A Destructive Powerhouse
In the quiet grounds of Franklin Gardens, Northampton lives a destructive, powerful and fierce front row who go by the name of Brian Mujati, Dylan Hartley and Soane Tonga'uiha. This front row in the last two years have demonstrated and produced truly strong performances to lead the Saints from ambitious challengers to the real deal favourites. Obviously there is still more to come from the Saints but I am going to explain to you from a neutral perspective exactly why I think that this front row is the best currently in the northern hemisphere.
We are going to look at them individually and analysis exactly what they bring to the mix and why I personally rate them highly. At loose head prop we have the massive 18st Soane Tonga'uiha. He has been sensational since he made arrived in the East Midlands and whilst developing with forwards coach Dorian West, he has became a hot property in the last few years as he has been nominated for premiership player of the year, the rugby players association players player of the year and has even been nominated for the European player of the year in 2011.It takes a fantastic talent and loose head to be nominated for such accolades and to be nominated for so many awards.
The reason why though, is due to his immense ball carrying ability that with a deft of hands can drive through the game line and provide the perfect platform for quick ball for the scrum halves, it is why he continually tops the scoring records for loose head props in the league. It gives the team much needed momentum and doesn't allow the defence to set itself properly so others like Roger Wilson, James Downey and George Pisi can make breaks and attack the spaces.
Despite his size and bulk, Tonga'uiha has great deft of hand to pick up ball on the floor or at the bottom of rucks without losing momentum or pace, again providing a good platform for line breaks. His hands also pay dividend when being able to take passes that many forwards drop or knock on and can easily off load in the tackle, offensively he has to be the best loose head in Europe.
Next we have club captain Dylan Hartley, the New Zealand born hooker has been an integral cog in the Northampton watch as he has been an ever present figure in the heart of the front row since he made his debut. He typifies all that is the Saints, his hard work, his determination to be the best and his strong athletic ability. Dylan has shown great maturity and leadership as the premierships youngest ever captain to guide them to a Heineken cup final and premiership play offs. However what specifically does he contribute to the team? Well for me it's his precision of his line outs, the way that he can hit his man in the air consistently regardless of the pressure on him to help relieve the danger or to assist building attacks.
Also plaudits must go to him also for his work rate across the pitch as he carriers a lot of ball, more ball than most hookers in the league and assembles himself frequently on the fringes of rucks when defending. Unfortunately his discipline is appalling and if he is to cement his place as an all time great in Franklin Garden folklore like his is capable of then he has to put some serious work into that area.
Finally we have at no 3, Brian Mujati, the South African born tight head who has 12 international caps to his name is a rock at the heart of the front three. Just look at the fact that last year he featured in every game for the Saints in both the Heineken cup and the Aviva premiership. In the same year he featured in many broadcasters dream team or team of the year and came second only to his team mate Tom Wood in the player of the season vote. Mujati is an honest man and I think even he will would agree that he hasn't been in the sort of form we saw from him last year, there is stronger competition for places and that pressure does affect others more than most.
However, if he starts to recapture the form we know he is capable of producing week in and week out, Northampton have an excellent chance of finally putting to rest the demons. Mujati's strengths really show in the scrum, his power and precision make him every loose heads worst nightmare. What he does is position his body at a slight angle rather than straight which means that he can use his brute force more effectively to either make the hooker come up or drive the opposing mall backwards. I am not sure if it a Dorian West technique but it certainly produces an effective scrummaging unit and allows them to dominate the forwards game so very often.
