The moment George Furbank hit the deck in Cardiff after that ‘rugby incident’ last weekend, I felt a pang of guilt. High up in our seats, in the Gods of the Principality, it looked bad – and even worse on the playback when we got back home, in the dead of night.
It’s not quite the curse of the commentator – but highlighting his return in a headline and then seeing him hit with yet another bit of bad luck made me feel a little sick (probably not as sick as getting a knee to the head, I’ll admit). Thankfully, he’s OK, although obviously on head injury protocols for the foreseeable.
The press call this week was decidedly quieter than the week before – just us locals really, BBC Graham, Chron Tom and I, hanging about in the cold of the stands as the weather literally turned miserable. We got a hearty wave from Henry Pollock going about his business, but probably glad that he was off media duties for at least one session.
Phil Dowson looked like he needed another press conference like a kick in the proverbials, but indulged us as politely as ever. Yes, they were still smarting and subdued from the loss, but had had a nice meal together at Franklin’s Gardens on Sunday.
Yes, Henry is fine, despite all the punch-up palaver in the post-match (Bordeaux’s prop Jefferson Poirot had just given a two-week ban at the time of writing), a couple of players including James Ramm and Craig Wright were having scans, the physio team were pretty flat out doing end-of-season repairs. How would they feel travelling away for one last game?
“Gloucester have a lot to play for, I think George Skivington’s done an incredible job with how they’ve played this season, particularly in attack,” said Dowson.
“We’ve had a frustrating and fragmented season, it feels like we had lots and lots of injuries, lots of times when we didn’t put our best foot forward, and then we got ourselves a good shot in the final of Europe…but yeah, frustrating more than anything else.”
It’s expected that Saints will field a young, but hungry, team to take on the fifth-placed cherry and whites on Saturday, with the likes of scrum half Jonny Weimann champing at the bit to get another decent game under his belt after winning praise from the boss. With Alex Mitchell, Tom James and the recovering Archie MacParland ahead in the pecking order, is it frustrating for the 19-year-old from Bedford not to play more often?
“It’s a bit of weird one to be fair, after last weekend. But we get our chance to put all the stuff we’ve been working on behind the scenes out on that pitch to hopefully get more game time in the future,” says Weimann.
“I wouldn’t say there was any better club to be at than Saints at the moment. They give young boys opportunities to showcase themselves. If they think you’re good enough, you get thrown in.
“I do get butterflies in the stomach before a game, but then you’ve got to go back to all that you’ve been doing in training and stuff. If you treat training like a game, when the opportunity comes, you just think back on all the work you’ve done and it feels like second nature.
For the whole club, a holiday couldn’t come soon enough. Some of the players are off soon to an (undisclosed) exotic location for a team vacation, while the coaches are due to bond over the Northants Steelbacks 20-20 cricket match on Sunday at the County Ground.
Then it’s back to work in early July for planning and prep for next season. Dowson admits the squad will inevitably change again. Surely, I ask, you don’t want to break up the band again?
“No I don’t, but market forces suggest that at some point it will be, and we’ve got to make some very important decisions about who stays…but at the same time, we have the youngest average age in the league and if we can keep that group together, it’s a very talented squad.”
As the season wraps up away from home and the squad gets some well-deserved rest, I’m sure Northampton will hope for nothing but the best summer for all involved at Cinch Franklin’s Gardens, including all of those behind the scenes as well as the players and coaches. Until next season…come on you Saints!
Gloucester V Northampton kicks off at 3.05 on Saturday May 31 at Kingsholm stadium.
