Northampton Saints have been a team looking better and better as the seasons go by since New Zealander Chris Boyd came in as Director of Rugby back in the summer of 2018, replacing Jim Mallinder who had been sacked that season.
They have many exciting players in their squad, and this try involves two of them.
In this image, we see how Northampton have found themselves in a good position behind the main Saracens defensive line. The pace that Northampton have in their back line means they can unlock opposing defences well, and it is a characteristic of their team that we have seen many times.
Here, it is full-back Harry Mallinder, in the green circle, and centre Fraser Dingwall, in the green square, who has made his way into the space behind Sarries, and he is looking to run next to the sideline. This has drawn the Saracens defender positioned in front of him across the pitch, as that player wants to block Mallinder’s run. The red arrow shows this movement. However, this is what the Saints full-back wants to happen. By pulling the defender across, Northampton have opened up a gap in the defensive line.
You can see in this image how Mallinder offloads the ball towards Dingwall, just before he is tackled by the Saracens defender. With this late release, Mallinder has ensured that Dingwall can get through with no opposition, and the green arrow shows his run.
This was not an overly-complicated try, but it wouldn’t have come about without the excellent awareness of Mallinder to see where England centre Dingwall was, and to offload the ball to him at the right moment.
