With Alex Goode snapping at the heels of Mike Brown, Anthony Watson’s more portable talents on show with Bath, plus Chris Pennell, who surprised a few in New Zealand last summer, the No15 England shirt has a few hands tugging at it before Stuart Lancaster announces his elite squad for the autumn in 10 days. So in a stroke of masterful understatement Jim Mallinder was spot-on the money on Saturday when he conceded: “Stuart has some interesting decisions to make in that position.”
Northampton’s director of rugby was about to add to those problems by placing his own full-back, Ben Foden, pretty high on that list after watching the 29-year-old delivered the kind of exciting performance which gained him the first of his 34 caps back in 2009.
After last season was blighted by injury, Foden, like most of Northampton’s England contingent, has hit a rich vein of form. On Saturday it may have been an American No8 and three Samoans who scored the tries, but it was Foden who was easiest on the eye in an England context, rarely out of position and either running Sale’s careless kicking back at them or embarrassing with precise kicking which played on the minds of the poor visiting lineout.
“Mature” was how Mallinder described him. “Over the last two or three weeks he has really come back to some form. You saw a mature performance from Fodes today, he ran the ball back hard when he needed to, and his kicking game was very good.”
In fact, Mallinder might have said something similar about his entire England contingent bar Alex Corbisiero, who faces another month with his arm in a sling after successful shoulder surgery. Tom Wood, who had missed three weeks, got a full game bar the time he spent having his bloodied nose repaired, and Dylan Hartley, another suffering from back problems, put in an energetic 26 minutes just at the time when the last thing Sale needed was to be confronted by an England hooker with something to prove.
Actually the writing was on the wall when Mallinder revealed his team sheet. Any coach who can leave George North, Hartley, Kahn Fotuali’i and Calum Clark on the bench has to be holding a few aces, even if Saturday’s trip to Paris and Racing Métro was very much on Mallinder’s mind.
“We rotated the team a little bit today … we want to play all our squad and keep everyone fresh,” said Mallinder, who has few problems before the first weekend of the European Champions Cup. While the likes of Stephen Myler, Courtney Lawes and Lee Dickson were doing their England hopes no harm at all, the six tries went to Fotuali’i and three of the smartest overseas signings in the Premiership, the giant USA No8 Samu Manoa (three tries) and the brothers Ken and George Pisi.
“There were two moments of magic by Ken Pisi – to score that first try and then he caught a good kick from Stephen Myler and set up his brother George,” Mallinder said. “Ken has been a great signing. He was playing sevens when we signed him and he had not played a lot of 15s, but we have seen his game progress. He has put on a bit of timber over the summer and I think we are seeing the results of that.”
“He has been outstanding this year, we have seen a massive improvement,” said Mallinder, who conceded that No8 might not be Manoa’s – “a revelation since we signed him” – best position.
Sale’s director of rugby, Steve Diamond, did not hang around to give his opinion. “He’s too angry … there are no positives to take,” said a spokesman, adding that a few expletives had been deleted.
Northampton Foden (Wilson, 58); K Pisi (North, 59), G Pisi (Wilson, 58), Burrell, Elliott; Myler (Fotuali’i, 63), Dickson; A Waller (E Waller, 61), Haywood (Hartley, 54), Ma’afu (Denman, 54), Lawes (Clark, 58), Day , Wood (capt ), Fisher (Dowson, h-t), Manoa.
Tries K Pisi, Manoa 3, G Pisi, Fotuali’i. Cons Myler 4, Wilson. Pen Myler.
Sale McLean; Brady, Leorta, (Forsyth, 56) Jennings, Arscott; Cipriani (Ford, 56), Cusiter (Cliff, 56); Harrison (De Marchi, 59), Jones (Neild, 68) Cobilas (Lewis-Roberts, 60), Beaumont (Mills, 56), Paterson, Lund, Seymour (capt), Easter (Fihaki, 56).
Try Jennings. Con Ford. Pen Cipriani Referee A Small. Att 13,362.
