Ferguson urges Saints to stay true to themselves for Falcons clash

Coach Matt Ferguson has urged Northampton Saints’ players coming into the matchday squad for this weekend’s game to be true to themselves.

The men in Black, Green and Gold are without seven players who featured in last weekend’s victory away at Munster, after being called up England for their training camp in Spain.

It means there are numerous positions to fill in the matchday squad to face Newcastle Falcons in Round 12 of the Gallagher Premiership, as Saints bid to extend their winning run to ten games heading into a break in competitive fixtures. 

“It’s a great opportunity,” said Ferguson. “Some of the hardest rugby we play is on a Tuesday and Thursday afternoon, where our Wanderers, the guys not in the matchday squad for the weekend, go toe-to-toe with Saints.

“They don’t need to be anything other than who they are, we don’t want them to be something different.”

One player who was not called up by England this time around but will miss out on the Falcons match is Curtis Langdon.

The hooker has been suspended for four weeks by an independent Disciplinary Hearing, after he was red carded at Thomond Park for ‘making reckless contact to the head of the Munster Rugby second row, Thomas Ahern, in contravention of Law 9.11’.

“First and foremost, we are aware Thomas Ahern spent the night in hospital and that is the priority,” said Ferguson. “Curtis was devastated throughout the whole weekend and into this week, not so much about the actual card but that he had hurt a fellow professional – that is not in his character. 

“The breakdown is one of the areas that I look after and if a player is lying on our player, we coach to remove them with leg drive, and it’s that action with the leg drive that has caught the player. 

“I don’t think he has deliberately tried to make any contact. If the player is the other way around, you probably end up placing your knee into his shin.

“There were a lot of happy faces on Saturday night, but Curtis carried his feelings into this week. He genuinely thought he let the boys down, so we’ve got ourselves around him this week and supported him through the disciplinary process.”

One player who is back in the mix is prop Elliot Millar Mills. The 31-year-old joined Saints last summer after periods at Edinburgh and Bath following Wasps’ demise in October 2022.

His performances in 15 outings in Black, Green and Gold so far earned him a first senior international call-up for Scotland, teaming up with clubmate Rory Hutchinson in this week’s training camp.

“I spoke to Elliot at the start of the season when we looked at his IDPs (individual development plan) and he mentioned that an international call-up was part of that list,” said Ferguson, who coached England Women’s forwards earlier in his career.

“I was involved in the game where his two sisters played – one for England (Harriet), one for Scotland (Bridget) – so I was aware of the family connection. I am absolutely delighted.

“This is a guy that when we bought him in, he didn’t have a job, and he has come in and improved. I thought he was excellent against Munster when he came on off the bench, he phoned me on Sunday night after he had spoken to Gregor [Townsend, Scotland Head Coach] and he was absolutely delighted.”

This weekend’s opponents Newcastle announced last week that Head Coach Alex Codling was stepping away from day-to-day duties, with forwards coach Micky Ward taking charge on an interim basis ahead of Steve Diamond’s arrival in February as Consultant Director of Rugby.

Falcons showed an immediate reaction in their final Challenge Cup pool stage fixture last time out, to end a run of 14-straight defeats in all competitions with an impressive 32-23 triumph in Perpignan.

“We have got enough links with Newcastle with this squad, from the boss Dows [Phil Dowson] right down to Trev [Davison], we know exactly what they’ve got.

“They have a real sense of pride, the passion they have in each other. Yes, they might be winless in the Premiership but some of those games have been pretty close. We had a proper ding-dong up there as well, so, I think we know exactly what’s coming. 

“I am not sure if the change of coaching has made a difference to that. When you play Newcastle, you know you’re going to get a very dangerous back three, you know you’re going to get hugely challenged up front with the set-piece, and you know the breakdown is going to be ferocious. I am expecting absolutely nothing different this weekend.”