Excitement for this weekend and learnings from last game against Toulouse
“Recent form would indicate we are in better shape, we certainly have some players back from injury as well. Once bitten, twice shy type of thing. There are lessons we learnt against Toulouse which I hope not to repeat. For example don’t give them any opportunity to get quick ball. What we didn’t preview and sometimes it’s difficult to gauge unless it’s live, is how fast they are able to strike. They are unbelievable opportunists so if you give them a little sniff or momentum then you are in a tumble dryer. You are chasing shadows and marvelling at their offloads. They caught us in a few moments in that game where we weren’t quite on it and weren’t alive to it which we are now. We got turned over a lot at the breakdown as well. So there is a bigger focus on that which there always is going into Europe.”
Excitement for another packed house at home
“More exciting for the players. It’s a really good indication of the health of the club, organisation and probably rugby in the North West, particularly around Manchester. It is the Manchester Derby around the same time on Saturday. It’s the first time we have sold out back-to-back home games. The interest we are managing to gather is all down to the players. They are really looking forward to having a full house behind and it makes a difference.
“It will be a hell of a game; it’s the best team in France versus one of the in-form teams in the Premiership over recent weeks. That’s a decent matchup in itself let alone the international players on show. I read in a book I got called ‘Intangibles’ from Bill Beswick, who I am proud to say is one of my mentors. He worked at Manchester United during the Sir Alex Ferguson days. He was a football and basketball coach. It’s around the science of team chemistry and within it it states the neurological truth that in home games your testosterone levels are raised by an average of 5%. All that testosterone gives you in terms of aggression, work-rate and drive. The lads neurologically speaking will want to put on a performance in front of our home crowd. That is science, fact, not a feeling. They are up for it, a little bit burnt from what happened in Toulouse, three weeks, three days ago. In front of a packed house, you don’t want to let your family down do you.”
Filming for a documentary series
“I think it’s a necessity to grow the game for rugby in general to let the fans in, to open new doors and to expose the game for how brilliant it is. All of us know how good it is. I did a bit in the past in my former role. I do believe that we are striving and craving something special here. We have got some really good people and characters around this place. If your message is right and you are looking to build something that is different maybe and unique. It has to be different if you want to reach the dizzy heights. I have no qualms about sharing what we think is special and important for the betterment of the club and the game as a whole. It’s a positive thing.”
Delight at win at Harlequins last Sunday
“There was adaptability within that performance. Harlequins leant into the contestable kicking game, which we do more of. When talking about the game, there was a moment which I thought was most impressive, just after half-time when Harlequins scored that try from a cross-field kick and a bounce of a ball which does happen. You are under your sticks and in those crucial moments it’s about being calm, composed and having clarity of the message of coming back to the plan which was evident without feeling that you have to make the play, wrestle the game back individually. You come back to what you practiced and what the leaders are asking of you.
“You contrast that to the game in Toulouse three weeks ago exactly the same thing happened. We came out after half-time, put a kick up and Thomas Ramos went down the blindside and scored a quick try. The feeling in that instance was we had to chase. There was a points difference of six-eight points but there were 40 minutes left in the game. So the composure we showed last weekend in contrast to the composure we didn’t show three weeks ago is another one of those learnings we want to take into this week. That was the most impressive thing for me. The five points and the win comes off the back of that mentality.”
Strengthening position in the top 2
“It’s hugely important and something that we are striving for. The twelve-point buffer is nice. But I said after the game it’s just a buffer. Once you start talking about breathing space and buffers you’re dust. You have got to keep striving. We will keep chasing Saracens. Top two is something we feel is in our reach particularly if we keep form and stave off injury. We hope to be there or thereabouts.”
Would he be surprised if Ben Curry wasn’t named in next week’s England squad?
“No I wouldn’t be surprised if he Ben wasn’t named in the England squad. I think he is worthy of being named in the squad but selection and recognition has passed him by for a while as it does other good players. Subjectivity that comes into selection at that level is such that there are plenty of quality international players who are in form who don’t get their just desserts. He is one of many, there are conversations in many positions about who should or shouldn’t get selected. I think he should but I wouldn’t be surprised if he doesn’t.”
