.png)
5 hours ago
7
Brian Clough famously said that if God had intended football to be played in the sky, he’d have put grass up there. Tactical trends in rugby are moving in the opposite direction though, and with Noah Caluori set to make his second Prem start, Northampton’s high-stakes meeting with Saracens on Friday night promises to be a battle in the skies.
Phil Dowson’s table-topping Saints, champions in 2023-24, are the only unbeaten team remaining after three wins and a draw. Second-placed Saracens are two points back, having scored a league-leading 168 points to Northampton’s second-best 138. Nine players involved in England’s training camp this week will start at Franklin’s Gardens.
There would no shortage of intrigue, then, even before throwing the towering teenage figure of Caluori into the mix. The 6ft 5in wing scored five tries to demolish Sale last Saturday, prompting an invitation from Steve Borthwick to Pennyhill Park before the autumn internationals and generating a week of excitable headlines.
Mark McCall, the Saracens director of rugby, said this match will test the 19-year-old’s readiness for the international game given the quality of opposition. But it is also likely to show how players with prodigious aerial ability are thriving after the crackdown on escort defenders.
“Because of the law change in terms of escorting and shielding … it has to be an attacking weapon,” McCall said, implying their intention is to rain contestable kicks down on Northampton’s defence. “It’s almost mad not to use it. Six years ago, kicking might have been seen as a negative thing. I think everyone’s woken up to the fact that in the current rules it can be a very positive thing.”
Saints are known for a progressive approach: attacking space, offloading, seeking to stretch opponents with width. But Dowson recognises the game has changed and that Saracens will provide a specific test. “The kicking of Owen Farrell and Fergus Burke [against Sale] was outstanding,” he said. “Caluori’s ability to float through the air, to ‘fly’, effectively, means it’s very difficult. That’s one of the things the rule change of not blocking has opened up. It’s something we’re going to have to deal with.”
Dowson welcomed his England contingent back to club duty on Thursday and all six start against Saracens. Fraser Dingwall will mark his 150th Northampton appearance at inside-centre, while at No 6 Alex Coles brings up his century of league games for the club. Tommy Freeman, Alex Mitchell and Fin Smith start in the back-line while Henry Pollock – who whipped up his share of hype last season – may seek to reclaim attention from Caluori.
Theo Dan and Maro Itoje start in the Saracens pack, with Owen Farrell at No 12, and Caluori on the wing. Tom Willis is at No 8 after announcing his intention to return to France – he was consequently omitted from Borthwick’s training squad – while there is power and dynamism on the bench with Ben Earl, Nick Isiekwe and Theo McFarland ready to make an impact.
after newsletter promotion
McCall, sensibly, this week sought to avoid fuelling the Caluori hype. Is it a question of Saracens helping him navigate all the attention? “I think so,” he said. “He’s a great young man to work with. He’s got a lot of good people around him at the club and he works very hard at his game. He got to experience the England camp there for a couple of days as well. We’ll just crack on as we normally do with him.”
Asked if he had been particularly impressed by Caluori’s maturity McCall took a wider view. “I’ve been surprised not just by him, but we’ve got quite a lot of players in their first year out of school in our senior academy now,” he said. “What I’ve started to notice is an increased maturity in all those players. More ready to play sooner than before, both physically and emotionally. I think our academy staff are doing a brilliant job.”
As they aim to protect their unbeaten Prem record Dowson and his Northampton side, in turn, will have a job to do in trying to contain Caluori.
