Two-try Harrison gives Jones nudge
TEIMANA HARRISON gave Eddie Jones a timely reminder of his talents with two tries in Northampton’s Champions Cup win over Castres.
With England’s opening RBS 6 Nations clash with France only three weeks away, head coach Jones must take notice of the New Zealandborn flanker to whom he gave his debut against Wales last March.
Harrison was forced to play at No 8 yesterday in place of the injured Louis Picamoles and says he revelled in the freedom it gave him to impress with an all-action display.
He was part of a highly effective Saints pack, which also featured excellent performances from fellow England squad members Tom Wood, who scored a try, and Courtney Lawes.
Stephen Myler, who also scored a try, kicked all four conversions as Northampton claimed their fourth straight win in all competitions.
Harrison said: ‘In our last block of European fixtures we let the club down and we are slowly getting back to the Saints of old. Some of our performances haven’t been the best but I believe we’ve turned the corner and I’m happy how things are going.
‘We’ve been learning to run off Louis but playing at No 8 gives me an extra freedom and I have been working on my ball carrying.’
Northampton director of rugby Jim Mallinder said: Rugby is all about momentum and it’s fantastic we’ve won our last four games. We want to keep that momentum going.
‘Castres were too strong for us down there [in France] and they brought a quality side here to put our scrum under a lot of pressure.’
Despite the bonus-point win, Northampton remain bottom of Pool 4 with no chance of further progress in the competition and have only pride to play for in the final fixture at Montpellier next Friday.
‘I always enjoy trips to France and it will be a good experience for us to play in a hostile environment,’ Mallinder added.
Northampton prop Kieran Brookes was a late withdrawal with a back spasm but they overcame that setback to make a blistering start.
When Castres were penalised on halfway, Saints secured a platform in the visitors’ 22 before exerting tremendous pressure, which culminated in a third-minute try for Harrison. The next score came via a Rory Kockott penalty after Wood was offside at a ruck.
Then runs from Geoffrey Palis and Robert Ebersohn breached the Saints’ defence to create a try for Alexandre Bias but from the restart Nic Groom’s break put the visitors on the back foot, which gave Myler an easy run-in.
Harrison crashed over for his second with another conversion from Myler giving Saints a 21-8 half-time lead.
In the second half Castres scored first with a try from Julien Dumora and two Kockott penalties brought the French level.
Myler then had a penalty chance but Saints opted for an attacking lineout and Wood forced his way over to secure the win and bonus point.