'I know England are speaking about him and he is on their radar'
Guy Pepper, who made a Premiership record equalling 34 tackles in the defeat by Saracens, can take a step closer to an England call up when the young Newcastle Falcons open-side flanker faces Harlequins at Kingston Park on Friday night.
Newcastle, who managed just two Premiership wins in 2023, have now gone 13 matches without a victory in the league but despite that dire run of results, Pepper, son of former Harlequins forward Martin, has consistently impressed and has caught the eye of Steve Borthwick, the England head coach.
Falcons are winless in the Premiership and the Challenge Cup this season, the first under Alex Codling’s control as head coach following his arrival from Oyonnax who he helped gain promotion to the Top14 in France.
While the team has struggled to make an impact, Pepper has stood out as a real talent and Codling admits it is a challenge balancing the need to manage the player’s game time and finding that first win.
Codling said: “I have eulogised every week about Guy and he is getting better and better and the statistics tell you that not just my eyes. He is going to be a really good leader – he already is. There was a conversation around the senior England squad a while back but he picked up that serious (foot) injury and so the first priority was to play well and he is doing that with bells on.
“I know they (England) are speaking about him and he is on their radar – we will find out exactly where in due course. He still has a lot of do at the age of 20 but he is in a good place, getting better every week, is extremely physical and is good over the ball. Elements to keep adding to his game include ball carrying and decision-making around the breakdown, working with the referee in Premiership and European games.
“Saracens were packed with internationals and Lions players and in terms of judging Guy, he was against Ben Earl, Billy Vunipola (both England), Juan Martin Gonzalez (Argentina) and Andy Christie (Scotland). When you do not play for one of the top teams in the Premiership and put in 34 tackles at the age of 20 it is an incredible achievement. When we were under pressure, particularly in the second half against the win, he went toe to toe with the best – the champions.
“He is studying for a degree at Durham University and is an all-rounder and very grounded. Guy is very professional and he is a flag bearer for the next generation coming through and so he is important in a number of contexts.
“The challenge I have in my role is to get that balance of when and how many minutes they play. In an ideal world you are dropping young players into a team packed with experience and in a sense they will learn faster in a situation like this. In the long run, as tough as it is, you can draw a huge amount going forward.
“Guy equalled the tackle record for a Premiership match in the game with Saracens and the dichotomy is about player welfare and I rested Guy earlier in the season because he has come back from a serious injury and I am very conscious of the load he has. I am also very conscious of how important he is for us as a team and also the opportunities he may have in the wider sense because of the way his is playing.
“These are the constant balancing acts I have as a coach and we have constant conversations about his playing load because he is desperate to play having missed so much rugby in his young career. I hope he can kick on and play on a wider stage which he deserves (the opportunity) to do.
“We have boys who put their hands up (for England) it speaks volumes for them as people and players. All they can do is put their best foot forward every week which they have done. “
Codling, who lost Matias Moroni with a knee injury against Saracens and also England hooker Jamie Blamire, who has picked up an infection from a cut, must now try and shackle his former club Harlequins on Friday night at Kingston Park. He said: “We are No1 in the Premiership for the first period of a match but games don’t finish after 20 mins and the game is about maintaining momentum.
“When we lose it we find it harder than most to get it back and we have to manage our discipline and accuracy better. We give opportunities to teams we shouldn’t and at this level it is very hard to get it back.
“When you are where you are everything seems to conspire against you and you have to dust yourself down and show resilience which we have. We have to roll away at the tackle and the unforced errors which we make far too many. Selection is a challenge with the position we are in.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Big empty stadium does nothing for atmosphere but munster are playing well with solid performance
1 Go to commentsYes, Fiji can win the World Cup! With that belief plus their christian faith🙏 and hard work it is achievable. Great article. Ian Duncan Fiji resident 1981-84
2 Go to commentsInteresting comments about Touch. England’s hosting the Touch World Cup this year and the numbers have exploded since their last World Cup in 2019, something like 70% more teams and 40 nations taking part. And England Touch have made a big thing about how many universities are in their BUCS University Touch Championship as well as Sport England membership. Can only see this growing even more domestically as more people become aware of it
10 Go to comments“Cortez Ratima is light years ahead of anyone on current form, while TJ Perenara has also skyrocketed into contention following the unfortunate injury to the talented Cam Roigard.” At last some sanity. Hitherto so many pundits have been wittering on about Finlay Christie to the point one wondered if they were observing a FC in a parallel universe where the FC they saw wasnt just the mediocre Shayne Philpott project of Fosters hapless AB reign in the real world. Ratima, Perenara and Fakatava are the ONLY logical 9s for Razor now Roigard is crocked.
2 Go to commentsThis game was just as painful as the Hurricanes game. It was real fork-in-the-eye stuff.
2 Go to commentsNow if they could just fire the Crusaders ground PA guy who likes to play his dance music and just loves the sound of his own voice the entire game, even when play is going on. And I thought their brass band thing of a few years ago was bad.
5 Go to commentsUnfortunately when you lose by far the two form players this season in Roigard and Aumua, you're left replacing two game changing Tanks with a couple of pea-shooters. Which is also about the speed of TJs pass.
2 Go to commentsBit rich coming from the guy with zero loyalty to anyone or any team, including happily taking a players place in a league world cup squad because well, SBW wanted to play in it and thus an already named player got told he was no longer going. And airing stuff like this, which may or may not be true, doesn't exactly say you're a stand up guy either SBW. Just looking to keep his name in lights as usual.
38 Go to commentsTamati Tua. …the Taniwha NPC midfielder. Ollie Sapsford, Hawkes Bay NPC midfielder…doing well
2 Go to commentsFiji deserve to be in the rugby championship, fans love seeing the Fijian national team play, the Fijian Drua is a wonderful idea but the players can still be stolen to play for NZ and AUS…
2 Go to commentsThe first concern for this afternoon are wheather forecast…
1 Go to commentsWhy cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
5 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
34 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to comments