Latest news with #OllieSleightholme
Daily Mail
23-05-2025
- Sport
- Daily Mail
Northampton Saints boss Phil Dowson admits to taking a 'gamble' on England star as his side bid for Champions Cup glory against Bordeaux
Northampton Saints director of rugby Phil Dowson admitted he's gambled with his decision to start George Furbank in Saturday's crunch Investec Champions Cup final with Bordeaux. England full-back Furbank missed the Six Nations and has played only 52 minutes of competitive rugby this year due to a long-term arm problem. But he has been named to start at No 15 for the huge European decider at Cardiff 's Principality Stadium. His fellow Saints James Ramm, Alex Coles and Curtis Langdon have also all overcome knocks to begin the game. England wing Ollie Sleightholme – who had previously been ruled out for the season after ankle surgery – is also a shock presence on the Northampton bench. 'It's always a gamble,' Dowson said of his selection of Furbank. 'Whenever you bring someone back from injury, there's always a point where they've got to hit somebody, make a cover tackle, or go flat out. There's always a risk there. 'We're confident he can drop back in from a skills and confidence perspective. 'George hasn't been a mile away. From an arm point of view, he's had a couple of issues. 'He's been getting back into running after a long time away. He's one of the fortunate ones for who the timing has worked well.' Furbank is Saints club captain and a certain starter for club and country if fit. He is likely to wear a forearm protector for the match to protect the knock he first suffered last December. The 28-year-old broke his arm on club duty in South Africa at the end of last year. In the win over Castres on April 12, Furbank came off the bench in the third minute but was then replaced in the 55th after suffering a reoccurrence of the same problem. Asked what Furbank brings to his team, Dowson said: 'Leadership, quality, experience. 'We saw that when he came back in against Castres and had two assists and a try. 'It was a good 52 minutes. He's now a fairly-seasoned international and club captain. 'We all know what a consummate ball player he is. His talent is well documented. 'Ideally, we want more of the same. I think what was impressive (against Castres) was his ability to drop back into our game plan and still see space and make good decisions. Champions Cup final teams Northampton Saints: George Furbank; Tommy Freeman, Fraser Dingwall (capt), Rory Hutchinson, James Ramm; Fin Smith, Alex Mitchell; Emmanuel Iyogun, Curtis Langdon, Trevor Davison, Temo Mayanavanua, Tom Lockett, Alex Coles, Josh Kemeny, Henry Pollock Replacements: Craig Wright, Tarek Haffar, Elliot Millar-Mills, Ed Prowse, Angus Scott-Young, Tom James, Tom Litchfield, Ollie Sleightholme Bordeaux: Romain Buros; Damian Penaud, Nicolas Depoortere, Yoram Moefana, Louis Bielle-Biarrey; Matthieu Jalibert, Maxime Lucu (capt), Jefferson Poirot, Maxime Lamothe, Sipili Falatea, Adam Coleman, Cyril Cazeaux, Mahamadou Diaby, Guido Petti, Pete Samu Replacements Connor Sa, Ugo Boniface, Ben Tameifuna, Pierre Bochaton, Bastien Vergnes-Taillefer, Marko Gazzotti, Arthur Retiere, Rohan Janse van Rensburg Referee: Nika Amashukeli (Geo) Kick-off: 2.45pm 'Nothing quite replicates a game, but his ability to do that straight off the bat was very impressive.' If fully fit, Furbank's presence is a huge boost for Saints. However, that remains a big if and time will tell if he can last the course of what will be a hugely testing final on the back of so few match minutes. Bordeaux are favourites and will be sure to target him. Their side is packed full of internationals led by scintillating French backs in the likes of Damian Penaud, Louis Bielle-Biarrey, Matthieu Jalibert and Maxime Lucu.
