In his latest column for Talking Rugby Union, Simon Hammersley discusses all of the talking points from England’s win over South Africa, the visit of New Zealand and the ‘feel good’ factor currently surrounding Newcastle.
I thought in the first half, South Africa looked really strong. It was probably down to their inaccuracies that England didn’t concede more points. In the second half, we looked a lot better and I thought it was impressive to scrape out a win against South Africa who have recently beaten New Zealand and arguably should have beaten them again.
They obviously gave it to the TMO and you have to trust them to make the best decision. Personally, I think it was one of those where Owen [Farrell] was trying to wrap his arms around, but nowadays with such a lot of stuff about player safety, South Africa will probably feel aggrieved that it wasn’t a penalty. It is such a grey area at the moment and difficult to make the call.
??????????????Controversial end to England's win??????????????
— Sky Sports Rugby (@SkySportsRugby) November 3, 2018
Should this have been a @Springboks penalty at the end of the game?#ENGVRSA #FollowTheRose @EnglandRugby @Springboks pic.twitter.com/377FUxSYnQ
The referee can’t stop the game after every tackle and double check it’s OK. The rules have come in for the right reasons. I think when people are taking shoulders to the head, it is obviously very dangerous. There are the right policies implemented when it comes to protecting players because it is such a physical game. The referee will miss one or two and I think as they get more used to the rules and players do to, those misses will become less frequent.
It was great to see Mark [Wilson] starting, first of all. I think all of us at Newcastle knew the sort of performance he would put in. He has played over 200 games for the club. Since I have been there, he has played pretty much every game!
You get the same out of him in every match he plays and he delivered the exact same stuff for England. He was physically really good and his turnovers have been one of his real strengths. He got one or two against South Africa as well so we are all delighted for him and hopefully his performance in that No.8 position has given him the chance to stay around the back-row even when Billy Vunipola etc come back.
It is obviously going to be incredibly tough on Saturday. Although New Zealand lost to South Africa recently, other than that, they seem to be really dominating teams, whoever they are playing.
Often, they seem to do very well in the second half so if England can start well and get to half-time, there is definitely a good opportunity for the lads. New Zealand have obviously had to travel a long way, but individually, they have a very special side and very special backline. You’d expect a very good game and hopefully England can do the business!
We have obviously had a fair bit of rotation and it has been a great chance for all the young boys to get a bit of game time. Raders [Adam Radwan] has played well, Ben Stevenson has looked good in the centres and in the first Premiership Cup game, Zach [Kibirige] scored a hat-trick. To draw against Exeter and beat Harlequins is a good sign for the lads coming through because of the strength in depth we have.
As for Europe, these close encounters that we have won is something we saw last year in the Premiership. I remember we scored against Northampton and Leicester in the last minute and I think at the start of this season, we may have lost a bit of that determination.
Michael Young wants to continue Newcastle Falcons' winning momentum as former club Bath visit Kingston Park Stadium on Friday night https://t.co/Y5hTuajG3v pic.twitter.com/khoCJjOJEm
— Newcastle Falcons (@FalconsRugby) November 7, 2018
To keep the ball for those nine minutes against Montpellier to grind out that last try showed glimpses of when we were playing really well last year.
We have managed to keep that momentum from those two wins. When you change the team, there is always a bit of a risk that you lose that momentum, but the opposite has happened. The club is in a pretty good way and hopefully we can continue into this week [against Bath] and then into the Premiership itself.
Anytime you can get a rugby game at a big football stadium outside of London, it is massive. Saracens and Harlequins can do those games down there with Wembley or the Olympic Stadium, but I think for us to get that game at St James’ Park, sort of proves where the club wants to go.
The background staff are aiming for these huge games, but also the community is starting to embrace it. I don’t know in previous years whether Newcastle would have been willing to let us play at St James’ so I think it shows how big sport is as a whole in this city.
When we were at Durham, we used to train on an artificial pitch and play most of our games on grass.
I have been used to it since I hit 18. I have always enjoyed them. You still get wind and rain at Kingston Park, but the advantages of AGP means the pitch isn’t an issue. As a whole, I think it increases the quality of rugby.
Injury wise, I don’t enough about whether it is good or bad. You do see players who love it and have no issues whereas some players have found it a bit more troubling so there is definitely still a debate around them.
You can follow Simon on Twitter @Simon_Hammers
Simon Hammersley was talking to TRU’s Chris Heal