Northampton sweating on Champions Cup ruling to solve prop crisis
Northampton have been plunged into a prop injury crisis ahead of Sunday’s Heineken Champions Cup quarter-final against Exeter and are desperately seeking emergency assistance. Manny Iyogun, 19, is currently Saints’ only fit and available loosehead option for the Sandy Park showdown.
Francois van Wyk, Alex Waller, Danny Hobbs-Awoyemi and Nick Auterac have all been ruled out of the game through injuries of varying severity. Saints have been in dialogue with tournament organisers European Professional Club Rugby for permission to recruit another loosehead for their matchday 23.
But just four days before the game, Northampton rugby director Chris Boyd says he is still waiting for an answer. Competition rules mean that quarter-finalists had to register their squad on or before September 1, so an exemption would be required.
Boyd said: “Francois Van Wyk was our only fit loosehead (before last weekend’s Premiership loss at Leicester), and Manny Iyogun would be the only (other) person in our club who could play at loosehead. That concerned us because Manny is a 19-year-old boy who played all his football at No8 and had never really played in a men’s scrum before.
“We approached EPCR about our plight, then the problem got significantly worse because Francois was injured on Sunday (against Leicester and was replaced by Iyogun) and is probably out for eight-12 weeks. We now faced a situation where we have a youngster with zero experience, so we went back to EPCR and pleaded our case again.
It's knockouts time ?@leinsterrugby ?? @Saracens @ASMOfficiel ?? @racing92 @StadeToulousain ?? @UlsterRugby @ExeterChiefs ?? @SaintsRugby
Which will be the highest scoring #HeinekenChampionsCup quarter-final this weekend? pic.twitter.com/Hc7mjwOulA
— Heineken Champions Cup (@ChampionsCup) September 14, 2020
“The wheels have moved extremely slowly internally there, and currently we have still no ruling from EPCR. You eliminate people who can’t come into the country because of Covid restrictions around isolation, and visa applications which can’t be done in time, and the pool of players we could potentially get is pretty small anyway.”
Boyd said that he looked at converting one of the club’s specialist tighthead props into a loosehead, with a scrum session held early on Tuesday morning. But he added: “That was spectacularly unsuccessful. I spoke to Ben Franks (former Northampton and New Zealand prop) about that, and he likened it trying to play golf, changing from right hand to left hand.
“None of our four tightheads have ever played loosehead prop, so that was ruled out. We would be hopeful that common sense would prevail. If it was a wing or full-back or something else, you just have to make do, but there is a considerable safety issue here and an issue on the spectacle as it is and what the game might look like.
“If common sense doesn’t prevail, we only have two choices that I can get my head around. One is that we don’t have a loosehead prop on the bench and we only play the match with 22 blokes. Or, we put somebody on the bench who is absolutely not capable of playing that position safely and at the time they are required to go on the field, we alert the officials to that and we go down to uncontested scrums”.
Boyd outlined an exhaustive search by Saints to try and find a suitable front row recruit. “We have rung the Scottish clubs, the Irish clubs, the Welsh clubs and every English Championship club,” he said. “We’ve had all sorts of people flinging their CV in front of us.
“Everyone either has Covid restrictions or visa restrictions. We’ve even looked at who has retired from the game in the last three years who might be floating around doing nothing. All of that is in vain if we can’t get EPCR approval. What I am absolutely not prepared to do – and it became very obvious when we tried to convert our tightheads – is risk someone’s safety.
“While the integrity of the fixture and the competition is critical, the number one priority is the safety of the person that has to do that. There have been discussions between Exeter and Northampton to try to make this work. It’s an on-going discussion.”
It's all falling nicely for the Chiefs as they chase breakthrough European success https://t.co/Fay7ICH0y5
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) September 16, 2020
Comments on RugbyPass
Very unlikely the Bulls will beat Leinster in Dublin. It would be different in Pretoria.
1 Go to commentsI think it is a dangerous path to go down to ban a player for the same period that a player they injured takes to recover. Players would be afraid to tackle anyone. I once tackled my best friend at school in a practice match and sprained his ankle. I paid for it by having to play fly-half instead of full-back for the rest of that season’s fixtures.
5 Go to commentsJust such a genuine good bloke…and probably the best all round player in his generation. Good guys do come first sometimes and he handled the W.Cup loss with great attitude.
2 Go to commentsWord in France is that he’s on the radar of a few Top14 clubs.
2 Go to commentsGet blocking Travis, this guy has styles and he’s gonna make a swift impact…!
1 Go to commentsWhat remorse? She claimed that her dangerous tackle wasn’t worthy of a red! She should be compensating the injured player for loss of earnings at the minimum. Her ban should include the recovery time of the injured player as well as the paltry 3 match ban.
5 Go to commentsArdie is a legend. Finished and klaar. Two things: “Yeah, yeah, I have had a few conversations with Razor just around feedback on my game and what I am doing well, what I need to improve on or work-ons. It’s kind of been minimal, mate, but it’s all that I need over here in terms of how to be better, how to get better and what I am doing well.” I hope he’s downplaying it - and that it’s not that “minimal”. The amount of communication and behind the scenes preparation the Bok coaches put into players - Rassie and co would be all over Ardie and being clear on what is expected of him. This stands out for me as something teams should really be looking at in terms of the boks success from a coaching point of view. And was surprised by the comment - “minimal”. In terms of the “debate” around Ireland and South Africa. Nice one Ardie. Indeed. There’s no debate.
