Boyd banking on Biggar to steer Saints through winter
NORTHAMPTON Saints supremo Chris Boyd admits he underestimated the philosophical approach towards the set-piece by English clubs compared to their Southern Hemisphere counterparts.
However, the former Hurricanes head coach insists he will not ditch his attacking instincts in favour of conservative, short-term tactics to grind out vital league points.
Northampton resume their Premiership campaign at Wasps on Saturday having won just two of their opening six matches during a baptism of fire for the determined New Zealander.
Boyd told The Rugby
Paper: “We certainly would have liked to have done better and, while there has been some progress, we haven’t managed to apply pressure for long enough in games.
“We need to be more accurate under pressure with our skill-set and decision-making and discipline was one of the things I highlighted at the start of the year. Northampton was one of the most penalised sides in the competition last year and we’re still a bit off in that phase.”
Northampton’s set-piece has been under pressure, hindering their ability to play at pace, and Boyd,
above right, added: “The biggest philosophical difference that I did get warned about but didn’t take enough notice of is that a significant amount of that platform in New Zealand is to restart the game.
“In New Zealand, whilst we do try to put pressure on the opposition at scrum and lineout, the intensity in the Premiership, whether it be from a ruck, maul, scrum or lineout, is higher than in the Southern Hemisphere and that affects the quality of the ball you have in attack.
“It affects the speed you play at and as the nights get longer and the weather gets colder, the game will become a little bit more around territory as it is around possession.
“That battle for the ball is the biggest difference I’ve been coming to terms with in my first few months here.”
New Zealanders have not found the transition to English rugby easy to handle in recent times.
Whilst Wayne Smith and Warren Gatland enjoyed hugely successful periods at Northampton and Wasps respectively during the early Noughties, Tom Coventry struggled at London Irish before being sacked while Todd Blackadder is again coming under heavy pressure at Bath.
Coventry espoused attacking rugby at Irish but succeeded only in getting them relegated.
However, Boyd is confident he has the personnel to deal with his ambitious style of play. Asked whether he might have to tighten things up, Boyd replied: “I don’t think so. We’ve got some quality players in key positions and if Dan Biggar can’t run a game in the middle of winter, I don’t think anyone can.
“His skill-set is pretty suited to that game and we’re not really worried about things looking forward, we’re just disappointed in what we’ve delivered so far.
“You could argue that in all the games we’ve lost we’ve been on top – Saracens we were beating with eight minutes to go, Leicester we outscored three tries to two and had 70 per cent possession, Bath and Gloucester the same – but we just haven’t nailed down the wins.”