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'If you play like we have for the last couple of weeks then you don't deserve to be the top of any race'
Chris Boyd admitted his Northampton side face an uphill battle to progress into the Gallagher Premiership semi-finals following an 18-10 defeat against Newcastle at Kingston Park. In front of a permitted crowd of 1,750 supporters, Saints went into half-time with a share of the spoils despite being penned in their own 22 for much of the opening 40 minutes, with James Grayson and Brett Connon exchanging penalties.
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Saints’ Tom James and Newcastle’s Callum Chick were both sin-binned for deliberate knock-ons before the break, but prop Paul Hill went over for the game’s first try in the 50th minute to put the visitors on the front foot. Adam Radwan and Chidera Obonna responded for the hosts to reduce Northampton to defeat, leaving Boyd’s fifth-placed Premiership side eleven points off the top four with three games of the regular season to go.
“We had a good three months and we were set up for the top four, but we have let ourselves down and we have three tough games to finish the season off,” the Saints director of rugby said. “If you play like we have for the last couple of weeks then you don’t deserve to be the top of any race.
“We were missing a lot of players tonight and the ones we have brought in have not had the minutes they perhaps needed. We overplayed in the middle of the pitch and we gave away too many soft penalties. We had poor skill execution which meant for the first 40 minutes we were fighting and it took a lot out of us. If we’d managed the game better we could have maybe put them under pressure and tried to bring the game home, but we didn’t manage that.”
A second successive league win for Newcastle lifted them above Gloucester into 10th in the standings, and director of rugby Dean Richards believes the energy of the crowd helped his team over the line. He added: “They brought a huge noise and it made a big difference in the final 20 minutes. They really picked the guys up, it gave them a huge lift and they really appreciated it.
'I'd had another year on my deal but I thought I can't do another year of that, so I made the choice to exit my contract'@RestartRugby ambassador @lutherburrell is loving life at @FalconsRugby after a fruitless year in rugby league, writes @heagneyl 👨💻https://t.co/nVVTKqbdaP
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) May 9, 2021
“We spoke at half-time about the need to be relentless in the pressure we were putting them under and not give them the opportunity to make easy yards. The strength of the replacements is something we’ve not always had this season. The boys in the front row when they came on were massive. They affected the game just when we needed them.
“It’s disappointing from the territory that we had in the first half that we didn’t come in with more points on the board. We made those decisions though and ultimately it led to the right result at the end of the game.”
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'I was very much a middle-to-bottom player in a club… it’s their salaries that are getting cut by a large amount. Those players are left in the s***' @TomStephenson13 walked away from rugby at 26, his mental health in tatters. He talks to @heagneyl 👨💻https://t.co/tIADPwvn0G
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) April 11, 2021
Comments on RugbyPass
Bar 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.
9 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 commentsTo me TJ is clearly the best 9 in the competition right now but he's also a proven player off the bench, there's few playmaking players who can come off the bench as calm and settled as he is, Beauden can, TJ can and I doubt any of the scrumhalves in contention can, if they want to experiment with new 9s I want him on the bench ready to step in if they crumble under the pressure. The Boks put their best front row on the bench, I'd like to see us take a similar approach, the Hurricanes have been doing similar things with players like Kirifi.
35 Go to commentsROG has better chance to win a WC if he starts training and make himself eligible as a player. He won’t make the Ireland squad but I reckon he may get close with Namibia (needs to improve his Afrikaans) or Portugal. Both sides had 1000:1 odds to win the RWC in 2023 which is an improvement on ROG’s odds of winning a RWC as a coach. Unlike Top 14 teams, national teams can’t go shopping and buy the best players - you work with the available talent pool and turn them into world beaters.
2 Go to commentsthat backline nope that backline is terrible why would you have sevu Reece when he’s not even top 5 wingers in the comp why have Blackadder when there’s better players no Scott barret isn’t an automatic the guy is more of a liability than anything why have him there when you have samipeni who’s far far better
35 Go to commentsAh, good to find you Nick. Agree with everything about Cale. So much to like about his game
49 Go to commentsNot too bad. Questions at 6, lock and HB for me. The ABs will be a lot stronger once Jordan and Roigard return. Also, work needs to be made to secure Frizzell back for next season and maybe also Mo’unga; they’re just wasting time playing in japan
35 Go to commentsOn the title, i wonder for many of those people it is a case something like a belief in working smarter, not harder?
1 Go to commentsForget Sotutu. One of those whose top level is Super Rugby. Id take a punt on Wallace Sititi Finau ahead of Glass body Blackadder.
35 Go to commentsI’m a pensioner so I've been around a bit. My opinion of SBW is he is an elite athlete and a great New Zealander and roll model. He has been to the top and knows what he's talking about. To all the negative comments regarding SBW the typical New Zealand way, cut that tall poppy down.
17 Go to commentsI'm not listening to a guy moralise over others when this is the guy who walked out mid season on Canterbury RLFC when he had a contract with them, what a hypocrite. All the Kiwis sticking up for this unprincipled individual because they can't accept justified criticism, he has zero credibility or integrity. Those praising him are a joke.
17 Go to commentsI’d put Finau at 6 instead of Blackadder but that’s the only change I’d make. Can’t wait to see who Razor picks.
35 Go to commentsTamati Williams, Codie Taylor, and Same Cane? Not sure about Hoskins Sotutu at test level. Wasn’t that impressive last season. Need a balance between experience and talent/youth.
35 Go to commentsInteresting insight. Fantastic athlete, and a genuine human being.
17 Go to commentsThey played at night in Suva last weekend and it’s an afternoon game forecast for 19 degrees in Canberra this weekend. Heat change is a non issue.
2 Go to commentsWishing Rosie a speedy recovery
1 Go to commentsObscene that SA haven’t been knocking
1 Go to commentsChances of Blackadder being injured seem too high to give him serious consideration. ABs loosie combination finally looked good with 2 committed to tackling and clearing rucks in the centre and Ardie roaming. Hoskins/Ardie together would force one of them into where they don’t excel and don’t get to use their talent, or require a change in tactics. If we continue to evolve last years systems I would take Papali’i and Finau at 6 and 7 (conceding that Blackadder will be injured) and Ardie at 8.
35 Go to commentsArdie’s preferred position 7? Where do they get these writers from? I've no idea where he's playing in Japan, but the previous two seasons he wore the 7 jersey exactly twice.
18 Go to comments