Falcons vow not to harm Jamie Blamire's England chances
Newcastle boss Dave Walder insists the club are not harming Jamie Blamire’s chances of adding to his six England caps as a hooker by using him at flanker to solve an injury crisis.
Blamire played flanker in the Premiership opening round 40-31 loss to Harlequins and with Newcastle’s back row injury worries still a factor, he could be pressed into service in the back row again with the Falcons heading to champions Leicester. Walder, the director of rugby, has George McGuigan starting at hooker and his impressive try-scoring brought him 27 in all competitions last season and he got another two against Quins. That try-scoring power has restricted Blamire’s chances at club level despite Eddie Jones picking him for England.
Blamire’s own try-scoring exploits for England – he has grabbed six - has raised his profile and Jones is known to favour players who can adapt to different positions. Wasps Alfie Barbeary has given up hopes of making it as a test hooker and is now pulling up trees as a back row forward. However, Walder does not see Blamire having to follow that pathway to regular selection for club and country.
He said: “It is a temporary measure and, fundamentally, Jamie is a brilliant rugby player and is the most exciting and dynamic forward we have. He has played hooker for England we would be foolish not to use him there but he has done a more than adequate job of filling a role in the back row.
“He plays like a back row from hooker and is very good over the ball. He has England aspirations at hooker and we spoke to him about moving to the back row and said if that got him on the pitch then he would do it. Once our back row boys are back we will seem him at hooker. George McGuigan is for me is one of the top two or three hookers in the league and is probably more of a hooker who likes the tight play while Jamie is so mobile and loves the fast and loose stuff.
“We are very lucky to have those options in the front row. Having the involvement with England has seen a mindset shift from Jamie and he realises what is required to stay up there. He could be an even more outstanding hooker than he already is which is good for us. We are open and honest with both of them and George was our Player of the Year but there were times when we probably kept him on too long. We gave two international class hooker and have to make sure we use them both based on who we are playing. At one point last season Jamie had played more minutes for England than the club.
“Hopefully, we will get a couple of back row boys back this weekend but we will have to wait to see about Carl Fearns.”
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Spot on Ben. Dead right. Havili looked great at 10. Easily the highest rugby IQ of any NZ player these days. Getting a kick charged down is a result of getting used to adjusting your depth to the line at 10, which he will sort out with time. But other than that it was an outstanding first effort in that position this year. I think the NZ media has misunderstood this directive from Razor. Havili might rank behind B Barrett this year, but Beuden is 33 this month and won't last much longer. DMaC is great but flaky and not really a test match animal (his efforts in Dunedin versus Aus last year for example). If Razor can't have Mounga, DMaC is too unstructured for Razor (and is just too small for test rugby). Havili will end up our first choice first five, and in partnership with Jodie will be excellent. Two triple threat operators in tandem, and big bodies and tough tacklers to boot. Jordoe will be the ABs goal kicker. I am an Aucklander and Blues (and Warriors) fan, but Havili at 10 is going to be sensational in time… he can be the best first five in the world by the end of this year. No question.
Go to commentsSharks deserved to be far further back by the last quarter. Their tackling was awful, their set pieces were disappointing, their defensive organization was poor (especially on the Kok side of the D line), they kept making unnecessary errors, and they never looked like cracking the Clermont defense during those first 60m. Masuku kept them in touch, with some help from the Clermont generosity on penalty opportunities. Agree with the writer of this article. It was belligerence, and ability to raise their pressure game just enough, that turned the last quarter into a Bok-style shutout. Clermont have a reputation of not playing the full 80m, and there was a bit of that for sure. But, quite often when the intensity of a team drops off in the last quarter credit is due to the opponent for tiring them out. At 60m, with the Kok try, you thought that just maybe the game was on. At 70m, with the Mapimpi contribution, one felt that Clermont were fading, while facing a team that would maintain the pressure game through the final whistle. Good win in the end, but the Sharks are still playing way below their potential. And with their resources, and a coach that has had enough time to figure things out, they are running out of excuses.
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