The 42
23-05-2025
- Sport
- The 42
No Carbery for Bordeaux, Saints welcome back Furbank for Champions Cup final
JOEY CARBERY HAS been left out of Bordeaux-Begles' team for tomorrow's Champions Cup final meeting with Northampton Saints in Cardiff [KO 2.45pm, RTÉ/Premier Sports]. The former Leinster and Munster player has not been included in Bordeaux's matchday 23, with the French side selecting a 6/2 bench split. Bordeaux have been able to select Damian Penaud, with the winger recovering from an injury sustained in the semi-final defeat of Toulouse. Advertisement Northampton Saints welcome back George Furbank and Ollie Sleightholme to their matchday 23. Furbank starts at fullback in his first appearance for Saints since April. Otherwise it's a familiar Northampton side, with Director of Rugby Phil Dowson opting for a 5/3 bench split. Curtis Langdon, Temo Mayanavanua, Alex Coles and James Ramm have all been passed fit to start. Sleightholme is set to come off the bench to feature for the first time since December. Sam Graham, George Hendy, and Ulster-bound Juarno Augustus are among the players unavailable for the Premiership side due to injury. Northampton Saints: 15. George Furbank 14. Tommy Freeman 13. Fraser Dingwall (capt) 12. Rory Hutchinson 11. James Ramm 10. Fin Smith 9. Alex Mitchell 1 Emmanuel Iyogun 2 Curtis Langdon 3 Trevor Davison 4 Temo Mayanavanua 5 Tom Lockett 6 Alex Coles 7 Josh Kemeny 8 Henry Pollock Replacements: 16. Craig Wright 17. Tarek Haffar 18. Elliot Millar Mills 19. Ed Prowse 20. Angus Scott-Young 21. Tom James 22. Tom Litchfield 23. Ollie Sleightholme
BBC News
23-05-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Furbank starts in Northampton team for final
Investec Champions Cup final: Northampton Saints v Bordeaux-BeglesVenue: Principality Stadium, Cardiff Date: Saturday 24 May Kick-off 14:45 BSTCoverage: Live TV coverage on Welsh language channel S4C on iPlayer, live radio coverage on BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Radio Northampton, with live text commentary on the BBC Sport website England's George Furbank returns to the Northampton team for only his second appearance since December as he starts at full-back in Saturday's Champions Cup final against Langdon is also in the starting XV after concerns that an injury picked up in last weekend's win over Saracens may rule the hooker Sleightholme is another to make a comeback on the biggest stage, with the wing named on the bench and set to make his first appearance since suffering an ankle injury on England duty in Coles is fit to take up a role as blindside flanker, while Henry Pollock plays at number eight with Ulster-bound South African Juarno Augustus ruled who was appointed captain after Lewis Ludlam's departure at the end of last season, has missed much of the campaign after breaking his arm in the away win over the Bulls at the end of last had metal plates inserted in his arm, the 28-year-old made an initial return in Saints' quarter-final victory over Castres in April, but suffered a setback in that match and it was feared his season might be contesting their first Champions Cup final, name an unchanged starting XV from the side that beat Toulouse in the last Lucu and Matthieu Jalibert, both France internationals, are the half-back partnership, while Damian Penaud and Louis Bielle-Biarrey are part of a dangerous London Irish lock Adam Coleman and Australia international Peter Samu feature in the pack. Northampton: Furbank; Freeman, Dingwall ©, Hutchinson, Ramm; Smith, Mitchell; Iyogun, Langdon, Davison, Mayanavanua, Lockett, Coles, Kemeny, PollockReplacements: Wright, Haffar, Millar Mills, Prowse, Scott-Young, James, Litchfield, SleightholmeBordeaux-Begles: Buros; Penaud, Depoortere, Moefana, Bielle-Biarrey; Jalibert, Lucu; Poirot, Lamothe, Falatea, Coleman, Cazeaux, Diaby, Petti, SamuReplacements: Sa, Boniface, Tameifune, Bochaton, Vergnes-Taillefer, Gazzotti, Retiere, Janse van RensburgReferee: Nika Amashukeli (Geo)Assistant referees: Andrew Brace (Ire) and Andrea Piardi (Ita)TMO: Marius Jonker (SA)
Telegraph
09-03-2025
- Sport
- Telegraph
England overplayed at times but they must stick with attacking strategy
England's best rugby in this good win over Italy was the 15 minutes after half-time. They had shown the right mindset in the first half. Yes, they made some errors, the passing was not totally accurate. But they found the space and learnt their lessons. Playing quickly and keeping the ball in hand meant they were caught out three or four times by Italy at the breakdown and gave up some turnovers, slowed England down and forced them to give away penalties. But in that period after half-time, they were almost spot on with everything they did; carrying into contact, passing and supporting out of contact. When you have the likes of Ollie Sleightholme and Tommy Freeman getting the ball in those areas, their involvements and their number of passes they received were so different to the Scotland game. If you do not produce a variety of rugby and ball-carriers, you become easy to read. England were at that point. You knew what they were trying to do. How many times did Alex Mitchell kick against Italy compared to the game against Scotland? They wanted to gain territory and kick early from the set-piece or the first breakdown. If you run into space and then kick, that is a different ball game. I know they lost against France last year, but I was very impressed with the way they played. I would be very surprised if George Ford does not have an influence in training over what they are doing, because that game in France with him at No 10 was England playing with an extra dimension. The autumn was hit and miss. This is the first time since that French game where they have looked for space and passes and runs. If you get that balance right, it is not about taking kicking out of the game. You just do it in a different way. No, the passing was not brilliant sometimes, but there was no doubt about