Jim’s stock keeps on rising
Pictures by Linda Dawson
THERE is a possibility that when England take on Scotland in their opening Six Nations match of the season at Murrayfield on February 4, more than half of the team will be Saints players.
It is admittedly a little unlikely that all eight of the Saints players named in interim England boss Stuart Lancaster’s squad for the tournament will make the starting line-up, but there is still a chance.
And that would just be an incredible achievement.
Even if all eight don’t make it, it does seem to be a probability that at least six Saints will be in line to tackle the ‘Auld Enemy’, and if that is not a ringing endorsement of Franklin’s Gardens director of rugby Jim Mallinder’s credentials to take his country’s top job in the summer, then I don’t know what is.
The RFU will be looking to name a permanent manager in May, and caretaker Lancaster’s backing of Mallinder’s men can only be seen as a positive for the Saints boss.
It is proof that Mallinder can spot talent and help players develop and blossom, as he recruited five of the eight England selections from elsewhere, apart from academy products Dylan Hartley and Courtney Lawes, and Chris Ashton, who was signed from Wigan Warriors when Paul Grayson was head coach.
But it is Mallinder that nurtured the former rugby league man, and also recruited Ben Foden from Sale Sharks, Phil Dowson and Lee Dickson from Newcastle Falcons, Calum Clark from Leeds Carnegie and Tom Wood from Worcester Warriors.
That is proof that he can pick a player and get the best out of them, and that, after all, is exactly what is required from an England manager...
THE worry for Saints fans now is that their bid for the Aviva Premiership play-offs will be derailed by having so many players on Six Nations duty.
Boss Jim Mallinder has worked hard to strengthen the squad for this very situation, and although things didn’t go to plan when players were away during the World Cup, it will hopefully be different this time.
For a start, Soane Tonga’uiha, Vasily Artemyev and George Pisi – who were all at the World Cup - won’t be getting a Six Nations call, so that’s three extra high-class players in the ranks.
The other players brought in as back-ups have also had an extra few months to get up to speed, and the young breed from the Academy have really started to step up and show their quality in recent matches. And another plus is that although Ryan Lamb and Paul Doran-Jones have been named in the England Saxons squad, the second string’s two fixtures on January 28 and February 3 don’t clash with Premiership fixtures. They are both LV= Cup weekends.
In the office yesterday, we could still reel off a pretty strong Saints team even with the England lads missing, and I don’t think Saints are going to collapse as they did this time last year.
So although it’s never going to be ideal for Saints to lose so many players to international duty, a problem that will never be solved until international fixtures stop clashing with club games as is the case in football, things could be worse, and those play-offs should still be in reach when the big boys return to the fold in March.
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