2 Go to commentsThere’s a bit of depth there but realistically Australian players have a long way to go to now catch up. The game is moving on fast and Australia are falling behind. Australian sides still don’t priories the breakdown like they should, it’s a non-negotiable if you want to compete on the international stage. That goes for forwards and backs. The Australian team could have a back row that could make a difference but the problem is they don’t have a tight five that can do the business. Tupou is limited in defence, overweight and unfit and the locks are a long way from international standard. Frost is soft and Salakai-Loto is too small so that means they need a Valentini at 8 who has to do the hard graft so limits the effectiveness of the backrow. Schmidt really needs to get a hard working, tough tight 5 if he wants to get this team firing.
3 Go to commentsSorry Morgan you must have been the “go to for a quote” ex player this week. Its rnd 6 and there is plenty of time to cement a starting 15 and finishing 8 so I have no such concerns.
2 Go to commentsGreat read. I wish you had done this article on the ROAR.
2 Go to commentsThe current AB coaching team is basically the Crusaders so it smacks of wanting their familiar leaders around. This is not a good look for the future of the ABs or the younger players in Super working their way up the player ladder. Razor is touted as innovative, forward looking but his early moves look like insecurity and insular, provincial thinking. He is the AB's coach not the Golden Oldies.
10 Go to commentsSimple reason for wanting him back. Robertson wants him as captain. Otherwise he wouldn’t be bothering chasing him. Not enough reason to come back just to mentor.
10 Go to commentsI had not considered this topic like this at all, brilliant read. I had been looking at his record at the Waratahs and thought it odd the Crusaders appointed him, then couple that with all that experience and talent departing and boom. They’ve got some great talent developing though, and in all honesty I don’t think anyone would be over confident taking them on in a playoff match, no matter how poor the first half of their season was. I think they can pull a game out of their ass when it counts.
2 Go to commentsNot a bad list but not Porecki and not Donaldson. Not because they are Tahs, or Ex Tahs, they are just not good enough. Edmed should be ahead. Far more potential. Wilson should be 8 and Valentini 6. Wilson needs to be told by his father and his coach, stop bloody running in to brick wall defence. You’re not playing under the genius Thorn any more. He’s a fantastic angle runner. The young new 8 from the Brumbies looks really good too. The Lonegrans are just too small for international rugby as is Paisami, as is Hamish Stewart at 12. Both great at Super Rugby level. Stewart could have been a great 10 if not for Brad Thorn. Uru should be there and so should Tupou. Tupou just needs good Australian coaching which he hasn’t been getting. I don’t think Schmidt will excite him.
3 Go to commentsIf he wants to come back then he should. He will be a major asset to the younger locks and could easily be played as an impact player off the bench coming on in the last 30. He is fit, strong and capable and has all the experience to make up for any loss in physical prowess. He could also be brought back with a view to coaching within the structures one day. Duane Vermeulen played until he was 37 or 38. He is now a roaming coach within the South African coaching structures. He was valuable in the last world cup and has been a major influence on Jasper Wiese and other young players which has helped and accelerated their development and growth. Whitelock could do the exact same thing for NZ
10 Go to commentsBrett Excellent words… finally someone (other than DC) has noted that Hanigan is very hard and very good at doing what Backrow should do… his performance via the Drua sauna was quite daunting for those on the other side… very high tackle count… carries with good end result… constant threat to make a good 20-25 meters with those long legs… providing his mass effectively to crunching the Drua pack… Finally he is returning to quality form… way to much injury time over the last 2 years… smart-strong-competent in his skills… caught every lineout throw aimed at him and delivered clean pass to whoever was down below… and he worked hard for the whole 80 minutes… Ned has to be in the top 5 for backrow honors… He knows what is required as he has been there before…
20 Go to commentsI think Sam Whitelock should not touch a return with a bargepole. He went out on a high, playing in the RWC Final. He would be coming back into a team that will be weaker than last years, and might even be struggling to win games, especially against the Boks. Stay in France, enjoy another year with Pau, playing alongside his brother.
10 Go to commentsRyan Coxon has been very impressive considering he was signed by WF as injury cover whilst Uru has been a standout for QR, surprised neither of those mentioned
3 Go to commentsIt’s the massive value he brings with regard team culture/values, preparation, etc. Can’t buy that. I’m hoping to see the young locks get their chance in the big games though.
10 Go to commentsAll good, Gregor, except that you neglected to mention Sam Darry amongst that talented pool of locks. In fact, given Hannah’s inexperience and the fact that Holland won’t be eligible until next year, Lord and Darry might be the frontrunners this year, to join Barrett, Tuipoluto, Va’ii and possibly Whitelock. In fact there might be room for all of them if Barrett played 6 (like Ollie Chessum).
10 Go to comments