Bristol make a big prediction on England career of Harry Randall
Pat Lam has predicted that Test level newcomer Harry Randall has a potentially long England career ahead of him after the Bristol scrum-half recently made his Guinness Six Nations breakthrough. The 24-year-old was first capped by Eddie Jones for last July’s Summer Series versus the USA and Canada, but that introduction was nothing compared to what unfolded in recent weeks.
Things initially didn’t look promising for Randall when Jones left him rooted to the Murrayfield bench as an unused sub in the opening round England loss to Scotland.
However, the upside of the defeat was that it convinced the coach that he needed to shake things up and he opted to start Randall in the next three games versus Italy, Wales and Ireland before the record-breaking caps holder Ben Youngs was promoted to start last weekend’s final round match away to France.
Randall has now returned to his club and the half-back is in the Bristol starting lineup to face Saracens at the Tottenham stadium in a Gallagher Premiership game on Saturday that is set to attract an attendance in excess of 40,000.
Lam was enthused by what he saw from Randall in the England jersey. “As I said at the time, it was like he played with a Bears jersey on which was awesome,” said the Bristol boss at his midweek media briefing, reiterating a reply he had previously given to RugbyPass a few days after England had beaten Wales in round three of the Six Nations.
“His service was quick, he was energetic, he brought tempo, he was fast. I thought he and Marcus (Smith) worked really well – you look at the speed of ball that he provided. His kicking game has improved massively over the years and that came into the Test arena, but he looked comfortable. It has been a great experience for him personally to be at that next level and show what he can do. He is going to potentially have a great career representing England.”
The return of Randall to the Bristol set-up is timely given the extraordinary situation regarding scrum-half unavailability during February and March. When they played Bath last week in the Premiership Cup, the cup-tying of Max Green left them with seven senior scrum-halves unavailable and relying on Clifton College pupil Pete Carter, a member of the national title-winning U18 side, taking a spot on the bench.
“What a difference,” enthused Lam about being able to select Randall as his Bristol No9 versus Saracens with Green in the replacements. “To be fair the last four years Harry Randall and Andy Uren have dominated at nine and nine is a big part of our game and they are instinctive in the Bears way.
“Andy has racked up over a hundred games and Harry is 80-odd. That period of time at the start of Six Nations when Harry was gone followed by Andy the next week (injured) followed by Tom Whiteley the next week followed by Toby Venner followed by Max Green followed by Oscar Lennon. It forced us into a situation to adapt but as soon as Harry came back this week you can see a lift and Andy is not far behind. It’s huge.”
Comments on RugbyPass
It was a let’s-see-what-you're-made-of type of a game. The Bulls do look good when the opposition allows them to, but Munster shut them down, and they could not find a way through. Jake should be very worried about their chances in the competition.
2 Go to commentsHats off to Fabian for a very impressive journey to date. Is it as ‘uniquely unlikely’ as Rugby Pass suggests, given Anton Segner’s journey at the Blues?
1 Go to commentsSad that this was not confirmed. When administrators talk about expanding the game they evidently don’t include pathways to the top tier of rugby for teams outside of the old boys club. Rugby deserves better, and certainly Georgia does.
1 Go to commentsLions might take him on if they move on Van Rooyen but I doubt he will want to go back, might consider it a step backwards for himself. Sharks would take him on but if Plumtree goes on to win the challenge cup they will keep him on. Also sharks showing some promising signs recently. Stormers and Bulls are stable and Springboks are already filled up. Quality coach though, interesting to see where he ends up
1 Go to commentsAnd the person responsible for creating a culture of accountability is?
2 Go to commentsMore useless words from Ben Smith -Please get another team to write about. SA really dont need your input, it suck anyway.
264 Go to commentsThis disgraceful episode must result in management and coach team sackings. A new manager with worse results than previous and the coaching staff need to coached. Awful massacre led by donkeys.
1 Go to commentsInteresting article with one glaring mistake. This sentence: “And between the top four nations right now, Ireland, France, South Africa, and New Zealand…” should read: And between the top four nations right now, South Africa, Ireland, New Zealand and France…”. Get it right wistful thinkers, its not that hard.
23 Go to commentsHow did Penny get the gig anyway?
2 Go to commentsNice write up Nick and I would have agreed a week ago. However as you would know Cale & co got absolutely monstered by the Blues back row of Sotutu, Ioane and Papaliti and not all of these 3 are guaranteed a start in the Black jumper. He may need to put some kgs before stepping up, Spring tour? After the week end Joe will be a bit more restless. Will need to pick a mobile tough pack for Wales and hope England does the right thing and bashes the ABs. I like your last paragraph but I would bring Swinton, Hannigan into the 6 role and Bobby V to 8
21 Go to commentsThe Crusaders can still get in to the Play Off’s. The imminent return of outstanding captain Scott Barrett and his All Black team mate Codie Taylor will be a big boost.There are others like Tamaiti Williams too. Two home games coming up. Fellow Crusader fans get there and support these guys. I will be.
1 Go to commentsCant get more Wellington than Proctor.
2 Go to commentsWhy not let the media decide. Like how they choose the head coach. Like most of us we entrust the rugby system to choose. A rugby team includes the coaches. It's collective.
13 Go to commentsHi NIck, I have been very impressed with him and he seems a smart player who can see opportunities which Bobby V _(who must be an international 6_) doesn’t see or have the speed to take advantage of. If he continues to improve and puts on 5kgs then he could be a great 8. He is a bit taller than Keiran Reid at 1.93m and 111 kgs, so his skill set fits his body size and who knows where it will lead. I hope the spate of Achilles tendon issues have been dealt with by the S&C people. It’s been a very long time since Mark Loane and Kefu stood out at 8. The question is will we be able to hold onto him, if he does make it he will be pretty hot property. I disagree with the idea of letting them go to the Northern Hemisphere and then bring them back.
21 Go to commentsBilly Fulton 🤣🤣🤣🤣 garrrmon not even close
13 Go to commentsDoes the AI take into account refs? hahaha Seriously why not have two on field refs to avoid bias?
23 Go to commentsVern challenging this Blues side might be the edge they need to fulfill their potential. Convincing results from strong D and strong carries are hard to argue against.
1 Go to commentsLove seems to add a strong back field defense with speed to close the gap and tackle to his ability to attack, kick and pass (an accurate long pass). This sets him an edge over some of the other names - JRK in particular. Has to be said that Jordan and Stevenson have also been exposed defensively while Love has yet to face test match intensity. Spoilt for choice.
1 Go to commentsHe’s strung together a few strong seasons, I’d like to see him in the ABs and build some depth along with Reiko and ALB. Levi Aumua hasn’t taken the step we hoped to see but time yet.
2 Go to commentsWhere has our good friend Pecos gone!? Similar place to the Crusaders D, the abyss.
4 Go to comments