the intent. They were not perfect because they have not done it often enough. They will work on that. But should they do it against Wales? Yes. They have to keep Wales guessing; who is carrying the ball? You keep your opponents on the back foot. I was looking for what their first intention would be, and without doubt it was to get the ball one or two passes away from the set-piece or through the backfield. The players put a lot of effort in to do that. The try after three minutes came off a turnover, Elliot Daly running from the back creating natural width to get across the field to Freeman, coupled with the intent to run and support. The mindset was completely different to Scotland, when their obvious intent was territory and power, the tight channels. The first try just reflected how different their intent was. You need everyone to buy into it and that was the thing that will please Borthwick most. I agreed with Ollie Chessum being the player of the match. When you look at his positioning on the touchline, Tom Curry was there as well – for the first time in the Six Nations this year, England actually positioned themselves into the wider channels so they had numbers to play to. Earlier, you could have put the team between the touchline and the first post. Without doubt, Borthwick has bought into the Northampton approach of looking for space, and it was obvious they were trying to do that. The offload is still the quickest way to exploit that space. Daly I thought was outstanding and very instrumental in England's change of approach. He is a natural runner, a good kicker, but he was reading the play really well in the outside channels. That pulled Italy right across the field defensively which opened up room for the back-row runners. Tom Willis and Curry were really good at mixing their positioning between being wider or taking a strong carry to keep England on the front foot. There will not be any complaints about England's kicking game this week because all of them were attacking kicks. They were done as part of phase play, not from set-piece. That is one of the biggest indicators of a total change in approach. Sleightholme's second try, you had a back-row in Curry and a hooker in Jamie George putting a winger over. That comes from attitude. Have England had that picture before? I would question that. OFFLOADING HEAVEN 🤤 Some ridiculous handling from England as Ollie Sleightholme scores his second 🌹 #GuinnessM6N | #ENGvITA — ITV Rugby (@ITVRugby) March 9, 2025 The challenge for the players is, to do that is hard work. You need the accuracy and off-the-ball work to ensure you can produce an offload or put yourself on a player's shoulder. The number on your back is irrelevant. If in phase play the ball-carrier needs support, the next player has to be there. You become the most important player on the field because of what you can create. People will have left Allianz Stadium really pleased. No one will have been talking about England's kicking game. There were kicks, but they were positive, attacking, and sometimes after three of four phases. If they are to do that against better opposition, their execution and support work has to be spot on. I would anticipate that they will want to keep that intent against Wales.
Yahoo
09-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
England overpowers Italy 47-24 in Six Nations to keep alive title chances ahead of final round
LONDON (AP) — England kept alive its Six Nations rugby title hopes by running in seven tries in a bonus-point 47-24 win over Italy at Twickenham on Sunday that extended its perfect all-time test record against the Azzurri. Going into the tournament's final round on Saturday, England is in second place and a point behind France ahead of their matches against Wales away and Scotland at home, respectively. France will be guaranteed the title with a bonus-point victory over the Scots in Paris. See for yourself — The Yodel is the go-to source for daily news, entertainment and feel-good stories. By signing up, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy. England at least has a chance, though, after securing a third straight win in this year's Six Nations — and this time by a landslide after one-point nailbiters against France and Scotland. With the score at 14-14 just after the half-hour mark, a 32nd straight victory over the Italians wasn't guaranteed but England was ruthless in the second half. Left winger Ollie Sleightholme finished with two tries — one in each half — while Tom Willis, Tommy Freeman, replacement Marcus Smith, Tom Curry and Ben Earl also went over for England. Flyhalf Fin Smith nailed six of his conversions. A negative for the home team was the sight of center Ollie Lawrence coming off in the eighth minute with an apparent knee injury. Later in the game, Lawrence emerged wearing a protective boot to sit on the bench. England's only loss so far has been the 27-22 defeat at Ireland in Round 1, so the outlook is positive for coach Steve Borthwick and his players after consecutive losses to New Zealand, Australia and South Africa in the autumn put the team under pressure. All England can do now is beat Wales — a rival on a record 16-game losing run — and hope for a favor from Scotland. Italy had three tries, the best coming from Ross Vintcent when the No. 8 galloped clear after running onto an inside pass from livewire fullback Ange Capuozzo. That converted score brought the teams level at 14-14 after 32 minutes. Capuozzo and Tommaso Menoncello grabbed the other tries for the Azzurri, who couldn't manage a fourth try for a losing bonus point. They stayed in fifth place on four points, one more than Wales in the battle to avoid the wooden spoon. Italy closes with a home match against third-place Ireland, which is two points behind France and one behind England. Italy vs. Ireland kicks off 'Super Saturday' before Wales vs. England and then France, minus injured star player Antoine Dupont, takes on Scotland. ___ AP rugby:
