'His game is very suited to playing in South Africa and I would certainly pick him'
Chris Boyd paid tribute to his Wales outside-half Dan Biggar who played the final 10 minutes on one leg to help Northampton win their third East Midlands derby at Welford Road in the last four seasons.
Biggar, playing his final match before the Lions select their squad for the summer tour to South Africa, was twice roughed up by Leicester’s second row Harry Wells and was left hobbling in the closing stages after running into burly Tigers winger Nemani Nadolo.
It did not prevent him from preserving his side’s five-point lead with a tap tackle on Leicester’s No 8 Jasper Wiese to leave Boyd, Northampton’s director of rugby, enthusing.
“If you were looking for a guy to take into the trenches with you, Dan would be the first choice,” Boyd said.
“I was delighted for him that we held on to win and I would expect him to be named in the Lions squad. His game is very suited to playing in South Africa and I would certainly pick him.
“There was no major issue with his leg: he was cleared out late a couple of times and was tender by the end.”
“That’s one of the moments that will live forever in my head but maybe in his it has completely gone."
Do not test @MaggieAlphonsi ?https://t.co/XS0m6DrEws
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) April 24, 2021
While Boyd was delighted to have secured bragging rights for Northampton’s supporters, he said they should not have been hanging on at the end having been 23-10 ahead five minutes into the second-half.
“We were gutsy at the end when we were down to 14 men after a dubious yellow card and Dan was on one leg, but we should have taken opportunities to kill the game off,” he added.
“That said, brave performances are what seasons are made of.”
Northampton had to make three changes before the kick-off after Ollie Sleightholme, Ehren Painter and Teimana Harrison failed late fitness tests and lost their England squad scrum-half Alex Mitchell and centre Piers Francis to first-half injuries.
Boyd revealed that Nick Isiekwe, who is on loan from Saracens, had played his final match for the club having had surgery in the week.
Simmonds had 'an absolute stormer' in front of Warren Gatland. https://t.co/xtUhSW5pwY
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) April 24, 2021
Leicester were left cursing yellow cards either side of the interval to Matt Scott and Harry Wells. They already had the worst disciplinary record in the Premiership this season and their captain Tom Youngs said it had to improve.
“It makes it difficult when you go down to 14 men and it is happening too often,” said Youngs. “We cannot afford to keep conceding yellow cards and we have to learn from them. What also cost us was our failure to take a number of opportunities.
“We made plenty of entries into their 22 but we did not execute well enough. It left us feeling disappointed and frustrated. It is always hard to take when you lose to your rivals.”
Comments on RugbyPass
The shoulder is a “joint” with multiple bones. You don’t “fracture” a shoulder, you fracture any one or more of the bones that make up a shoulder.
2 Go to commentsOh dear, bones too suspect to continue?
2 Go to commentsBold headline considering the Canes and Blues are 1 and 2 and the Brumbies were soundly beaten by the Chiefs and Blues. Biggest surprise is Rebels 4 Crusaders 12 - no one saw that coming. If Aus are improving that’s great 👍
1 Go to commentsAnna, You are right, we need to have patience whilst the others catch up to England and France. Also it is the PWR that has been the game changer for England. the RFU put money into that initially at the expense of the Red Roses. I was sceptical at first but it has paid off in spades.
1 Go to commentsI think Matt Proctor became a 1 test AB in the same fixture. Cameron is quality and has been great this season, can’t believe’s he only 27. Realistically how would he not be selected for ABs squad this year. Only Dmac is ahead of him as a specialist 10. With Jordan out, it will come down to where and when Beauden Barrett slots back in, and where they want to play Ruben Love. Cameron seems an absolute lock in for the wider squad though. Added benefit of TJ-Cameron-Jordie combination at 9, 10, 11 too.
1 Go to commentsFarcical, to what end would someone want to pay to keep this thing going.
1 Go to commentsHavili, our best 12 by a mile, will be in the squad, if he stays fit. JB is the most overrated AB in the last 50 years.
