SAS – the attack motto for U18s

By BEN JAYCOCK

‘Speed, attachment, space' is the motto of England U18s attack coach Will Parkin, who is tasked with unearthing the next generation of international stars.

Parkin joined the U18s coaching staff last summer working as an assistant under Jonathan Pendlebury to fill the role vacated by Mark Mapletoft after his promotion to U20s head coach in May.

The 30-year-old had been working at Northampton Saints for over a decade, most recently as academy coach where he led the club's U18s side to back-to-back Premiership U18 Academy League finals.

Parkin played his part in the development of current Saints stars who are in Steve Borthwick's England squad with George Furbank, Alex Coles and Fraser Dingwall all having previously worked under his stewardship.

The current U20s possesses a heavy Northampton contingent with Craig Wright, Reuben Logan, Henry Pollock, Archie McParland, Toby Cousins and Will Glister part of the elite playing squad for their ongoing Six Nations.

Parkin, below, told The Rugby Paper: “I was at Saints for 10 years and it was almost all I knew in terms of an environment. So, being here has exposed me to different methods and the ability to work with the best talent from 17-20.

“Whether the lads go on and make it professionally or perhaps I support them down different routes, it is great to have an impact in their lives whether that's in rugby or in business.

“I've been lucky with the group that's come through at Saints in the last six or seven years when I was heavily involved in the academy and to play a small part in them playing in the Premiership, England age groups or winning international caps has been a huge privilege.

“This year we've got a handful in the U20s that are well publicised in Archie McParland and Henry Pollock that have already had some exposure in the Premiership as first year 18-yearolds and have a bright future ahead of them. There's some later ones in George Hendy that are slightly older and Alex Coles that have now been invited back into the senior group alongside Fraser Dingwall and the older ones like George Furbank.

“There's loads of exciting players, they play an exciting brand of rugby that encourages them to be good players and they are reaping the rewards off the back of it.”

Parkin was in camp for England U20s warmup matches against Bath United and Oxford University, while also helping out Mapletoft in the early stages of the Six Nations.

Due to a ‘frustrating conflict of activity', Parkin's focus will soon be shifted back to the U19s preparing for their trip to France before leading the U18s' Six Nations.

There's a big emphasis from the RFU on a ‘Club England', aimed at creating a smoother pathway for players across the age groups.

Parkin's primary focus is making his tyro beefy forwards comfortable with ball in hand when attacking with development valued more than winning.

He added: “The whole point of our prog r a m m e is to make these players better and that's their mindset. I want all the forwards to be comfortable being able to play balls at the line short, playing out the back, comfortable on the ball, and an expectation from the backs to be comfortable as first receivers. We're not a team based around winning games, the whole point is to put players into positions that are going to support their development.

“Our overriding theme is speed, attachment, space – SAS – and we went hard at the speed areas when the boys came together out in South Africa last year. We're starting to layer a framework within that to align what we've previously covered. As we progress towards the standalone game against France in the Six Nations, from an attack point of view it'll be based around speed. Our attachment is having multiple options at the line, then it's on that ball player and the players around him to play to the space.”