GEORGE FORD
“He went for a scan on Monday night and set to get results Tuesday night. He has pulled a muscle in his quad.
“He is important to us and England. You have always got to have a good decision-maker and communicator at the helm at fly-half.
“George has always been mature. I don’t think he could have played on. He walked off and hobbled around a bit. The initial reports from the scan show a tear. It was definitely the right thing to take him off at that point in time.
“He is up for renewal [of his contract] at Christmas and we are in negotiations to extend it to the 2027 World Cup. Positive tones I might add.”
Should not be an overly long lay-off
NEW CONTRACTS
“Everything that is happening now we have an element of control over, unlike when I first came into the role, for example when AJ MacGinty up and bolted to Bristol without any prior notice, things going on that initially we weren’t aware of. We have been front-footed now whereas in the past we were reacting to it.”
Luke Cowan-Dickie was close to moving to France but he is very much in the England frame so would imagine he would be motivated to stay through to the 2027 World Cup, talking to players like Luke on the front foot, hoping to include them all in the squad going forward
REFLECTIONS ON SARACENS GAME
“I felt like we weathered the storm in the first half with all those curveballs that we were thrown and dealt with. To go in at half-time 13-12 up I thought we were in a good position and we were up until the 60th minute. Then to get another double concussion with Hyron [Andrews] and Ben [Curry] probably proved a little too much for us, with all the changes we had to make the game got away from us in terms of our discipline. We turned the ball over ten times and conceded 15 penalties. They only turned the ball over four times, conceding nine penalties. We think then we can get a score back but then we overplay our hand and then they score. It didn’t feel like a 20-point game. It wasn’t reflective of the effort the players put in. Discipline is the main fix for us from that game, taking that into this week. If we had got another score in those closing stages we would have come away from the game with two bonus points so you have to roll the dice and give it a go. We gave too many points away from receiving kick-offs. How we responded to conceding points was good, how we responded to scoring points was not.”
NYE THOMAS
“He is a nuggety Scouser. He is in the ruck when a lot of nines want the ball on a plate. Whereas he is diving in there wrestling it out, speeding the phase up. He is wickedly sharp around the ruck so if there is any space with quick ball he is good at sniping. He has been in this succession plan behind two really good scrum-halves, three if you go back to Faf, waiting for this opportunity like Tom Curtis has. A sign of how much confidence we have in him to bring him on against Harlequins when it was a one-point game even though his main strengths are around the ruck and speed of delivery, he has the decision-making prowess to make good decisions. He also brought us back into the Saracens game. I have been really impressed. We had plans to bring him in at the back-end of this block and in the Premiership Cup but he has taken his opportunity earlier than what was planned. He is running with it, quite literally.”
LUKE COWAN-DICKIE
“I think he is getting better and better. He is getting that sweet spot in defence, getting some carries in attack, the scrum has been dominant the last two weeks, his line-out ball has been fantastic. All the fundamentals of his game are there and I think you are going to see more of him physically around the park because he is happy and settled with those basics that he has to get right. He is fully in the England picture and is playing well. With the conversations I have had I fully expect him to get into that England team. He is in a good spot and I am dead grateful that we have worked through last season, come forward with us this season and hopefully for seasons to come, that is the plan.”
INJURY UPDATE
Ben Curry, Jean-Luc du Preez and Hyron Andrews in return-to-play protocol (12 days)
Ernst van Rhyn has come through the return-to-play really well
Bevan Rodd- 3C hamstring injury, split his hamstring straight down the muscle rather than through it which allows for quicker healing time, back probably in November
OTHER NEWS
Gloucester’s game against Bristol last Friday was a crazy game, certain aspects were like “rugby suicide”, impressed with how Gloucester stuck to their guns
Still no update on Jonny Hill as case still with the police, no clarity on when he will return, barristers are on the case but it is a long process that is not conducive to professional sport
Tom Curtis set to get opportunities with George Ford out injured, learned a lot from George, been waiting in the wings for this kind of opportunity, likely to be involved on Friday night against Gloucester, been ready for a little while, spoke highly of young Ollie Davies as well- “wonderkid of the U18’s”, already been named in the England U20’s squad
Still no certainty of who might get hybrid contracts but Al would assume likes of George Ford and Tom Curry will be two who will, constant conversations in general with Steve Borthwick, who is pushing for greater alignment with the DOR’s, has good communication and relationships with Richard Wigglesworth and Richard Hill, England minicamp next week, spoke about long-term plans with our players through to next World Cup
Not planning to delve into market for another loosehead with Bevan Rodd and Ross Harrison out injured with Tumy Onasanya and Simon McIntyre, Onasanya perhaps ahead of schedule in his development, Ralph McEachran coming through as a super athlete with the England U20’s at the moment, if you spend all of the injury dispensation now you cannot use it later in the season
Not happy with attack against Harlequins but happy with the defence, left tries out there against Saracens
Full confidence in depth and strength in the squad, excited by the calibre of players coming in, “next man up mentality”
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