Robbie's return

Falcons travel to Franklin’s Gardens with five personnel changes to last week, with no less than three of the changes enforced by injuries either sustained last Sunday or in midweek training.

 

Losing Phil Dowson to a prolapsed central disc in his neck is, and will be, a big loss over the next six months, and all of our wishes are with him for a full recovery – take your time and get it right, Dowse – but the absence of Ian Peel (neck injury sustained in Wednesday’s training), and Anthony Elliott (shoulder) add to the existing problems for Cory Harris, Matt Thompson and Jonny Wilkinson.  Ho-hum.  As Rob Andrew said to those of us at Thursday’s press conference, you have to have two teams for the Premiership now, and this means returns for Mathew Tait, Andy Long, and Geoff Parling, a first start for Owen Finegan, and a first league appearance for Ben Woods.

 

It’s ironic that it’s Northampton for Woods’ debut.  In the A League match at Alnwick in March 2004 between the clubs, he broke his leg just four minutes into the game and spent the whole of last season recuperating from what was, for those that saw it, a shocking injury.  After featuring in the Japan friendlies, he scored two tries on his first competitive return eleven days ago – against Northampton – and will now make his first step up to the first fifteen against the Saints.  It was clear from Rob’s face yesterday that he was chuffed that Ben had made it back and carried on making the step up that will see him alongside two internationals in the Falcons’ back row.  He’s scored five tries in all games so far this season; a man in form if ever there was one.

 

All three interviewees yesterday (Rob, Dave Walder and Robbie Morris) were apologetic for Sunday’s debacle, and the players were angry that they’d allowed themselves to get into “complacency” (a word all three used) despite being warned – forcibly – at half time that they were making fools of themselves.  Whichever way you look at it, you can’t allow yourself to get into a position where you have to rely on a last gasp kick to get points after playing very badly, and in a game that, on paper, you should have won. 

 

Thank God rugby isn’t played on paper, as the statistics show that the last away win came on 27th December at Leeds; the last win at Northampton came in the championship season of 1997/98.  As the team sit in their Northampton hotel this evening, the realisation will be there that this is a chance to throw both of those stats out of the window.  Franklin’s Gardens has not been a happy hunting ground over the years, but think back to the last two seasons; two decent performances, and in April, like the last two weeks, it was only a missed injury time kick that cost a much-weakened Falcons side victory.

 

Both players have a lot to prove.  Robbie Morris didn’t do himself justice at the Gardens last season, and will come up against Tom Smith in the front row on Saturday, a man who knows his game inside out.  It works two ways though, and Robbie may have a surprise up his sleeve.  Walder’s game will no doubt (as he admitted himself) come under scrutiny against both Carlos Spencer and the inevitable Miles Harrison/Stuart Barnes comparison of him to the missing Wilkinson, but the man himself says that all he can do is play his own game; get his own side running.  If he can do that, and the performance can match that at Sale, then you never know.

 

Runs like this have to come to an end some time; the Sky script may get thrown out of the window.

 

Teams:-

 

15 Matthew Burke

14 Tom May

13 Jamie Noon

12 Mark Mayerhofler

11 Mathew Tait

10 Dave Walder

9 Hall Charlton

1 Micky Ward

2 Andy Long

3 Robbie Morris

4 Andy Perry

5 Geoff Parling

6 Owen Finegan

7 Ben Woods

8 Colin Charvis (captain)

 

Replacements:

 

David Wilson

Stuart Mackie

Tino Paoletti

Mike McCarthy

Stuart Grimes

James Grindal

Toby Flood

 

 

Saints

 

15 Bruce Reihana (captain)

14 Sean Lamont

13 Jon Clarke

12 Seamus Mallon

11 Ben Cohen

10 Carlos Spencer

9 Mark Robinson

1 Tom Smith

2 Dylan Hartley

3 Brett Sturgess

4 Matt Lord

5 Damien Browne

6 Mark Soden

7 Darren Fox

8 Mark Easter

 

Replacements

 

Steve Thompson

Chris Budgen

Alex Rae

Ben Lewitt

Johnny Howard

Luke Myring

Rhodri Davies

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