61 Go to commentsWe had during the week twilight footy, twilight cricket, tw golf plus there was the athletics club. Then the weekend was rugby 15s plus the net ball, really busy club scene back then but so much has changed and rugby has suffered. And it was all about changing lifestyles.
6 Go to commentsIn the 70s and 80s my club ran 5 Senior sides plus a Vets. Now it is 2 sides with an occasional 3rd team. Players have difficulty getting to training now, not sure why and the commitment is not there. It seems to me more a problem of people applying themselves and not expecting to turn up and play whenever they want to.
6 Go to commentsROG’s contract is until 2027. The conversation about a successor to Galthie after RWC 2027 may be starting now. We can infer that Galthie’s reign stops then. He is throwing the Irish Coaching Job angle in because he is Irish. The next Irish coach MUST be Leo Cullen. As well as being the best coach available, coaching the vast majority of Irish Internationals week in week out, he has shown incredible skill at recruiting the best coaching staff for the job in hand. That was a failing in France. Cullen is a shrewd guy and if there is a need for foreign coaches underneath him he won’t hesitate. Rightly so. Ireland does need to start to bring Irish coaches through. Not just at the professional level but we need to train coaches to man new pathways for developing kids from schools/clubs up through the divisions.
8 Go to commentsNo Islam says it must rule where it stands Thus it is to be deleted from this planet Earth
18 Go to commentsThis team probably does not beat the ABs sadly Not sure if BPA will be available given his signing for Force but has to enter consideration. Very strong possibility of getting schooled by the AB props. Advantage AB. Rodda/Skelton would be a tasty locking combination - would love to see how they get on. Advantage Wallabies. Backrow a risk of getting out hustled and outmuscled by ABs. Will be interesting to see if the Blues feast on the Reds this weekend the way they did the Brumbies we are in big trouble at the breakdown. Great energy, running and defence but goalkicking/general kicking/passing quality in the halves bothers me enormously. SA may have won the World Cup for a lot of the tournament without a recognised goalkicker but Pollard in the final made a difference IMO. Injuries and retirements leave AB stocks a bit lighter but still stronger. 12 and 13 ABs shade it (Barret > Paisami, Ione = Ikitau, arguably) Interesting clash of styles on the wings - Corey Toole running around Caleb Clark and Caleb running over the top of Toole. Reece vs Koro probably the reverse. Pretty even IMO. 15s Kelleway = Love See advantage to ABs man for man, but we are not obviously getting slaughtered anywhere which makes a nice change. Think talent wise we are pretty even and if our cohesion and teamwork is better than the ABs then its just about doable.
11 Go to commentsCompletely agree. More friday night games would be a hit. RFU to make sure every club has a floodlit pitch. Club opens again Saturday to welcome touch / tag. Minis and youths on Sunday
6 Go to comments1.97m and 105Kg? Proportionately, probably skinnier than me at 1.82 and 82kilos. He won’t survive against the big guys at that weight.
56 Go to commentsThe value he brought to the crusaders as an assistant was equal to what he got out of being there. He reflected not only on the team culture but also the credit he attributed to the rugby community. Such experience shouldn’t be overlooked.
8 Go to commentsGood luck Aussie
11 Go to commentssmith at 9 / mounga 10 / laumape 12 / fainganuku 14
61 Go to commentsBar the injuries, it’s pretty much their top team …
2 Go to commentsDon’t disagree with much of this but it appears you forgot Rodda and Beale, who started at the Force on the weekend.
11 Go to commentsExcept for the injured Zach Gallagher this would be Saders best forward pack for the season. Blackadder needs to stay at 7, for all of Christies tackling he is not dominant and offers very little else. McNicholfullback is maybe a good option, Fihaki not really upto it, there was a reason Burke played there last year. Maybe Havilli to 2nd five McLeod to wing. Need a strong winger on 1 side to compliment Reece
1 Go to comments