A storyline that seems to be repeating itself in Northampton’s fixtures is Henry Pollock’s excellence and it was no different on Friday night as Saints saw off Tigers in the Premiership Cup.
By Ben Grundy.
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Saints put on a 31-12 bonus point-bashing display at home after disappointment in Leicestershire three weeks ago to level the scores in the East Midlands. An excellent performance from Tarek Haffar and George Makepeace-Cubitt was accompanied by brilliance from a team packed full of young promise giving fans a bright perspective on the future of Phil Dowson’s side.
Northampton Director of Rugby Phil Dowson spoke to TNT Sports and said: “We are delighted, we talked all week about the opportunity this tournament offers and the fact it is a derby as well.
“Loads of those players put their hands up tonight. I think they were conscious of that (loss to Leicester) a couple of weeks ago but fundamentally they wanted to play tonight, they wanted to make sure they worked hard, got our game on the field, all those sorts of cliques and they wanted to enjoy it and I think we saw lots of that, particularly in the first half where it was very physical.”
Speaking on the depth and talent in his squad, Dowson said: “We all train together, we are fairly clear about what we want to get out of our game and what that looks like and also what the opposition are going to try to do it as well. We develop every single person to be able to execute that game(plan).
“Our development pathway runs a lot through our loan clubs, particularly Bedford, in terms of game time which is integral to the development of players. This (PRC) gives an opportunity to put them in a Saints shirt and put them next to Saints players to give guys minutes under their belts. I think it is important this group play as a team and focus on what their development is.”
England U20 captain Pollock carried well from the base of the scrum and showed grit and determination in defence, placing him surely high in the potential future talent England have on offer in years to come. A senior call-up is surely not far away.
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2025 Six Nations fixtures confirmed, England handed worst possible start
As per this year, the 2025 Championship will see BBC and ITV sharing coverage in the UK, with S4C offering Welsh language options. France Television will be the home of the Championship for French fans, RTE and Virgin Media will once again cover the games in Ireland. In Italy, Sky Italia will continue their coverage of the Championship in 2025. The host broadcast coverage will also be complemented by widespread international broadcast coverage and a World Feed service.
Commenting on the 2025 Guinness Six Nations fixtures, Tom Harrison, CEO of Six Nations Rugby, said:
“The Guinness Men’s Six Nations is an appointment to view each year, delivering blockbuster entertainment for fans all over the world. The Championship never fails to deliver unpredictable excitement and experiences for fans to look forward to and then savour.
“The announcement of the next instalment of fixtures is always keenly anticipated by fans, and with tickets now available for the 2025 fixtures, coupled with extensive broadcast coverage of the games, fans can already begin looking forward to what is in store as the action for the remaining rounds of this year’s Championship plays out.”
2025 Siz Nations Fixtures
ROUND 1
- Friday 31 January
- France vs Wales – 8.15pm
- Saturday 1 February
- Scotland vs Italy – 2.15pm
- Ireland vs England – 4.45pm
ROUND 2
- Saturday 8 February
- Italy vs Wales – 2.15pm
- England vs France – 4.45pm
- Sunday 9 February
- Scotland vs Ireland – 3pm
