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The most illegal back row in the Gallagher Premiership
Newcastle boss Dean Richards has identified why Northampton fall foul of referees more than any other Premiership team with Chris Boyd’s team having amassed 155 penalties this season- eclipsing bottom club Bath who have given away 143 .
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Richards is banking on this inability to stay on the right side of the law to help Falcons kick start their year after a desperately disappointing 31-0 loss to his former club Leicester while Saints were losing 30-6 to Saracens having been tied with their opponents at half time.
It is the Saints back row, led by the foraging captain Lewis Ludlam that is the main reason the Midlands outfit has been so illegal although he does top the Premiership statistics for most break down steals with nine this season. However, it is the number of collective penalties that Northampton’s back row give away that has become the focus for Richards and his coaching staff as they prepare for the Kingston Park clash. Ludlam is desperate to regain his England place and is throwing himself into the breakdown with such ferocity he stands fourth on the Premiership table for breakdown arrivals with 78.
Northampton gave away another 15 penalties in that loss to Saracens and Richards said: “We only gave away ten penalties against Leicester and the Northampton back row gives more penalties away than any other in the Premiership because they compete so much at the break down. They are quite ill-disciplined in the way that they do that and I am comfortable with our discipline.
“We have to be more clinical on a our ball presentation but they do go in more and give away more penalties than any other back row and it does cost them dear. You go out expecting them to perform as well as they can and if they don’t then happy days.“
Newcastle’s ability to compete for possession will be boosted by the return of highly rated hooker George McGuigan while they have a host of back row options of their own. Richards added: “The Northampton loss to Sarries wasn’t as one sided as the score suggests. They have quality it their pack and out wide and so it will be a difficult game.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Job done guys. Great win in a game where things can quickly go wrong.
1 Go to commentsAlex Sanderson fantastic coach and person .So pleased he has signed another contract great days ahead for Sale under his leadership.
1 Go to commentsAndy Goode cant kick to 12
162 Go to commentsDoxed himself. Great work Johnny. You are well suited to the Saders
1 Go to comments_Best game players _
1 Go to commentsWho's Jarrad Hohepa?
1 Go to commentsSo let me get this straight. Say you have the dominant scrum. You are 99% sure you can go for a scrum pushover try on the line to win the game. The opposition knows it too. They give away a silly tap kick instead. You are now not allowed to scrum. This is ridiculous! *%@ing the game up as usual! The fact that the attacking teams are not allowed to scrum from a held up over the line is just as ridiculous. Really world rugby? Careful people might start a rebel league called True Rugby or Real Rugby.
76 Go to comments12 subs during a game? How has that been allowed to happen NB? I hate when the game goes in this monopolistic direction closing up shop, it just becomes non sport. Btw have you seen anything of how Liam Coltman was tracking for Lyon? He has just signed to return to Otago though we have a couple of young hookers developing here. He was a popular gentle natured character down here and I’m glad to see him back but maybe he will be a mentor primarily?
11 Go to commentsGreat breakdown and the global politics always confuses me a little. The southern hemisphere seems to be left out a bit but I wouldn’t even know where to start with fixing it. Club challenge could be a step in the right direction
11 Go to commentsSince he coached Free state, from that time onwards, I maintained he was the coach for the Boks. A nice, no nonsense guy with an excellent brain, who gets results.
11 Go to commentswell - they only played against 14 men and had the TMO team on their side - and still should have lost… so actually that makes sense.
33 Go to commentsSouthern hemisphere Rugby is exactly that, boring. Northern Hemisphere Rugby is soooo much more entertaining and better with better players.
2 Go to commentsIf he was to be cited for a dangerous behavior, then it’s natural that he should be. Then NTamack too, yes? And I’ll add a good whataboutism - Yeandle eye-gouging on Richie Arnold: not cited. Eye-gouging. Not high tackle. Eye-gouging. It was on French TV, with French TV directors.
5 Go to commentsReally poorly written rambling piece ..
11 Go to commentsIt was so boring
2 Go to commentspersonally I’d go with : 1. France 2. NZ 3. England 4. Ireland 5. Scotland
33 Go to commentsAndy everything becomes easier with experience therefor counting etc straight after a match becomes easier when you have 100+ caps vs 17 which is the experience you speak from.
162 Go to commentsGetting rid of the Dupont Law is a good thing and ought to have been done months ago! Officially getting rid of the croc roll is a good thing. The law about no scrums from a short arm is well intended in terms of speeding the game up but it’s an overreaction to a clever yet calculated gamble that could have blow up in South Africa’s face if they conceded a penalty from the scrum that was set after Willemse took claimed the mark in the World Cup QF.
76 Go to commentsRassie The GOAT
11 Go to commentsOf their 5 big matches in RWC Scotland and NZ were the easiest. They took a 12-3 lead against NZ and after the red decided it was best to hold the lead and take chances that came. None came and it was tight but they dug a lot deeper in the other two knock out matches. They had trounced NZ in Twickenham in a fixture that NZ must now regret. Psychology was clearly with SA in the final as a result.
33 Go to comments