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Callum Hunter-Hill finds new Premiership club days after Saracens exit
By Josh Raisey
Northampton Saints have announced the signing of second-row Callum Hunter-Hill, who recently left Saracens.
It is the second lock signing in as many days for the Gallagher Premiership champions, following the arrival of George Smith from the NFL's Internation Player Pathway programme.
The 27-year-old's departure from Saracens was announced earlier this week after five years at the StoneX Stadium, where he amassed 81 appearances.
Northampton have seen second-rows Alex Moon and Courtney Lawes (though he played primarily in the back row in the final seasons of his Saints career) leave Franklin's Gardens over the summer, and have therefore been forced to find replacements.
The former Scotland U20 international is not the only Saracen that is making the move north in the offseason, with prop Tom West also joining the side that triumphed over Saracens in the Premiership semi-final last season on their way to winning the title.
“When the opportunity to join Saints came, I looked at the team and it just seems like a fantastic place to be,” Hunter-Hill said after signing.
“They are a club on the up, and have obviously just won the Premiership.
“I love the brand of rugby Saints play. It is very open and it is very quick. Even the defensive systems suit me as a player, it just makes me excited.”
Hunter-Hill's new director of rugby Phil Dowson said: “Callum has been a key part of the success at Saracens over a long period and will have learnt a lot from those experiences.
“We look forward to having that experience within our squad, and giving Callum an opportunity to compete and improve in an area of strength for the club.
“We were impressed when we spoke to Callum about his desire to kick on and get better and we know we have an environment to allow him to do that.”
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Latest Comments
Steve Hansen stepped down as ABs coach aged 60, Graham Henry did so at 65, Robbie Deans quit the Wallabies job at 54, and Wayne Smith left the ABs aged 60.
Most of them have had lesser jobs since then, but its only Graham Henry who could really be said to have coached at the top level “well into his 60s”. He’s a bit of an outlier, and that was 14 years ago. Its very possible that that will change, but I’m not seeing much evidence of that!
One factor that might be important is that NBA and the NFL are 1 league sports. Rugby league is pretty much a 2 league sport, and those 2 leagues are so far apart there can’t be much trading between them. Rugby union and especially association football have many more leagues, and so there are more opportunities for younger managers to break through.
Also, the fact that Rugby tends to have less chopping and changing of coaches is an argument against hiring older coaches. Hire a good coach in his 40s and he could stay in the job for 20 years, but realistically how long would Les Kiss be the best coach in Australia for?
Go to commentsI’d probably agree this is a tour too early but Lions do have a rich history of capping bolters and Pollock isnt as far behind as many say. I think you under-estimate his jackle work as he has a great turnover rate at club level and even at England A, he even got one against Wales
Fact is the nature of the game is changing and fast lighter backrows becoming more and more common as ball in play times go up and teams look to play wider. He is faces a challenge to make the initial squad but he is definately part of the conversation
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