Successful weekend for rugby in the North West
“It was, we are going to celebrate that today. We have a few lads who played for Sale FC and a few with Caldy. We are going to celebrate some of those things today. That’s the theme this week. We are going to need to be at our very best this weekend to beat Toulouse but I think we are in a good place. We are not far off being at our best and we have shown glimpses of it over the last two weeks and it’s all heading in the right direction.”
The Curry twins
“I think the misconception is you refer to them as the twins and speak to them as a combined entity. They’re not. They are very different people even though they are genetically identical. And with that they have their own stresses and motivational drivers. Their own x-factors and superpowers as they like to talk about up here. It starts with trust as it always does and with a rapport. It started off understanding who they were and that for me is conversations away from the club, conversations at pressure points during the season which are important. Rainy day type conversations when they have not been selected or they are injured or for example when Tom came back from the Six Nations last year ill, concussed and an unsuccessful captaincy. It doesn’t get much worse in Tom’s microcosm of his life. For Ben when he was injured because they are quite obsessive over all of their craft because they are constantly looking to hone it. Being there for him and understanding how we get him through that they are the rainy day conversations.
What I have learnt from both of them is to also have those sunshine conversations because as DOR I don’t want to shy away from the hard ones. I want to be there to help and understand them but that’s only half of it. Over the last two years I am probably closer to Ben because of the amount of contact I have had with him. I have just spent more time with Ben and bringing his leadership qualities through for us so naturally I meet with him more. Whereas Tom with the nature of how he has gone about his business is a little bit more closed and very self-driven and motivated in that aspect. But recently I have found a couple of things I can challenge him on which is good for me as a coach. They depend on each other a lot, so when Tom is away it does affect Ben and I’m sure vice versa although Tom has got a dog who he dotes over. But around the place they are their own people. I do think they play better together because there’s love there. What I have learnt right from the start is not to ask one about the other. I think they need and want that. That’s been a challenge, understanding each one as an individual. I can tell the difference between them now. It’s funny how over time it’s the little things you see in someone’s characteristics or mannerisms that make them different but at the start it was purely haircut. Tom is an inch taller and his face is a little harder having taken more beatings at international level. He’s a little bit bigger than Ben, three or four kilograms bigger.”
Playing styles have come closer together over the last couple of years, a lot more alike in their ability to affect the game in every area
INJURY LATEST
No fresh injuries (apart from Tom Curry) from Quins game, few bumps and niggles that need to be managed
Raffi Quirke- back fit, up for selection
George Ford- plan is for return game against Bath, pending England selection and discussions with Steve Borthwick and involving George, decision is in England’s hands as to whether George is available for Bath game
Tom Curry- thought it was a 3C hamstring tear but it is a 2C, wasn’t as bad as first feared, got him scanned, assessed and re-assessed, 3C would have been 6-8 weeks, 2C will be 4-6 weeks, means he will be fit for the England vs Wales game, maybe slightly before
Connor Doherty- should be fit and available midway through Six Nations, mid to late February, once strength metrics are right and there is parity between strength in both legs then it just comes down to fitness, his road to getting back fit shouldn’t take too long
OTHER NEWS
This weekend brings up two years in the job for Alex, every week a curveball is thrown and he is enjoying taking them on
Praised the form of Sam James, rest against Newcastle did him world of good, return of brother Luke from injury has benefitted Sam, has a good rapport with Rob du Preez, Sam contracted for next year and hope to tie him down for a few more years, ‘heavily pursuing’ that, want him to finish his career with Sale, playing alongside Manu Tuilagi benefits Sam (so does everyone), the combination of the two of them with different skill sets works really well
Can’t grasp why so many people focus on the negatives of certain incidents rather than the spectacle of the sport- cited Manu’s tackle on Tomasso Allan and Owen Farrell’s tackle, the emphasis on concussions creates more headlines and attention on certain incidents and tackles
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