Northampton vs Exeter - Friday night

[Puja]

Northampton Saints: 15 Tommy Freeman, 14 Courtnall Skosan, 13 Fraser Dingwall (c), 12 Rory Hutchinson, 11 Ollie Sleightholme, 10 Fin Smith, 9 Tom James, 8 Sam Graham, 7 Aaron Hinkley, 6 Angus Scott-Young, 5 Alex Moon, 4 Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, 3 Ehren Painter, 2 Mike Haywood, 1 Emmanuel Iyogun
Replacements: 16 Robbie Smith, 17 Alex Waller, 18 Paul Hill, 19 Brandon Nansen, 20 Kayde Sylvester, 21 Alex Mitchell, 22 George Furbank, 23 Matt Proctor

Exeter Chiefs: 15 Josh Hodge, 14 Dan John, 13 Rory O’Loughlin, 12 Ian Whitten, 11 Olly Woodburn, 10 Joe Simmonds, 9 Jack Maunder, 8 Jacques Vermeulen, 7 Lewis Pearson, 6 Dave Ewers, 5 Ruben Van Heerden, 4 Jack Dunne, 3 Harry Williams, 2 Jack Yeandle (c), 1 Scott Sio
Replacements: 16 Jack Innard, 17 Alec Hepburn, 18 Josh Iosefa-Scott, 19 Dafydd Jenkins, 20 Rus Tuima, 21 Sam Maunder, 22 Will Becconsall, 23 Sean O’Brien

Date: Friday, November 4
Venue: cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens
Kick-off: 19:45 GMT

[Puja]

Tommy Freeman back for Saints. Hope he has a full 80 minutes and can join back up with England.

Puja

[Banquo]

Tommy Freeman back for Saints. Hope he has a full 80 minutes and can join back up with England.

Puja

weird he wasn't in the squad tbh, he's had about as much game time as others in there.

[Banquo]

also interesting rotating James/Mitchell and Freeman/Furbank. Both sides heavily denuded.

When did Hinkley join Saints;)

[fivepointer]

The difference in quality between the Saints backs and Exeter's is pretty stark. Anything close to parity up front and you'd expect Saints to win this comfortably.

[Banquo]

The difference in quality between the Saints backs and Exeter's is pretty stark. Anything close to parity up front and you'd expect Saints to win this comfortably.

yup you'd think so- but Saints will need to improve their concentration and accuracy.

[Mellsblue]

Three Old Bedfordians in the Saints side. Exeter might as well forfeit and save the diesel.

[Mellsblue]

Seeing as Exeter seem intent on getting a well educated beating, I thought this thread on Twatter might be of interest:

[twitchy]

Fascinating.

[twitchy]

Not the greatest game so far but I'm sure it will open up in the second half.

[FKAS]

Surprised the secondary hit on Hodge wasn't reviewed in the build up to the Saints try. I'm not sure there was anything in it but I'm not sure there wasn't either.

Freeman looks like he's knocking the rust off, the more game goes on the better he gets. Fin Smith is using his team nicely at 10, doing a bit of a George Ford impersonation standing in behind and directing things until he's ready to step in and have the ball in his hands.

Saints forwards, particularly the front row are lacking physicality, if Chiefs get back down into the 22 then you'd expect to see them barge over again. Ioygen having a particularly tough day at the office. Chiefs really should be saying reset when the ref is saying "use or reset" at the scrum there as well.

[FKAS]

Eddie needs to get Fin Smith in and capped sharpish. Kid has definitely got what it takes. Next summer might be to soon but Eddie's successor will be watching with interest.

[rjjb]

Eddie needs to get Fin Smith in and capped sharpish. Kid has definitely got what it takes. Next summer might be to soon but Eddie's successor will be watching with interest.

Is he not already leaning towards Scotland?

[Puja]

Eddie needs to get Fin Smith in and capped sharpish. Kid has definitely got what it takes. Next summer might be to soon but Eddie's successor will be watching with interest.

Is he not already leaning towards Scotland?

There's been no public pronouncements, but I'd imagine that he's leaning English considering he'd undoubtedly have been named in a Scots squad, even just a wider one, if he was currently interested. The fact that he's not been suggests Scotland have had a word and he's said he prefers to focus on England.

Plus he's English born to English parents, with his sole Scotland credential being his granddad. Still, I'd like to get him capped pronto so they don't turn his head.

Puja

[FKAS]

Eddie needs to get Fin Smith in and capped sharpish. Kid has definitely got what it takes. Next summer might be to soon but Eddie's successor will be watching with interest.

Is he not already leaning towards Scotland?

Having spent the summer captaining the England under 20s? He is dual qualified but currently seems to be on the England side of the fence.

[rjjb]

Eddie needs to get Fin Smith in and capped sharpish. Kid has definitely got what it takes. Next summer might be to soon but Eddie's successor will be watching with interest.

Is he not already leaning towards Scotland?

