Enforcer Latu raring to be let off the leash after seven-month injury lay-off

HAVING fought back from a career-threatening knee injury, Newcastle’s back row enforcer Nili Latu is now ready to pick up from where he left off last season and play a key role in the Falcons’ bid for the top six.

Selected at No.8 by Dean Richards for the visit of Northampton, Tonga’s most-capped player will pack down alongside Mark Wilson and Will Welch as he prepares to make his first start of the season after a seven-month lay-off having suffered damage to his MCL and dislocated a knee-cap whilst on international duty in June.

The form of Wilson, Welch and Vereniki Goneva, Newcastle’s match-winner against Saints at Franklin’s Gardens in November and a hat-trick scorer in last week’s 26-24 defeat to Sale, has put the Falcons in a handy position to qualify for Europe’s top-level competition for the first time since 2005.

Latu said: “It is just nice to be looking up the table at this time of the year rather than having our own little battle down at the bottom.

“Our target is to be sixth place or higher. If we turn up every game and play well, we’ll get there. We have the belief now that every game is winnable, even if we go points down.”

Until making his seasonal bow off the bench against Bath in the Anglo-Welsh Cup a fortnight ago, followed by another half an hour against Sale, a frustrated Latu had to sit back and watch as his teammates deliver the goods.

Newcastle have already won more league games this season than they did during the whole of the previous campaign, chalking up five try-bonus points along the way, and the evergreen 34-year-old is delighted to back in the mix – especially with Wilson and Welch by his side.

“Mark and Will are the backbone of the team; they don’t just talk a good game, they show it on the field with the way they train and play and lead by example,” the 46-cap Tongan said.

“I just hope I can add some value when I get my opportunities. It’s great to be back out there with the boys again and not have to worry about the knee.”

Northampton made two changes from the team that narrowly missed on a stun- ning fightback agaist Bath.

Both come in the pack, with Api Ratuniyarawa getting the nod over Michael Paterson at lock while Calum Clark’s inclusion in the back row sees Teimana Harrison move to No.8 and Sam Dickinson drop out.

Ben Nutley and Juan Pablo Estelles come onto the replacements’ bench.