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EXCLUSIVE: 'They looked like they'd just been promoted' - Andy Goode tears Saints apart

By Andy Goode
Andy Goode has sparked takeover rumours at Bath

There’s nothing like a bit of light relief after suffering the embarrassment of your worst Premiership defeat for over a decade and conceding more tries than you have in any other top flight league game.

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A visit from the team they dislike more than any other in what is sure to be an almighty tear-up at Franklin’s Gardens, could be just what Northampton Saints need but this will have been the biggest coaching week of Jim Mallinder and Dorian West’s careers.

They have won a Premiership title and a couple of Challenge Cups but finding a way to bounce back from an absolute humbling against Saracens when they have their nearest and dearest coming to visit for a huge derby game will have been some challenge.

If they perform the way they did last week, then some serious questions are going to be asked.

I couldn’t see a defensive structure at all. There were some people flying out of the line and some drifting and it made me question on Twitter whether they even had a defence coach.

The 38 points they trailed by after 40 minutes against Saracens is the biggest half-time deficit in any Premiership game since 2008 and London Welsh have been in the top flight for a couple of seasons since then.

We put 71 points on London Welsh when I was at Wasps in 2014/15 but they weren’t behind by as much as 38 at the break. That puts into perspective how feeble Saints’ first-half performance was last week.

I don’t say this lightly but they looked like a side that had just been promoted. There are international players in that team who were non-existent on Saturday and they will be hurting and have to put it right this week.

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There are rumours that the coaching side of things has gone a bit stale and hasn’t evolved and, in my opinion, Alex King was made a scapegoat when he left “by mutual consent” just over a month into last season. He is now the backs coach at Montpellier, who have won their opening two games in the Top 14 with try bonus points and scored 12 tries in the process.

Their issues have been up front. Samu Manoa left in 2015 and Louis Picamoles has departed this summer. That is a lot of power towards the back of the pack that has been lost and not been adequately replaced.

If you lose your best player and don’t replace him with someone else who can have that kind of impact, obviously the squad is going to be underpowered because of that. There is no like for like when it comes to Louis Picamoles but Mitch Eadie has cut his teeth in the Championship. That is not a slight on him because he is potentially a very good player but is that good enough recruitment when you are trying to compete with Saracens, Wasps, Leicester and Exeter?

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When I was at Wasps, I remember Dai Young said he was shopping in Lidl when he joined the club but after the takeover and the move to the Ricoh Arena he moved on up to Marks & Spencer!

Since they won the Premiership in 2014, Northampton have gone backwards. Since Saracens won the Premiership for the first time in 2011, they have got better and better.

Saracens have brought in the likes of Liam Williams, Will Skelton, Christopher Tolofua and others. They are top of the range signings.

Saints have announced the signing of Dan Biggar for next season this week and there is no doubt that has been pushed through to deflect a little bit from the absolute drubbing they got at Twickenham on Saturday.

This summer they have signed the likes of Rob Horne, Cobus Reinach and Piers Francis with Super Rugby experience and I have no doubt they will add value but they are all in the backs and I think they are massively underpowered up front and, from what we have seen, haven’t evolved in terms of the way the game is played nowadays.

Mark Darbon, who replaced Allan Robson as the club’s chief executive in July, has spoken out in support of the coaching team and insists there will be no “knee-jerk reaction”. If it was football, a loss at the weekend would lead to the sack after that vote of confidence. Thankfully, rugby is not going down that road but it is still a results driven business.

Jim Mallinder and Dorian West brought Northampton back up into the Premiership and have done a great job there historically but you only have to look 37 miles up the M1 to see what can happen. Richard Cockerill was Mr Leicester and people thought he would be there forever but, ultimately, sometimes your voice does go stale as a coach and change can be a good thing for a club.

It is way too early to be talking about hiring and firing after one game but another serious defeat at home this week will certainly raise the question of what direction they’re heading in.

Northampton are a big rugby club. The stature of the club means that they should be in the top four year in, year out.

The visit of the Tigers will certainly focus the minds but there needs to be no more motivation than putting right the embarrassment that they put out on the field against Saracens at Twickenham last week.

 

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J
Jon 59 minutes ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

