The one Premiership Covid-19 protocol that Northampton boss Chris Boyd still can't fully get his head around
Northampton boss Chris Boyd is chuffed with the way the Saints have embraced the regulations surrounding Gallagher Premiership Covid-19 protocols but one stipulation continues to flummox the New Zealander - the necessity of having two buses to ferry his players to an away match.
The Saints were supposed to be on the road again next weekend, the schedule taking them to London Irish on Sunday before the game was cancelled on Wednesday due to Covid concerns in the Irish camp that carried over from last weekend's cancellation against Bath. Northampton had some issues themselves: they were minus one unnamed player who tested positive for Covid-19 this week and two of his close contacts.
Before the cancellation, Boyd stated he was satisfied with how Northampton had dealt with the challenge of playing rugby in a pandemic, but how they travel to these away matches was something he was struggling to still fully get his head around all these months on from the Premiership's first return to action last August following the lockdown.
"Everything we do is dictated to by government guidelines," he explained. "All our requirements here haven't changed. It's a bit of a military operation. You have got red stickers and green stickers where you are allowed to walk and arrows where you are allowed to go this way and not that way.
"Our operations manager here is tough on sticking to stuff. Guys are constantly wearing masks, there are sanitising stations all over the place. One of the things you miss as a team is just the social cohesion, the chairs in the lounge and stuff like that, they have all been removed.
"Nothing is going to change because we have been over-cautious anyway. We have had to shift out of our meeting room because we couldn't socially distance... we are now in an area under a stand and the width of the guys trying to listen to the meeting might be 30 or 40 metres because they are two metres apart.
"It is very difficult but we haven't taken our eye off the ball in that. All the guidelines that are laid down have been adhered to. If the government lays down different guidelines we will adhere to those.
"Certainly all the away games we have gone to, we have travelled in two coaches. That one gets me slightly. We are in a bubble and we have all been tested, yet we have got to travel in two coaches - but you hop on an aeroplane to go to a European fixture... it's a little bit different but we will do what we need to do."
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I think the best 15 we have is DMac. Jordan at 14.
Go to commentsIt certainly needs to be cherished. Despite Nick (and you) highlighting their usefulness for teams like Australia (and obviously those in France they find form with) I (mention it general in those articles) say that I fear the game is just not setup in Aus and NZ to appreciate nor maximise their strengths. The French game should continue to be the destination of the biggest and most gifted athletes but it might improve elsewhere too.
I just have an idea it needs a whole team focus to make work. I also have an idea what the opposite applies with players in general. I feel like French backs and halves can be very small and quick, were as here everyone is made to fit in a model physique. Louis was some 10 and 20 kg smaller that his opposition and we just do not have that time of player in our game anymore. I'm dying out for a fast wing to appear on the All Blacks radar.
But I, and my thoughts on body size in particular, could be part of the same indoctrination that goes on with player physiques by the establishment in my parts (country).
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