We sat down with Northampton Saints’ Director of Rugby, Phil Dowson, ahead of this weekend’s East Midlands Derby which sees the men in Black, Green and Gold head to Mattioli Woods Welford Road to face old rivals Leicester Tigers…
Q: How do you reflect on last Saturday’s defeat against Stade Rochelais in Saints’ final Heineken Champions Cup game of the season?
PD: It was frustrating because in the first half, at 7-3, we lose Fraser [Dingwall] to a red card and it was still a one-point game with 60 minutes – then in the last 20 minutes, we couldn’t deal with their power. We were obviously a man down still and that put us under a ton of pressure. It’s not all doom and gloom, but again it’s a hefty defeat at home against a top-quality side and it’s disappointing. We need to keep kicking on and get better.
Q: What did you make of Stade Rochelais’ head coach Ronan O’Gara’s comments, saying there was no fear factor in coming to the Gardens because Saints are not a ‘top team’?
PD: Ronan is obviously well known for speaking his mind and I think, if you look at our results and our season finishes over the last four years – we’ve been fourth, eighth, fifth, fourth – and in the context of the European game, I don’t think we are a top side at the moment. Maybe that’s the truth of it. Do we aspire to be? Of course. Are we ambitious? Of course. Are we driving in every single way possible, from recruitment and coach development and developing players and trying to get the most out of the players every week? Definitely. So, we may not be the finished article, we may not be the end product, but I know there is a huge amount of desire and effort in terms of making sure that is the case and that in the future there will be that fear factor for those big sides from Europe.
Q: You obviously have a few lads away on international duty with England, and both Fraser Dingwall and Lukhan Salakaia-Loto suspended after their red cards last week. How big an opportunity is this week for other members of the squad?
PD: It’s a shame to miss people through injury, through England call-ups and through disciplinary issues. Obviously, that makes it tough. But you look to the depth of your squad and we’ve got some cracking lads who haven’t had a lot of rugby recently, so they’ll be looking forward to showing what they’re capable of and getting stuck in. It is a challenge but it’s also an enjoyable challenge because you’re working with guys that have a lot to offer.
Q: You’ve brought in a new hooker in Tom Cruse, what sort of cover will he provide in that position?
PD: Sam Matavesi is good, he’s full of it as usual and he’s working hard, but we don’t want to rush any injuries coming back, so we had what we felt were only two frontline hookers in Mikey Haywood and Robbie Smith. With the games that we’ve got coming up, we obviously need more than that. So Tom Cruse comes in; huge experience, quality player, good man. He’s been up at Edinburgh plying his trade since Wasps went into administration, so he’s fitted in this week after coming in on Monday and he’s been flying around. It’s been good to have somebody like that in the locker room.
Q: Are you able to give an update on some of the other players currently out through injury?
PD: Juarno [Augustus] is back training. He’s back doing contact this week and we’re making sure we build up that hamstring to the point where we don’t have any issues moving forward. James Grayson is back training as well, he’s fit and he’s back running. He’s out of his boot and he’s starting kicking this week as well, so that’s a very positive sign for Jimmy.
Q: Obviously, a lot of people want to have an update on Courtney Lawes as well…
PD: He’s got a calf strain, he’s been scanned and he’s not gone to England [training] this week. Again, with strains, what it looks like on the scan and how it feels when he’s ‘live’ is not an exact science, so hopefully he won’t be too long. It’s not a major strain – in my limited medical experience – so he won’t be long. How long it is I don’t know, but it’s not a major issue, although with the time pressures coming up and the Six Nations, it obviously makes it tricky. I’d be surprised if he was back in time for England’s first game against Scotland.
Q: Second row is one area where you are a bit stretched at the moment, how much are you looking after the locks that are still available?
PD: We’re trying to! That’s the position where we’ve had call-ups, so that is an area we are looking to look after and make sure those boys are fighting fresh. But at the same time, you can’t wrap them in cotton wool. They’re going to be going out and playing in a full-on game on Saturday, so we need to make sure we train appropriately and get those boys fit.
Q: One of those players, Alex Moon, has been enjoying a good season in any case?
PD: He’s been excellent. Alex has been as consistent as I’ve ever seen him, his physicality has been very good. We actually thought he’d been playing really, really well and we gave him last week off to make sure that he recuperated and was feeling fresh for this week. The positive out of all this is that big Moony is ready to go.
Q: Looking ahead to the East Midlands derby at Leicester Tigers, what issues do you see them having with some of the players they have unavailable?
PD: They’re in the same boat as us – I think they lost seven to the England squad and they lost a couple in double positions, so both nines and both tightheads. Again, they’ll be looking to the depth of their squad, and they’ve got a quality squad as well. They’re beginning to play some cracking rugby – their result at Clermont Auvergne we watched when we were in Munster, and it was very impressive. Richard Wigglesworth has gone straight in there, is getting his feet under the table and making sure he puts his stamp on it as well. They’re the current champions of the Premiership and they’ll be looking forward to setting their stall out at home after a disappointing loss against Ospreys.
Q: Is there going to be a different dynamic in the scrum to the derby at the Gardens back in September, with the Tigers having their two first-choice tightheads away with England?
PD: Yes, but at the same time the semi-final we played there in June last year we had a really good scrum with the same clientele. It’s difficult to know what is going to happen and obviously we’ve got Wayne Barnes refereeing it, so we’ve just got to make sure we look after ourselves and what happens in the scrum we’ll have to deal with, cope with, adapt to and make sure we’re fully fired up and ready to go in hard in that area.
