Another month of exciting English Premiership rugby has been and gone, and with it some moments of individual brilliance which have kept top flight fans talking for days afterwards. With that in mind, October’s Try of the Month contest was always going to be a close call, with several players showing their individual qualities now that they have rediscovered their rhythm after the summer break.
However, one player who didn’t seem to lose his form is Newcastle Falcons’ Mateo Carreras, with the Argentina winger already one of the stars of the season and having picked up the award for September’s Try of the Month after his impressive effort against Bristol Bears. As this try analysis will show though, he was not prepared to sit on one good try, with his effort against Northampton Saints proving that keeping him fit will be vital if Newcastle are to improve on last season’s second-bottom finish in the league.
It is fair to say that the Falcons have not been one of the Premiership’s form teams this season, although they have been in every game and have made it difficult to throw them off, which is a big step in the right direction.
The form of Carreras has been central to that being the case, with the Argentinian always in the right place at the right time and continually working hard for his teammates. Here, he is positioned behind the rest of the team, meaning that he has space to gather the ball in if it were to come his way.
However, he had no intention of simply putting boot to ball once Northampton’s replacement scrum-half Callum Braley had sent the ball in his direction, with him instead showing quick decision-making and an ability to change direction on the spot in order to prevent Saints fly-half James Grayson from making a tackle.
That took Grayson out of the picture and meant that Carreras could now do what he does best – beating opponents and running through gaps at pace in order to get his team onto the front foot, and it is this quality that has made him a vital part of the Falcons’ tactics this season.
In this case, he managed to twist through the congested central area of the pitch and get into the open space behind Northampton’s lines, with him now having an advantage over Braley as the Italy international needed to turn before running back towards his own try line. In the end, it was no contest, with the Argentine always going to win this race, and he even had time to look around him and to put in one more quick change of direction to ensure that any attempt by Northampton to close him down failed to come off.
Therefore, whilst the way that Carreras ran up the pitch and evaded tackles is very similar to September’s Try of the Month, it was a very different type of try, with this analysis indicating that it was down to Carreras alone this time and not good build-up play from his teammates to give him the opportunity, and it was his determination and desire to break through Northampton’s defensive line that made this a worthy winner for October.