There's been no public pronouncements, but I'd imagine that he's leaning English considering he'd undoubtedly have been named in a Scots squad, even just a wider one, if he was currently interested. The fact that he's not been suggests Scotland have had a word and he's said he prefers to focus on England.

Plus he's English born to English parents, with his sole Scotland credential being his granddad. Still, I'd like to get him capped pronto so they don't turn his head.

Puja

Yet in a recent interview with one of the papers, he described his family as "all Scottish" & pointedly remarked that he wasn't at the stage of his career where he had to make any decisions - smart lad!

[TheNomad]

Freeman isn’t back to his best by any stretch, but the guy certainly has something.

I think he’s got a really good chance of making it at test level given his all round running game

[FKAS]

Is he not already leaning towards Scotland?

There's been no public pronouncements, but I'd imagine that he's leaning English considering he'd undoubtedly have been named in a Scots squad, even just a wider one, if he was currently interested. The fact that he's not been suggests Scotland have had a word and he's said he prefers to focus on England.

Plus he's English born to English parents, with his sole Scotland credential being his granddad. Still, I'd like to get him capped pronto so they don't turn his head.

Puja

Yet in a recent interview with one of the papers, he described his family as "all Scottish" & pointedly remarked that he wasn't at the stage of his career where he had to make any decisions - smart lad!

You're right he's wise to keep it open. Wait until after the world cup to see who gets the respective head coach jobs. If Townsend goes then the Kinghorn experiment might get shelved and Scotland will be desperate to have competition for Hastings. Depending who comes in for Eddie will dictate how much of the old regime they want to keep and whether there's going to be an emphasis on youth or not. Either way he's unlikely to get selected for the world cup next year so patience is a virtue.

[FKAS]

Freeman isn’t back to his best by any stretch, but the guy certainly has something.

I think he’s got a really good chance of making it at test level given his all round running game

After the first 15 mins he settled in and played pretty well. Good return and I wouldn't rule out a swift return to the England squad. His skillset and pace work really well with how Eddie is building the back three, with Freeman and Steward in the back three there's a solid and pretty meaty combination that allows a more mercurial option on the other wing.

[Scrumhead]

There's been no public pronouncements, but I'd imagine that he's leaning English considering he'd undoubtedly have been named in a Scots squad, even just a wider one, if he was currently interested. The fact that he's not been suggests Scotland have had a word and he's said he prefers to focus on England.

Plus he's English born to English parents, with his sole Scotland credential being his granddad. Still, I'd like to get him capped pronto so they don't turn his head.

Puja

Yet in a recent interview with one of the papers, he described his family as "all Scottish" & pointedly remarked that he wasn't at the stage of his career where he had to make any decisions - smart lad!

You're right he's wise to keep it open. Wait until after the world cup to see who gets the respective head coach jobs. If Townsend goes then the Kinghorn experiment might get shelved and Scotland will be desperate to have competition for Hastings. Depending who comes in for Eddie will dictate how much of the old regime they want to keep and whether there's going to be an emphasis on youth or not. Either way he's unlikely to get selected for the world cup next year so patience is a virtue.

Exactly this. Scotland is definitely the easier route with Hastings and Kinghorn the only real competition.

From an England POV, Farrell will be 32 post RWC and Ford will be 30. A lot depends on the next coach’s preference.

If they favour experience, they might want to reinstate Ford to a bigger role with England and TBH, I can see Farrell ‘doing a Sexton’ and carrying on until his late 30s so I’d be surprised if he’s completely out of the picture.

If they want to move on from those two, currently Smith x2 is probably the most obvious combination. I think Atkinson will probably be in the mix, maybe Bailey, but right now there isn’t a particularly long list of promising young 10s.

[FKAS]

Yet in a recent interview with one of the papers, he described his family as "all Scottish" & pointedly remarked that he wasn't at the stage of his career where he had to make any decisions - smart lad!

You're right he's wise to keep it open. Wait until after the world cup to see who gets the respective head coach jobs. If Townsend goes then the Kinghorn experiment might get shelved and Scotland will be desperate to have competition for Hastings. Depending who comes in for Eddie will dictate how much of the old regime they want to keep and whether there's going to be an emphasis on youth or not. Either way he's unlikely to get selected for the world cup next year so patience is a virtue.

Exactly this. Scotland is definitely the easier route with Hastings and Kinghorn the only real competition.

From an England POV, Farrell will be 32 post RWC and Ford will be 30. A lot depends on the next coach’s preference.

If they favour experience, they might want to reinstate Ford to a bigger role with England and TBH, I can see Farrell ‘doing a Sexton’ and carrying on until his late 30s so I’d be surprised if he’s completely out of the picture.

If they want to move on from those two, currently Smith x2 is probably the most obvious combination. I think Atkinson will probably be in the mix, maybe Bailey, but right now there isn’t a particularly long list of promising young 10s.

