Northampton Saints: Ben’s switched on for big test
Pictures by Linda Dawson
BEN NUTLEY has admired Bath’s back row on television – and now he’s ready to turn them over.
The 19-year-old comes up against three experienced campaigners he knows all about in the LV= Cup clash at the Recreation Ground this afternoon.
Nutley, who progressed through the Saints academy and signed a two-year first-team deal this season, will go into battle with Francois Louw, Ben Skirving and Simon Taylor.
The Bath back row have a combined age of age of 86, while Saints have named an inexperienced back row, with a combined age of just 68.
Nutley, Samu Manoa and James Craig will certainly have a tough task on their hands as they concede a number of years to their opposite numbers.
But Nutley is more excited than apprehensive and he’s looking forward to pitting his wits against players he has had the pleasure of watching from the comfort of his own living room.
He said: “You get put in and you’re playing against people you’ve seen on the television for years and you’re kind of in awe.
“But it’s just another back row, you look forward to putting yourself up against them and hopefully doing well.”
Saints have opted for a mix of youth and experience for today’s clash, with the likes of Nutley and Craig blended with experienced heads such as Paul Diggin and Mark Sorenson.
Bath are close to full strength as they go all guns blazing in their bid to secure qualification to the semi-finals, but Nutley sees no reason why Saints shouldn’t win at the Rec.
“There’s still a number of quality players here,” he emphasised. “It’s not like we’ve just been left with a threadbare squad. We’ve still got a number of players who have been playing week in, week out.
“We’ve still got a good squad and a good team.
“Ten points from 10 shows our ambition in the tournament this season.
“We’ve won it before and it’s a nice bit of silverware to win so hopefully we can carry on and get another trophy in the cabinet.”
Nutley was given another taste of Heineken Cup rugby last weekend as he came off the bench in the bruising 51-36 loss to Munster.
And he is expecting an equally tough test this afternoon.
“It was a physical game, even the last 20 minutes when I was playing, and it’s going to be another physical game this weekend,” said Nutley. “
“We’ve had a good week’s training and the team’s looking good so hopefully we’ll go down there and get a win.”
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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