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'Media frenzy sits around relegation in most English sport... but is it good for young player development?'
New Zealander Chris Boyd is struggling to come to terms with England’s obsession with relegation in sport. In his first season as Northampton’s director of rugby, the Super Rugby winner with the Hurricanes takes his sixth-placed Saints to relegation-threatened Newcastle on Friday night knowing that host club Falcons are facing a loss of Premiership status that would hit them hard in the pocket.
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There is an ongoing debate over ring-fencing the Premiership to remove the massive ramifications of relegation which can significantly affect tactics and selection. And the relentless demands of the Premiership and European rugby has been a significant challenge for Boyd who did not have to deal with relegation when he was operating in New Zealand.
He told RugbyPass: “A couple of weeks ago there was a really pivotal game between Gloucester and Bath for the top of the ladder which everybody ignored because the total focus was on Newcastle versus Leicester. The media frenzy that sits around relegation in my mind, from a positive and negative, has an effect on the drama and theatre that plays out at the end of most English sport to be honest.
“There is a really interesting question around whether that is good for sport in general. There is no doubt it is good for television and for drama, but is it good for the development of young players? From a freedom of playing point of view, the answer is no. From a learning how to scrap your way out of a tough situation and dig in and grind out some victories, it probably does.
“Those people with higher pay scales than me will determine which way you want to go, but there is no doubt the relegation threat across sport in England – and other places – does have an impact on what is seen as important. I might have been a little bit lucky or a little bit naïve, but we haven’t ever talked about relegation at the club.
Who needs what to get where this weekend? ?#GallagherPrem as it stands ?https://t.co/pa8DPwbq8q pic.twitter.com/wfD4vl30Zy
— Premiership Rugby (@premrugby) April 22, 2019
“I can have empathy for Newcastle and the other four or five teams who could potentially be relegated and we’re talking about those teams rather than the ones trying for top four or top six. It’s not a pleasant place to be where relegation is a threat and it can bring out the best in people and also the worst. If you can get through that with your team intact – even if you get relegated – you have done a great job.
“While I can have a great deal of empathy for Newcastle’s plight, we are going there with our own agenda and that is to win. It’s so tight that after the weekend we may be up to fourth place or in seventh or eighth and the margin for error is very small. We’re going to have to play well to get points out of Newcastle.”
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? Double-dummy, buzzer-beater, try-time ?@alexmitchell97 may have kept @SaintsRugby in the hunt for the top four ? with the cheekiest ? of scrum-half tries ?
Fools them once, fools them twice, all smiles ?
Saints will finish _____ this year in the #GallagherPrem ???? pic.twitter.com/KDtdydyonX
— Premiership Rugby (@premrugby) April 25, 2019
Boyd will not get England captain Dylan Hartley back from long-term injury for at least another week and has needed to blood players who have come through the club’s academy to cover for missing stars.
He added: “Dylan is really close to playing and it’s a pretty good bet he will play in the Worcester or Exeter games – or both. He’s feeling pretty frisky and he is the type of guy, mentally and physically very tough, who can drop right back in and deliver a performance.
The fluidity for this @HarryMal10 try at Newcastle in 2017 ?#ThrowbackThursday ? pic.twitter.com/0Dpk9Absk1
— Northampton Saints ? (@SaintsRugby) April 25, 2019
“The whole year has been a work in progress and we have had some flat games, but by and large the line on the graph has been up with three games still to go.
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“Whether our season has been a success or not will be determined by those games. I won’t score myself before the end of an exam and when we finish our place on the log will determine the success of the season. From a performance point of view, we have had some good ones and also some bloody awful performances. That tells me that consistency is something we have to work on.”
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Comments on RugbyPass
Hi, Dave here. Happy to answer questions 🥰
3 Go to commentsDon’t think that headline is accurate. It’s great to see Aus doing better but I’m not sure they’ve shown much threat to the top of the table. They shouldn’t be inflating wins against the lousy Highlanders and Crusaders either.
3 Go to commentsSuch a shame Roigard and Aumua picked up long term injuries, probably the two form players in the comp. Also, pretty sure Clarke Dermody isn’t their coach. Got it half right though.
3 Go to commentsOh the Aussie media, they never learn. It’s simple to see what’s going on. The Aussie teams are settled, they didn't lose any of their major players overseas. The Crusaders and Chiefs lost key experienced All Blacks, and Razor in the Crusaders case, and clearly neither are anywhere near as strong as last year (The Canes and Blues would probably be 3rd & 4th if they were). The Highlanders are annually average, even more so post-Aaron Smith and a big squad clean out. The two teams at the top? The two nz sides with largely the same settled roster as last year, except Ardie Savea for the Canes. They’ve both got far better coaches now too. If the Aussies are going to win the title, this is the year the kiwi sides will be weakest, so they better take their chance.
3 Go to commentsThe World Cup has to be the gold standard, line in the sand. 113 teams compete for what is the opportunity to make the pool stages, and then the knockout games for the trophy. The concept is sound. This must have been the rationale when the World Cup was created, surely? But I’m all for Looking forward and finding new ways for the SH to dominate the NH into the future. The autumn series needs a change up. Let’s start by having the NH teams come south every odd year for the Autumn/Spring series games?
3 Go to commentsWhat’ll happen when the AI models of the future go back in time and try to destroy the AI models of the past standing in their way of certain victory?
41 Go to commentsThanks, Nick. We (Seanny Maloney, Brett and I) just discussed Charlie as a potential Wallaby No 8, and wondered if he has truly realised how big he is in contact (and whether he can add 5 kg w/o slowing down). Your scouting report confirms our suspicions he has the materiel. No one knows if he has the mentality (as Johann van Graan said this week about CJ, Duane and Alfie B) to carry 10-15 times a game.
57 Go to commentsHe would be a great player for the Stormers, Dobbo should approach the guy.
3 Go to commentsGood article. A few years back when he was playing for the Cheetahs, he was a quiet standout for exactly the seasons stated here. I occasionally get to see his games in the UK, and he has become a more complete player and in many ways like an Irish player. His work ethic is so suitable to the Leinster game. I wonder if Rassie would have him listed somewhere.
3 Go to commentsResults probably skewed by the fact that a few clubs have foreign fly halves in their 30s, but most teams have young English scrum halves. Results also likely to be skewed by the fact that many teams rely on centres and fullbacks to provide depth at 10, whereas they will need to stock a large number of specialist backup 9s.
1 Go to commentsI really get the sense that when all is said and done, the path of least resistance will end up being a merger of Wasps & Worcester that essentially kills the Worcester Warriors brand and sees Wasps permanently playing at Sixways. I’m not saying that’s what should happen or what I want to happen. I just think it’s the easiest rout to take and therefore, will be what happens. Wasps will definitely return to play first, and I suppose it all depends on if they can find support at Sixways. If people turn up and support Wasps in that community, at that ground, I bet they drop the Sevenoaks plan and just remain at Sixways. Under the radar but not totally unrelated, it looks as though London Irish are going to be brought back from the dead by a German consortium and look set to return, likely to the remade Championship. It’s set to have 12 clubs next season with 14 in 2025/26, what do you want to bet those extra 2 are Wasps and London Irish?
3 Go to commentsThe 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 👍
3 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 comments