Northampton Saints: Glynn shows club is not producing gym monkeys
Pictures by Linda Dawson
As an aspiring scrum-half there aren’t many better places to learn your trade than Northampton Saints.
That is certainly what Ryan Glynn thought when he signed up at Franklin’s Gardens from Sale Sharks before the beginning of last season as an 18-year-old.
Having played for England Under-16s and U-18s Glynn was earmarked as a man with plenty of potential, but he chose to move down south for his finishing school.
With Lee Dickson in the England squad and former Welsh international Martin Roberts at the club Glynn has two big talents to learn from, but probably the biggest draw was Alan Dickens, the Academy coach.
Dickens may not have played on the highest international stage, but he certainly has a wealth of Premiership experience to draw on and a keen coaching brain.
“It is good to have your main coach as a scrum-half,” said Glynn. “He has a lot of hands on time with you. Alan has been a big help in terms of my passing and kicking - the technical side of the game.”
Glynn is developing fast from the very nippy, but raw scrum-half that made his debut last season off the bench twice. Not only has he put on a stone in muscle thanks to the condition team - “I’m still the smallest here at 12st something,” he says - but he is adding a calm understanding of what is needed from him.
That is in no small part to being dual registered with National League One side Moseley alongside Academy prop Tom Warren, fly-half prospect Glyn Hughes and speedy winger Anders Mogensen.
For those who criticise academies for producing ‘gym monkeys’ then Glynn shows that is exactly what Saints don’t want. Youngsters not only need to be physically right, but they need games at a good level to learn the decision-making needed to thrive.
Glynn has his games at Moseley analysed not just by Dickens, but also Dickson and Roberts. Another example of the club pushing its players to take on more responsibility, this time for the development of their own, hopefully, successor.
“All the games I play here at Northampton or on loan, Alan will go through them with you and will highlight things you need to work on and things you have done well,” said St Helens-born Glynn. “I will go through my games with him and Martin and Lee sometimes.
“It is good to have different inputs from different scrum-halves who have played at different clubs.
“I’ve developed a lot in the last year. I have worked closely with Martin and Lee and Alan. I have been helped out a lot from having good scrum-halves around me. The conditioning department has been into getting us stronger and bigger. Hopefully there is some more to come from me.”
Former Ireland centre Kevin Maggs is coach at Moseley and Glynn appreciates the freedom given to him to play his natural game at Billesley Common.
“Kevin has been brilliant and has let me go out and play the way I want to play really,” said Glynn.
“I spoke to him since I have been playing here over the last couple of weeks, and he has been brilliant letting me go. It has been great being down there and playing every week, I feel a lot more comfortable playing here now because of the game time I have had over the last four months with Moseley.”
After two appearances off the bench in the LV= Cup, Glynn can expect more game-time over the coming months. His only Premiership appearance came at home to Gloucester last season and with Dickson away, Glynn’s second could be against them again this Saturday and hopefully it will be part of a win rather than last term’s 18-16 defeat.
With quick delivery of the essence at Saints, Glynn calls himself a passing nine, but at his size the gaps don’t have to be that big for him to have a run.
“Being a passing nine fits into the team and the way they want to play,” said Glynn. “You look at Martin, he is a great running threat and made a couple of great breaks on Saturday and that gets you on the front foot.
“I do have a running element to my game, but at the moment, while I am new to the whole thing, especially at this level, it is just good to do your basics well, rather than do anything extra.”
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