I'm a long-standing admirer of Bath full-back Nick Abendanon. But how does he measure up against his rivals for the England shirt, Ben Foden and Delon Armitage? Well, Saturday's match against London Irish and tomorrow's game against Northampton Saints provide a good chance to see how the 15s compare.
I met up with Abendanon this week to get his thoughts on his England prospects. The article is taken from today's Bath Chronicle.
The man they call Bendy looks distinctly stiff as he walks in for our interview.
Knocked unconscious during Saturday’s win over London Irish, Nick Abendanon resembles a man who’s been on a very long, very arduous tour of duty. And we’re only two-and-a-half weeks into the Aviva Premiership.
His face still carries the grazes from the moment he slumped to the deck after being caught by the flailing forearm of Irish’s George Stowers. He admits moving his neck had been tricky on Monday morning and his left foot is encased in a giant protective medical boot.
“It’s just precautionary,” he says dismissively when I enquire whether it’s serious. “I’ll definitely be playing on Friday.”
By the standards of modern rugby, Abendanon’s vital statistics suggest he should be a delicate flower: 5ft 10in and a shade over 13-and-a-half stone. But anyone who’s witnessed him smash into a wall of defenders from deep will know he’s more poison ivy than rare orchid.
They say that playing against the best brings out the best in you. Assuming the truth of that, expect Abendanon to have a stormer against Northampon Saints tomorrow night.
Abendanon, capped twice by England back in 2007, will be up against the current Red Rose full-back, Ben Foden.
And given that his opposite number on Saturday was Delon Armitage – the other man who currently sits above him in the England pecking order – then Abendanon is getting a pretty good taste of what he needs to do to catch his rivals.
“It’s always nice to play against someone you’re trying to compete with for a place in the England squad,” he admits. “During Saturday’s game it felt like I was almost trading blows with Delon – I’d make a break, then he would and so forth.
“He had a good game and, fair play to him, he had a good game the previous week as well.
“But hopefully if I keep playing well and keep sticking at it I’ll get my opportunity.
“The England guys have made it clear that Ben’s the number one full-back at the moment, so it’s nice to be able to play against your competitor, outplay him and get one over on him. Then, when it comes to selection, you can look back and say, ‘Well at least I outplayed the number one full-back when I played for my club’.”
The 24-year-old has had some adjusting to do since last season. With his old partner in the Bath back three, Joe Maddock, having moved to Italy and with Matt Banahan being occasionally deployed in the centres, he’s got new partnerships to forge.
But he’s having few difficulties linking up with Matt Carraro and new signing Tom Biggs.
“It’s different not having the same old Joey to your right and Banners to your left,” he admits. “But Matt [Carraro] is a great player. Although he would prefer to play in the centres he’s just as good on the wing. You can trust him under anything.
“Biggsy’s exciting and creative and it’s good to have someone who’s got good feet. It’s perhaps going to take a few more games to get used to playing together but we’re definitely working well.”
No comments:
Post a Comment