but I reckon Gloucester might just do it.
The final of the LV= Cup – or the Anglo-Welsh Cup, to you and me – takes place on Sunday, and I have to confess the prospect of the Cherry and Whites taking on Northampton Saints in a winner- takes-all affair has whetted my appetite, even if the match has fallen under the radar a bit.
Along with Bath, it is Gloucester and Northampton who are now playing the most attractive rugby in England, principally because they are not afraid to take that controversial step of spinning the ball wide to their outside backs.
These three sides are living, breathing, try-scoring proof that the Saracens Attitude to Play (SAP) is not the best way to crack the Guinness Premiership nut, but is in fact a guaranteed way of sapping the joy out of the game.
Northampton speedster Chris Ashton has scored more tries this season than some entire teams have managed, all because his team-mates and coaches have grasped that – wonder of wonders – it sometimes pays to get the ball to your line-breakers.
Meanwhile, wing Matt Banahan has touched down in four of Bath’s last five games, while James Simpson-Daniel’s hat-trick for Gloucester against Cardiff Blues in the semi-final of the Anglo- Welsh at the weekend only served to underline how devastatingly effective it can be to get the ball to your speed merchants.
Bath, Gloucester and Northampton are all chucking the ball around and running in tries at the moment. And that’s why they’re winning. Contrast that with England’s efforts during the Six Nations.
With the exception of their opening fixture against Wales, when Martin Johnson’s men achieved the almost unthinkable by scoring three tries, England have lacked any semblance of a cutting edge.
The figure speaks for itself: in their last three games, England have scored two tries. And neither was from a conventional move down the backs. Mathew Tait’s try against Italy might have been the result of neat counter-attacking play and deft handing. But how often have you seen the national side spread the ball wide this Six Nations with real panache, pace and confidence?
Of course I’ll watch England’s finale on Paris on Saturday evening, and I hope to be pleasantly surprised. Perhaps England will run riot over the French, just as they did at Twickenham last season. But I won’t be holding my breath.
No, the Anglo-Welsh Cup final promises to be a far more enjoyable spectacle for English fans – a chance to watch two attack- minded sides going at it.
And I hope Gloucester win. Like Bath, the Cherry and Whites’ season has had its wobbles. Less than three months ago impatient sections of Kingsholm were calling for coach Bryan Redpath’s head. But, like Bath, Gloucester have turned things around through a blend of application, rising confidence and a readiness to put width on the ball.
The similarity of Gloucester’s tumultuous season to Bath’s must surely cause a degree of sympathy in Bath fans.
So, go on, through gritted teeth on Sunday, I dare you to say ‘Glaaaawwster’.
Will the team we sometimes struggle to support manage to cause an upset over the in-form side of the tournament?
Well, I don’t know what you think, but I reckon Gloucester might just do it.
The final of the LV= Cup – or the Anglo-Welsh Cup, to you and me – takes place on Sunday, and I have to confess the prospect of the Cherry and Whites taking on Northampton Saints in a winner- takes-all affair has whetted my appetite, even if the match has fallen under the radar a bit.
Along with Bath, it is Gloucester and Northampton who are now playing the most attractive rugby in England, principally because they are not afraid to take that controversial step of spinning the ball wide to their outside backs.
These three sides are living, breathing, try-scoring proof that the Saracens Attitude to Play (SAP) is not the best way to crack the Guinness Premiership nut, but is in fact a guaranteed way of sapping the joy out of the game.
Northampton speedster Chris Ashton has scored more tries this season than some entire teams have managed, all because his team-mates and coaches have grasped that – wonder of wonders – it sometimes pays to get the ball to your line-breakers.
Meanwhile, wing Matt Banahan has touched down in four of Bath’s last five games, while James Simpson-Daniel’s hat-trick for Gloucester against Cardiff Blues in the semi-final of the Anglo- Welsh at the weekend only served to underline how devastatingly effective it can be to get the ball to your speed merchants.
Bath, Gloucester and Northampton are all chucking the ball around and running in tries at the moment. And that’s why they’re winning. Contrast that with England’s efforts during the Six Nations.
With the exception of their opening fixture against Wales, when Martin Johnson’s men achieved the almost unthinkable by scoring three tries, England have lacked any semblance of a cutting edge.
The figure speaks for itself: in their last three games, England have scored two tries. And neither was from a conventional move down the backs. Mathew Tait’s try against Italy might have been the result of neat counter-attacking play and deft handing. But how often have you seen the national side spread the ball wide this Six Nations with real panache, pace and confidence?
Of course I’ll watch England’s finale on Paris on Saturday evening, and I hope to be pleasantly surprised. Perhaps England will run riot over the French, just as they did at Twickenham last season. But I won’t be holding my breath.
No, the Anglo-Welsh Cup final promises to be a far more enjoyable spectacle for English fans – a chance to watch two attack- minded sides going at it.
And I hope Gloucester win. Like Bath, the Cherry and Whites’ season has had its wobbles. Less than three months ago impatient sections of Kingsholm were calling for coach Bryan Redpath’s head. But, like Bath, Gloucester have turned things around through a blend of application, rising confidence and a readiness to put width on the ball.
The similarity of Gloucester’s tumultuous season to Bath’s must surely cause a degree of sympathy in Bath fans.
So, go on, through gritted teeth on Sunday, I dare you to say ‘Glaaaawwster’.
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