I'd disagree and say there's currently quite a few promising young 10s but the problem is that they are promising and not established. There's also a few which is never easy, if you've got one shining light then you can plan forward around them but Smith x2, Bailey, Haydon-Wood, Atkinson (plus Wilkinson, Barton and Curtis who could still step up) is a longer list than we've had in a while. Marcus is obviously more experienced than the rest and ahead in terms of age and development now but post world cup it'll become tricky for the new coach.

I suspect the next coach will be under pressure to play with a bit for verve in attack and Farrell at 36 and Ford at 34 by the time of the next world cup (after the one next summer) doesn't really play into that. Whereas the rest will be hitting peak years by then. Tough balancing act for the next head coach but if I were them Fin Smith would be a priority day one, even if he's not in the 23 straight away he'd be in the squads and drip fed in as a view to being a long term contender.

[Banquo]

You're right he's wise to keep it open. Wait until after the world cup to see who gets the respective head coach jobs. If Townsend goes then the Kinghorn experiment might get shelved and Scotland will be desperate to have competition for Hastings. Depending who comes in for Eddie will dictate how much of the old regime they want to keep and whether there's going to be an emphasis on youth or not. Either way he's unlikely to get selected for the world cup next year so patience is a virtue.

Exactly this. Scotland is definitely the easier route with Hastings and Kinghorn the only real competition.

From an England POV, Farrell will be 32 post RWC and Ford will be 30. A lot depends on the next coach’s preference.

If they favour experience, they might want to reinstate Ford to a bigger role with England and TBH, I can see Farrell ‘doing a Sexton’ and carrying on until his late 30s so I’d be surprised if he’s completely out of the picture.

If they want to move on from those two, currently Smith x2 is probably the most obvious combination. I think Atkinson will probably be in the mix, maybe Bailey, but right now there isn’t a particularly long list of promising young 10s.

I'd disagree and say there's currently quite a few promising young 10s but the problem is that they are promising and not established. There's also a few which is never easy, if you've got one shining light then you can plan forward around them but Smith x2, Bailey, Haydon-Wood, Atkinson (plus Wilkinson, Barton and Curtis who could still step up) is a longer list than we've had in a while. Marcus is obviously more experienced than the rest and ahead in terms of age and development now but post world cup it'll become tricky for the new coach.

I suspect the next coach will be under pressure to play with a bit for verve in attack and Farrell at 36 and Ford at 34 by the time of the next world cup (after the one next summer) doesn't really play into that. Whereas the rest will be hitting peak years by then. Tough balancing act for the next head coach but if I were them Fin Smith would be a priority day one, even if he's not in the 23 straight away he'd be in the squads and drip fed in as a view to being a long term contender.

I'd think Ford could well still be playing with verve at even 34, no chance that Farrell can though as he never did in the first place. I hope Ford is around to pass on his flat attacking skills, even if not starting. I'd still start him if fit for England now.

[FKAS]

Exactly this. Scotland is definitely the easier route with Hastings and Kinghorn the only real competition.

From an England POV, Farrell will be 32 post RWC and Ford will be 30. A lot depends on the next coach’s preference.

If they favour experience, they might want to reinstate Ford to a bigger role with England and TBH, I can see Farrell ‘doing a Sexton’ and carrying on until his late 30s so I’d be surprised if he’s completely out of the picture.

If they want to move on from those two, currently Smith x2 is probably the most obvious combination. I think Atkinson will probably be in the mix, maybe Bailey, but right now there isn’t a particularly long list of promising young 10s.

I'd disagree and say there's currently quite a few promising young 10s but the problem is that they are promising and not established. There's also a few which is never easy, if you've got one shining light then you can plan forward around them but Smith x2, Bailey, Haydon-Wood, Atkinson (plus Wilkinson, Barton and Curtis who could still step up) is a longer list than we've had in a while. Marcus is obviously more experienced than the rest and ahead in terms of age and development now but post world cup it'll become tricky for the new coach.

I suspect the next coach will be under pressure to play with a bit for verve in attack and Farrell at 36 and Ford at 34 by the time of the next world cup (after the one next summer) doesn't really play into that. Whereas the rest will be hitting peak years by then. Tough balancing act for the next head coach but if I were them Fin Smith would be a priority day one, even if he's not in the 23 straight away he'd be in the squads and drip fed in as a view to being a long term contender.

I'd think Ford could well still be playing with verve at even 34, no chance that Farrell can though as he never did in the first place. I hope Ford is around to pass on his flat attacking skills, even if not starting. I'd still start him if fit for England now.

If he was playing now how he was a year ago, yeah I'd have him as England's starting option without a doubt.

[Scrumhead]

Haydon-Wood does look quite promising, but Wilkinson, Barton and Curtis are all reaching. They don’t look like future international players IMO.

Take those out and your list is basically the same as mine was.

[Puja]

I mean, Smith, Smith, Atkinson, Bailey is already a pretty good depth list of fly-halves to have and that's pretending that Ford and Farrell evaporate post-RWC.

Puja