TRU's Rugby Stock Watch - Week 16

With derbies occurring across the British Isles this weekend, there are few greater opportunities for players to raise their stock in the eyes of their national coaches.

The added intensity and physical edge that derbies offer up provide those coaches with an insight into how players will react to the cauldron that is international rugby and as such players from those derbies feature heavily in this week’s Stock Watch.

Stock Rising

Luther Burrell and Courtney Lawes, Northampton Saints and England

Playing with a man disadvantage for 54 minutes of their East Midlands derby with the Leicester Tigers, the Saints needed some of their veteran players to step up and be counted. Cue Burrell and Lawes. Both players excelled at Franklin’s Gardens on Saturday afternoon, with Burrell consistently gouging Leicester’s defensive line, whilst Lawes took it upon himself to throw a rather large spanner in the works of Leicester’s lineout.

At this point, it’s hard for Lawes’ stock to rise any higher with England, but there can be no questions now that Lawes and Joe Launchbury are the best engine room duo for England, despite the impressive performances of Dave Attwood and George Kruis. Burrell meanwhile put on the perfect demonstration as to why he should be played at inside centre by England, rather than used as an afterthought for Manu Tuilagi at 13. 

Josh Navidi, Cardiff Blues and Wales

This is Navidi’s second appearance here over the last few weeks, as the versatile back rower continues to make a strong case to Warren Gatland for his inclusion in the Wales’ Six Nations squad this February. Having been moved to number eight by new Cardiff Blues’ boss Mark Hammett, Navidi’s ability a carrier has come to the fore, catching up with his proficiency at the contact area as well as his defensive impact as a workhorse tackler.

He scored two tries for the Blues in their 21-9 win over the Scarlets, something which should garner him more attention at the international level, particularly on the back of a number of top-level performances over the last couple of months. More versatile than Dan Baker, with a more well-rounded skill set than Dan Lydiate, Navidi’s time to don the red of Wales is surely coming. 

Noel Reid, Leinster and Ireland

Rarely, if ever, talked about in Ireland’s midfield conversation, Reid put on a show for fans at the RDS on Friday night, showing an attacking incision that Leinster have seemed bereft of at times this season. Reid offers a more direct option than Ian Madigan does at 12, running laterally less often, preferring to test the opposition’s inside shoulder with hard running lines. He troubled a powerful Connacht midfield of Bundee Aki and Robbie Henshaw on Friday night and worked well with Luke Fitzgerald in an important win for Leinster.

A call-up to Joe Schmidt’s Ireland squad next year might be unlikely, but there’s no doubt he deserves to at least be in the question. Ireland have plenty of candidates to fill their 13 jersey, with Henshaw, Jared Payne and Darren Cave amongst the frontrunners, but there’s not quite the established quality at inside centre and Reid may be an option worth further investigating.

Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, Edinburgh and Scotland

The young scrum-half had an extremely effective game against Treviso on Friday night, accounting for 17 of Edinburgh’s 48 points and dictating a tempo that allowed the Scottish side to cut loose against the Italians. Admittedly, Hidalgo-Clyne was given an armchair ride by his dominant pack, but his incisive passing and pinpoint kicking, at goal and tactically alike, put Edinburgh in the right position, both on the scoreboard and on the pitch.

Greig Laidlaw is in sole possession of Scotland’s nine jersey right now, but with Henry Pyrgos struggling in Glasgow’s European double header against Toulouse, Hidalgo-Clyne is making a strong case to be included in the Scotland 23 when they kick off their Six Nations campaign in Paris on February 7^th.  

Other Risers – Josh Turnbull, James Davies, Scott Williams, Henry Slade, Dave Ewers, Josh Beaumont, Tim Visser, Roddy Grant, Dave Denton, Jonny Gray, Alex Waller, Luke Marshall, Rhys Webb-Dan Biggar axis, Elliot Daly, Jake Cooper-Woolley.

Stock Falling

Dylan Hartley, Northampton Saints and England

Fresh off signing a new deal with Northampton, citing loyalty as being more important than money, Hartley had the perfect opportunity to continue his PR makeover with a fine performance in the East Midlands derby, but was instead ignominiously sent off in the 16^th minute, after making contact with an opponent’s face with his elbow. The incident has sparked a lot of debate, with many compelling arguments that it should have only heralded a yellow card, but it’s another case of Hartley putting himself in a situation that, as captain, he should steer clear of.

There’s no lack of competition behind Hartley, with Tom Youngs returning from injury, Rob Webber playing well at Bath and Luke Cowan-Dickie emerging for Exeter, making it even more vital for Hartley to erase these kinds of incidents from his game, lest he find himself dropping down England’s pecking order.

Billy Twelvetrees, Charlie Sharples and Jonny May, Gloucester and England

Gloucester enjoyed both significant possession and territory advantages in the West Country derby, but couldn’t pierce the Bath defensive line with any kind of consistency. As soon as the ball made its way beyond James Hook at fly-half, the Cherry and Whites looked toothless in attack and were unable to pose any troubling questions to the Bath defence, who seemed to be one step ahead of them throughout the game.

Other Fallers – Moray Low, Felix Jones, Tom Youngs, Ian Humphreys.