This is the problem with conservative mindsets and phycology, and homogenous sports, everybody wants to be the same, use the i-win template. Athlete wise everyone has to have muscles and work at the gym to make themselves more likely to hold on that one tackle. Do those players even wonder if they are now more likely to be tackled by that player as a result of there “work”? Really though, too many questions, Jake. Is it better Jake? Yes, because you still have that rugby of ole that you talk about. Is it at the highest International level anymore? No, but you go to your club or checkout your representative side and still engage with that ‘beautiful game’. Could you also have a bit of that at the top if coaches encouraged there team to play and incentivized players like Damian McKenzie and Ange Capuozzo? Of course we could. Sadly Rugby doesn’t, or didn’t, really know what direction to go when professionalism came. Things like the state of northern pitches didn’t help. Over the last two or three decades I feel like I’ve been fortunate to have all that Jake wants. There was International quality Super Rugby to adore, then the next level below I could watch club mates, pulling 9 to 5s, take on the countries best in representative rugby. Rugby played with flair and not too much riding on the consequences. It was beautiful. That largely still exists today, but with the world of rugby not quite getting things right, the picture is now being painted in NZ that that level of rugby is not required in the “pathway” to Super Rugby or All Black rugby. You might wonder if NZR is right and the pathway shouldn’t include the ‘amateur’, but let me tell you, even though the NPC might be made up of people still having to pull 9-5s, we know these people still have dreams to get out of that, and aren’t likely to give them. They will be lost. That will put a real strain on the concept of whether “visceral thrill, derring-do and joyful abandon” type rugby will remain under the professional level here in NZ. I think at some point that can be eroded as well. If only wanting the best athlete’s at the top level wasn’t enough to lose that, shutting off the next group, or level, or rugby players from easy access to express and showcase themselves certainly will. That all comes back around to the same question of professionalism in rugby and whether it got things right, and rugby is better now. Maybe the answer is turning into a “no”?

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j
john 3 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

But here in Australia we were told Penney was another gun kiwi coach, for the Tahs…….and yet again it turned out the kiwi coach was completely useless. Another con job on Australian rugby. As was Robbie Deans, as was Dave Rennie. Both coaches dumped from NZ and promoted to Australia as our saviour. And the Tahs lap them up knowing they are second rate and knowing that under pressure when their short comings are exposed in Australia as well, that they will fall in below the largest most powerful province and choose second rate Tah players to save their jobs. As they do and exactly as Joe Schmidt will do. Gauranteed. Schmidt was dumped by NZ too. That’s why he went overseas. That why kiwi coaches take jobs in Australia, to try and prove they are not as bad as NZ thought they were. Then when they get found out they try and ingratiate themselves to NZ again by dragging Australian teams down with ridiculous selections and game plans. NZ rugby’s biggest problem is that it can’t yet transition from MCaw Cheatism. They just don’t know how to try and win on your merits. It is still always a contest to see how much cheating you can get away with. Without a cheating genius like McCaw, they are struggling. This I think is why my wise old mate in NZ thinks Robertson will struggle. The Crusaders are the nursery of McCaw Cheatism. Sean Fitzpatrick was probably the father of it. Robertson doesn’t know anything else but other countries have worked it out.

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A
Adrian 5 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

Thanks Nick The loss of players to OS, injury and retirement is certainly not helping the Crusaders. Ditto the coach. IMO Penny is there to hold the fort and cop the flak until new players and a new coach come through,…and that's understood and accepted by Penny and the Crusaders hierarchy. I think though that what is happening with the Crusaders is an indicator of what is happening with the other NZ SRP teams…..and the other SRP teams for that matter. Not enough money. The money has come via the SR competition and it’s not there anymore. It's in France, Japan and England. Unless or until something is done to make SR more SELLABLE to the NZ/Australia Rugby market AND the world rugby market the $s to keep both the very best players and the next rung down won't be there. They will play away from NZ more and more. I think though that NZ will continue to produce the players and the coaches of sufficient strength for NZ to have the capacity to stay at the top. Whether they do stay at the top as an international team will depend upon whether the money flowing to SRP is somehow restored, or NZ teams play in the Japan comp, or NZ opts to pick from anywhere. As a follower of many sports I’d have to say that the organisation and promotion of Super Rugby has been for the last 20 years closest to the worst I’ve ever seen. This hasn't necessarily been caused by NZ, but it’s happened. Perhaps it can be fixed, perhaps not. The Crusaders are I think a symptom of this, not the cause

15 Go to comments
T
Trevor 8 hours ago
Will forgotten Wallabies fit the Joe Schmidt model?

Thanks Brett.. At last a positive article on the potential of Wallaby candidates, great to read. Schmidt’s record as an international rugby coach speaks for itself, I’m somewhat confident he will turn the Wallaby’s fortunes around …. on the field. It will be up to others to steady the ship off the paddock. But is there a flaw in my optimism? We have known all along that Australia has the players to be very competitive with their international rivals. We know that because everyone keeps telling us. So why the poor results? A question that requires a definitive answer before the turn around can occur. Joe Schmidt signed on for 2 years, time to encompass the Lions tour of 2025. By all accounts he puts family first and that’s fair enough, but I would wager that his 2 year contract will be extended if the next 18 months or so shows the statement “Australia has the players” proves to be correct. The new coach does not have a lot of time to meld together an outfit that will be competitive in the Rugby Championship - it will be interesting to see what happens. It will be interesting to see what happens with Giteau law, the new Wallaby coach has already verbalised that he would to prefer to select from those who play their rugby in Australia. His first test in charge is in July just over 3 months away .. not a long time. I for one wish him well .. heaven knows Australia needs some positive vibes.

21 Go to comments
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