PAUL REES TALKS TO CHRIS BOYD ABOUT NORTHAMPTON'S FALTERING BID FOR THE PLAY-OFFS
After the Saints came lurching in against Gloucester at Franklin's Gardens last weekend, Chris Boyd needed two days before he dared to watch a rerun of a defeat that put a deep dent into Northampton's ambition to reach the play-offs for the second time in three seasons.
With relegation suspended for at least this campaign, the attention in the Premiership is on the top four, although the battle to keep out of the bottom four and so qualify for the Heineken Champions Cup will offer a diversion in the concluding rounds.
Five teams are in contention for the play-offs, but Northampton's heavy defeat to a team that had won only one of their 11 previous away league matches left them as the outsiders with four matches to go.
“I could not watch the game on the Sunday and Monday afterwards,” said Boyd, who is closing in on three years at Franklin's Gardens as director of rugby after arriving from the Hurricanes where he won the Super Rugby title in 2016. “I have been through it and while I know what happened, I am still not 100 per cent sure why.
“You do not win games of football when you turn the ball over 39 times but the gift from a terrible performance like that is that there are lessons in there and if you pick them up they do not appear again. I did not see it coming because we had won eight of our previous 11 games and not been soundly beaten in the ones we lost. We had been growing and playing some decent football and then that happens. We have to ensure that a painful experience makes us better.”
Northampton's home form had not been much better than Gloucester's on the road, three victories in 13 league matches, but it was the manner of the defeat that was perplexing. They were ten points down after 14 minutes and while they did not concede again before half-time, neither did they look like scoring. The expected response at the start of the second period turned into more of the same and they were spared a first Premiership blank at home by a late Henry Taylor try.
The failure to secure even a bonus point meant they went into the current round, which has been extended beyond the weekend so clubs can welcome back supporters, nine points behind the teams in third and fourth, Sale and Harlequins respectively. Bristol have already qualified for the playoffs while Exeter need another eight points, although victory at Northampton next month would do. The Saints face Newcastle at Kingston Park on Monday night, a ground where they have lost on their last three visits having won the previous six.
“It means we have lost control of our own destiny,” said Boyd. “With Sale and Harlequins still having to play each other, we only had to stay within five points of them. We also have a tough finish with Wasps, Exeter and Bath following Newcastle. All we can do is our best and see where that leaves us.”
Sale's final three matches are against the other sides in the top four. They face Quins and Bristol at the AJ Bell Stadium before travelling to Exeter in the final round. Two of Quins' final three matches are at home to bottom half teams and Northampton can reflect on a slow start to the season when they lost their first three matches, although their opponents were Sale, Harlequins and Bristol.
“We knew we had a hard start, but then faced teams you could expect to get more fruit from,” said Boyd. “The Premiership is a tough competition: Exeter were champions last year and lost five matches in the regular season. You have to get up physically and men- tally for each game because they are potentially that close. If you take your eye off the ball, you pay the price.”
Northampton were not helped against Gloucester by the loss of their out side-half Dan Biggar after 19 minutes when he suffered a head injury competing for a loose ball with Billy Twelvetrees. But even the Welsh international, who is aiming for a Test start on the Lions tour to South Africa in the summer, would have struggled to impose himself on the game given the lack of ball supplied by his forwards.
It was Biggar's fifth Premiership start of the season and Northampton had won the other four, including the East Midlands derby at Welford Road in the previous round when, despite taking a battering off the ball that left him operating on one leg in the final ten minutes, he made a crucial tackle as the Saints held on for victory.
When he was with the Hurri canes, Boyd coached another international outside-half, one far removed from Biggar in terms of style, Beauden Barrett. The Welshman wears his heart on both sleeves, fiercely competitive with no regard for his safety. The All Black is more detached, looking to operate in pockets of space and he has been used at full-back in the last couple of years.
“Dan failed his head injury assessment immediately on Saturday, but he passed the secondary test after the game 100 per cent and has had no issues since,” said Boyd. “He is a long way through his protocols and with the Newcastle game on a Monday, it means his knee niggle has firmed up nicely. He would not have taken the kicks last week, but he has been goalkicking in training and looks good to go.”
Is Boyd considering resting Biggar ahead of the Lions tour? “I am pretty certain that if I went to him and said I think we will take you out for a couple of weeks before the end of the season, he would say no. He wants to play Apart from the risk of injury, most players feel they get better form when they keep play¬ing. When I asked the leadership group this morning about the preparation for Gloucester after they had had a week off, most said they did not feel they benefited physically or mentally from having the break.
“I understand the work of the Rugby Players' Association on players' loads and and support it but players like to keep playing for momentum's sake. Dan is one and we need to get Courtney Lawes going so he can play three or four games before he goes to South Africa. He would play at Newcastle if it was a final, but he is more likely to feature against Wasps the week after, giving us an extra 12 days to get him really humming.”
Biggar was very much the third out- side-half when the Lions toured New Zealand four years ago, starting behind Jonathan Sexton and Owen Farrell, below left, but this year he is arguably the form 10 ahead of Farrell, who played in the centre for England in their final four Six Nations matches, and Scotland's Finn Russell, below right. Sexton did not make the 37.
“It will be very interesting to see how the Lions play,” said Boyd. “The first three or four games will give an indication of that and what makes it intriguing is that you could say the traditional way Warren (Gatland, the head coach) likes to play the game and the style favoured by Gregor (Townsend, the attack coach) are slightly different.
“I think that the outside-half they pick for the first Test will hinge on the style they adopt. If you are looking for someone who has the capacity to play a game of territory and possession and force the opposition back, Dan is your man. He is not Finn Russell on attack but he is very solid, dependable and experienced. Unless they are looking to run the bejesus off the ball and take a lot of risks, Dan will be in the hunt.
“I have enjoyed working with him. What is common about all world-class players is that they want to get better. They are all highly skilful and motivated and they all appreciate that no one is the complete article. They all have their work-ons and things they can bank as very good.
“Dan works incredibly hard at his game and has a good understanding and feel for it, he is tenacious and he defends well. He has developed his attacking side here working with Sam Vesty and he is a good man who brings a lot to the environment. He is tough mentally and physically and he is a role model.”
When Saints welcome Wasps at the end of the month, they will be playing in front of their own supporters for the first time in a Premiership match since the end of February last year. A couple of thousand were allowed in for the Champions Cup match against Bordeaux-Begles before Christmas, but the second lockdown pushed sport behind closed doors again.
“We place a huge value on our supporters and cannot wait for Wasps and some 4,000 people here,” said Boyd. “Having fans for the Bordeaux game made an amazing difference. I have not enjoyed watching games of football with no feel around the place and it has made an impact on the spectacle.
“The clubs that get a lot of energy out of their crowd have found it much harder than those who do not get a big gate or much energy from fans because they have a big stadium in which a few thousand do not make much of a difference. We have missed them, but I doubt it is an excuse for our poor run at Franklin's Gardens. We need to do better at home.”
