FOLLOW YOUR HART
New Saints coach says Dylan is right man to lead them out of hellish slump
IT is not only camper vans turning the head of new Northampton saints boss Chris Boyd — the New Zealander is already taken by England captain Dylan Hartley.
The 60-year- old Kiwi coach, who takes charge of his first Premiership match on saturday when his Northampton side visit Gloucester, has compared Hartley to Dane Coles — arguably the best hooker in the world.
Boyd is tasked with putting the halo back on the saints after a hellish season last year.
They finished ninth, having flirted with relegation, and sacked their stalwart coach Jim Mallinder, ending his 10-year stint at Franklin’s Gardens.
But Boyd — who arrives after coaching All Black royalty Beauden Barrett, Conrad smith and Julian savea at the Hurricanes — wants his hooker to lead a revival. ‘Dylan Hartley has been outstanding,’ he said. ‘He is a very good leader, very astute and observant. He is a hard task master and he has been really impressive.
‘i can understand why he has been a leader.’
Boyd compared Hartley to All Black hooker Coles — regarded by many as the best in the business. ‘ They have a lot of similar attributes, very abrasive and competitive,’ he said. ‘Dylan is not afraid to hold people to task. Coles was the same with the Hurricanes. if you made a mistake in a lineout because you had not done your homework and did not know your role, you got told really quickly. ‘Dylan is a bit the same. You cannot have 10 Dylan Hartleys or Dane Coles in your team, but one or two of them is really good for your environment.’ This is a rare opportunity for Boyd (below) to coach outside his homeland. Aside from coaching the Tongan defence at the World Cup in 2011 and assisting the Natal sharks in south Africa between 2006 and 2008 he has largely worked in Wellington. But driving around his new home last week Boyd was given a happy reminder of his past travels in England.
For four years in the 1980s he and his wife, Linda, drove around the UK and ireland in a van working hard and playing harder.
‘My training was pharmacy so i did a lot of locum work in Boots, Underwoods and all the pharmacies around London,’ he explained. ‘We got the travel bug and, like a lot of people at that time, we had a combi van and worked our butts off for a couple of weeks before jumping in the van and going cruising to ireland or Europe. We had a wonderful time.
‘Our haunts varied from Earl’s Court and shepherds Bush to Acton Town and Chiswick. it was a lot of fun.
‘When i came here last time i had one day free and did a nostalgia tour of all the old haunts. The house we had in Acton High Road had been pulled down but our main pub in Northfields was still there.
‘The other day i drove past Volkswagen on the way home and saw a van in the window.
‘i rang my wife and she said: “No, we need something a bit bigger this time.” i would like to take a van home with me!’
No doubt some trophies too. Having won the super Rugby title in 2016 Boyd is eager to test his talents outside his comfort zone. ‘i thought i needed to look at what was on the other side of the fence, see what the grass was like,’ he said.
‘There are X-factor people (at Hurricanes) but there are no super chickens. Beauden Barrett is an extremely humble person. if you knew nothing about rugby and came into that environment and said who is the guy who has been the best in the world for the last couple of years you certainly wouldn’t pick him.
‘The All Blacks in the Hurricanes put the team first.
‘ My expectation here is no different. There is not one single person that is not important to the team and there is not one single person who is bigger than the team.’
After years of slow decline, can Boyd get the saints to go marching in?