Bordeaux-Begles prop Jefferson Poirot has been cited for allegedly grabbing Northampton’s Henry Pollock by the throat following Saturday’s Champions Cup final in Cardiff. Former France captain Poirot, 32, was seen in an altercation with the England flanker shortly after the full-time whistle was blown on Bordeaux’s 28-20 victory. Tournament organisers European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR),...
Exeter: Hodge; Lilley, Slade, Rigg, Brown-Bampoe; Skinner, Townsend; Sio, Yeandle, Street, Tuima, Jenkins, Vermuelen, Capstick, Roots. Replacements: Frost, Blose, Iosefa-Scott, Tshiunza, Moloney, Cairns, Haydon-Wood, Tua. Sin-bin: Rigg (21). Northampton: Garside; Cousins, Seabrook, Litchfield, Glister; James, Weimann; West, Walker, Millar Mills, Prowse, Munga, Lockett, Brown, Scott-Young. Replacements: Wright, Haffar, Green, Hunter-Hill, Logan, Benson, Witheat, Baker. Referee:...
Four Saints players were named in Farrell’s squad with Tommy Freeman, Alex Mitchell and Fin Smith all joining Pollock, who watched the announcement with a number of his team-mates. “I walked out of the room and tried to phone my mum, who didn’t pick up which was class,” he joked. “I then called mum and...
Former Cambridge United, Northampton Town and Bury forward Tom Youngs has died at the age of 45. Youngs started his career with the U’s and made 180 appearances between 1997 and 2003. He won promotion to the third tier with Cambridge in 1998-99. After 30 appearances in an injury-hit three seasons with Northampton, Youngs had...
“We punched them in the face.” Alex Mitchell’s reference to an act of violence after 80 minutes of compelling European rugby at Aviva Stadium may have delivered an element of surprise. It was, however, an emotive reflection which suitably matched a Northampton Saints performance that left Leinster with more than a bloodied nose in their...
Leinster: Keenan; O’Brien, Ringrose, Henshaw, Lowe; Prendergast, Gibson-Park; Healy, Sheehan, Furlong, Snyman, McCarthy, Deegan, Van der Flier, Doris (capt). Replacements: Kelleher, Porter, Slimani, Baird, Conan, McGrath, R Byrne, Barrett. Northampton Saints: Ramm; Freeman, Dingwall (capt), Hutchinson, Litchfield; Smith, Mitchell; Iyogun, Langdon, Davison, Mayanavanua, Coles, Kemeny, Pollock, Augustus. Replacements: Walker, West, Millar Mills, Lockett, Munga, Scott-Young,...
Pollock is harder to warm to when you are up against him. Woolford, Pollock’s Bedford team-mate, also faced him in the Blues’ annual pre-season fixture against Saints. “On the pitch he is very loud, very confrontational, very in-your-face,” Woolford remembers. “He just exhausts you, as much mentally and emotionally as physically. But he has backed...
Northampton were handed a trip to Merseyside to take on Everton for their first match in the top flight, and it proved to be a harsh lesson as, although Bobby Brown’s goal brought them level at 1-1, they eventually went down 5-2. “It was the first year subs came in. We played at Everton, I...
Northampton: Ramm; Freeman, Odendaal, Dingwall (capt), Hendy; Smith, Mitchell; Iyogun, Langdon, Davison, Mayanavanua, Coles, Kemeny, Pollock, Augustus. Replacements: Walker, West, Green, Lockett, Scott-Young, Pearson, James, Hutchinson. Clermont Auvergne: Newsome; Delguy, Simone, Moala, Raka; Belleau, Bezy; Akhaladze, Massa, Ojovan, Simmons, Ceyte, Sowakula, Tixeront, Lee (capt). Replacements: Fainga’a, Falgoux, Ala’alatoa, Hemery, Fischer, Bousquet, Urdapilleta, Fouyssac. Referee: Andrew...
Northampton Saints boss Phil Dowson hailed Henry Pollock as a “world-class” talent following the back row’s brilliant try against Sale Sharks. The 20-year-old collected his own chip over Sale scrum-half Gus Warr to touch down and make the score 17-17 – but Saints eventually lost 27-24. Pollock scored twice on his England debut against Wales...
Sale: Carpenter, Roebuck, R du Preez (c), Bedlow, O’Flaherty; Ford, Warr; Rodd, Cowan-Dickie, Opoku-Fordjour, Bamber, Hill, Van Rhyn, T Curry, JL du Preez. Sin-bin: Ford (36). Replacements: McElroy, McIntyre, John, Andrews, Dugdale, Thomas, Addison, Reed. Northampton: Ramm, Freeman, Odendaal, Dingwall (c), Hendy; James, Mitchell; Iyogun, Langdon, Davison, Munga, Coles, Kemeny, Scott-Young, Pollock. Sin-bin: James (9),...
Northampton Saints have signed Amena Caqusau from Glasgow Warriors, with the wing to make the move south this summer ahead of next season. Caqusau played for Scotland in last year’s Under-20 Six Nations and is of Fijian ancestry, but is England qualified, having been born in Salisbury. “We first noticed Amena playing in the Under-20s...
Northampton lost a number of senior players following their successes in 2024, including Courtney Lawes, Lewis Ludlam and Alex Waller. And Coles – who described last season as being like “a bit of a fever dream almost” – believes it is now time for others to step up to the mark. “We came in on...
Director of rugby Phil Dowson said Northampton needed to look back “forensically” at the Leicester game to assess exactly why that performance happened. “There’s loads of context around it,” he told BBC Radio Northampton. “We’re a playing group, with a playing style, that requires a high level of connection and cohesiveness and we didn’t have...