PLAYERS STEPPING UP AGAINST GLOUCESTER WITH LOTS OF PLAYERS OUT
“They mentioned it in the week that most people, particularly Gloucester, might have been looking at the team sheet saying that it was their opportunity to put one over Sale. So I think there was a bit of that within that young group. But it is the same forward pack that competed and played well over Christmas last year but lost the majority of games. They are a year on now but they won on Friday so it shows the distance travelled with that group and the strength in depth we have got.
“A watershed moment to a degree, not that I didn’t have confidence in that group. I do have confidence in them. They still had to get it over the line and win the game. The players who sit behind the likes of the Currys and the du Preez like Rouban Birch and Sam Dugdale, who want to be competing for those shirts. Tumy [Onasanya] who came on on Friday, who featured a lot last season; he was really good again on Friday, got the turnover that led to our last try. Ben Bamber made England A last season because of his performances over Christmas and he is competing for that tighthead lock slot. It was really rewarding to see those players step up and I buzz off that as much as I do the win seeing these lads step up and get recognition. 19 out of 23 academy bred from that squad on Friday, that is a good sign.”
PREPARATIONS FOR NEWCASTLE GAME
“The first half of the week is based around strategy, tactics, knowledge of your launches and getting your detail in. Then you start to thin slice and hone in on what the mentality is at the back end of the week, certainly on gameday you don’t want to be talking about tactics. You want to free them up in terms of decisions. On Thursday we will dig into mentality but make sure our purpose and what is driving us is on par if not better than Newcastle’s which it has to be. Theirs is quite obvious; they are already talking survival so we have to match them there.
On the rivalry: “It has to be on your radar, part of your agenda and messaging every day. The neuroscientists say 20% of your messaging has to be around higher purpose, motivational drivers. I have framed the week at the start, we elude to do it on the second day and then we focus most of the Thursday messaging around that. So they are already on to it.”
SAM DUGDALE
“He is consistently good. We talked about this yesterday (Monday), he is in a position that is the most competitive in our squad. He mentioned he wanted to play for England, which hasn’t been on the radar for him because first and foremost he had to get in the England team. Now he is consistently getting in and performing well, he can start talking about what that looks like. I would hope he does get that external recognition at some point. He know there is still a way to go in his game and that is what we are looking to layer on, to do a bit more ball in hand in those wider channels and probably be a bit more physical in the collision. He is physical, don’t get me wrong, but I am talking Jacques Burger-esque. That is a really good seven to mould himself on. His words not mine. He is the same size as Jacques was, getting his timing right, there is an extra layer he can add to his game. I am going to set him up with Jacques, I haven’t spoken to him in a while but I still have his number.
On learning off the Currys and du Preezs: “Faf [de Klerk] and Raffi [Quirke], George [Ford] and Tom [Curtis] who was sat on the bench and probably should have come on on Friday, the Currys and Sam Dugdale. You see it from the other side; a Steve Borthwick and a Maro Itoje. They learn the best from their peers. They are at the coalface where the senior players are looking to give back and time with some of the young lads, sit down with them and watch videos. That is where you get an environment where excellence breeds excellence. Yes hugely influential, not just competing with them, but also at the end of yesterday’s session they are taking breakdown drills and coaching each other. Tom Curry is taking it, Ben Curry is adding to it and Sam is in the middle of it. This is great when you get that environment going you are cooking.”
SAM BEDLOW
“He had those couple of early carries and the second one really dented them, set us up for the second try. In the second Gloucester were so worried about his physicality at the line, the really deft soft set of hands to pull a ball back for Rob du Preez to give Arron Reed space in the wider channel. He had physicality at both ends and it then set it up for the passes out the back. I was really impressed and it wasn’t an easy day with the tributes to his friend Liam Canning. We had to work hard not to be overly emotional, which he probably was the week before against Saracens but last week he got is just about right.”
LUKE COWAN-DICKIE
“He is more dedicated and focused. I would not say ‘wants it more’ because he has always wanted it but the next World Cup will be his last. He knows that. Having not played for England for a few years he is keen to get back into an England shirt. Within that time he has relocated everything else so he has really knuckled down in every aspect of his life and you can just see it flowing onto the field at the moment. I am dead proud of him.”
ARRON REED
“How good is he! That is the best he has played. I should have started him in the first game; we might have scored more tries. He was pretty stiff after Friday. We know Arron has pace, finish ability and that x-factor; he showed that in the try we scored from the maul. I don’t think that was the best part of his game on Friday; he was defensively everywhere, chased every kick, chased back on every line break. In his post-match interview I was told he spoke about basing his performance on effort, just around that and the DNA of what we do. So we have a player of that skill whose x-factor is speed who is talking about working hard, you know culturally you are on the right track and singing from the same hymn sheet. He is a great player and starting again this weekend.
“He referred to those try-saving tacklers near the end. He said he was going to put his head down and go for it anyway, if he didn’t get he didn’t get there. I want that effort and determination to be the core values. It is the core value. We base a lot of what we do on work-rate because anyone then can be a hero. If you have work-rate and talent you end up being unbelievable.
INJURY UPDATE
Good news- the whole du Preez contingent and Curry contingent are available and involved in the squad this Friday, really exciting as it could be first time in a year and a half all of them have been on the field at the same time
Tommy Taylor- hamstring injury in warm-ups of last pre-season game, suffering from a bit of sciatica, gone in for an epidural this week so best case back in a couple of weeks
Will Addison- got a finger in the eye in the first half against Gloucester
OTHER NEWS
Al’s birthday on Monday- spent most of it at the training ground, had a curry, bottle of Malbec and a cookie his son made!
For most part put everything together last week against Gloucester, 260 tackles made and ball was in play a lot, left a try out there, attack is in a good place
Talked about ‘freeing up’ Tom Curry to just allow him to go out and play after all the injuries he has had to deal with, good for it on Friday
Club are doing great things to get good crowds in, increased percentages from last year, atmosphere good, always ways you can market things better, new commercial director started this week and hiring in commercial area, ultimately comes down to winning
Balancing emotion going into a derby goes on “feel”, the art of coaching not the science of it, picking up on language being used, pulling game drivers in close and understanding what the players need as the week goes on, judgment call on the tone and message, how much around emotional purpose and how much on basics
If you take about complacency it can manifest, training and how you prepare during the week important to avoid complacency
We have had to rotate because of injuries perhaps earlier than expected, run after Autumn Internationals will require rotation up until the break for the Six Nations, rotation has shown we have a great squad and the next-man-up mentality
From about Monday lunchtime most conversations and messaging are around us
Tom Roebuck and Luke Cowan-Dickie at three-day England camp this week- agreement that has been put in place allows players to train with England and still come back for at least one training day at their clubs, loads to be managed and agreed upon so they can play at the weekend, really happy with how they have been managed, walk through on Monday, hard session today (Tuesday) which is what we had anyway, tomorrow off and catch up with defensive maps and calls, captain’s run on Thursday and then go for it on Friday
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