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Huge blow for Newcastle as England back-rower Wilson has surgery

(Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)

England and Newcastle flanker Mark Wilson will be out of action for up to twelve weeks after undergoing knee surgery, meaning he will miss his country’s autumn internationals and face a battle over the winger to regain lost ground to be considered for the Six Nations squad.  

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Falcons skipper Wilson was spotted on crutches at Kingston Park for last Sunday’s Gallagher Premiership season opener versus Harlequins and club boss Dean Richards confirmed the bad news about his back-rower at the weekly Newcastle media briefing on Wednesday.

“Mark had a meniscus tear that was operated on. It will take eight to twelve weeks to heal, it will be in that time range,” explained Richards. “It has been grumbling for some time and we were keen to get it sorted one way or another. Hopefully, it is now resolved, we are on top of it and Mark can get back to his best.”

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Faf de Klerk on what the Springboks must do to rescue their Rugby Championship campaign

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Faf de Klerk on what the Springboks must do to rescue their Rugby Championship campaign

While Wilson will be marked absent for this weekend’s trip to Bath and for many weeks to come, Scotland flanker Gary Graham is now fit to rejoin the squad along with rookie England back-rower Callum Chick who was one of four Falcons players named this week in Eddie Jones’ 45-strong strong for a mini-training camp next week. Trevor Davison, Jamie Blamire and Adam Radwan were the other inclusions.

Earlier this year, England boss Jones had outlined his admiration for Wilson. “He is one of those players that didn’t have the escalator through the pathway. He had to fight his way all the way. He was in the academy, got kicked out of the academy, he went to university, played university rugby, so rugby means a lot to him and he is a fighter, mate, he’s a 100 per cent fighter.”

Ahead of Newcastle’s Saturday trip to Bath, Richards added that he had sought an explanation from the referees’ department at the RFU for some refereeing decisions in the 26-20 loss to champions Harlequins. He believed that some tries that his players merited were not awarded last weekend.

“We have asked about those decisions and there is still some clarity to come. There was the one where Will Welch was penalised and then Carl Ferns went over and the referee couldn’t see it. If he is held and there is a question mark then should the opposition be given a goal-line drop-out? That is what we are querying, and we do feel the Will Welch penalty was harsh.”

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O
Oh no, not him again? 2 hours ago
England internationals disagree on final play execution vs All Blacks

Okay, so we blew it big time on Saturday. So rather than repeating what most people have all ready said, what do I want to see from Borthwick going forward?


Let's keep Marcus Smith on the pitch if he's fit and playing well. I was really pleased with his goal kicking. It used to be his weakness. I feel sympathy for George Ford who hadn't kicked all match and then had a kick to win the game. You hear pundits and commentators commend kickers who have come off the bench and pulled that off. Its not easy. If Steve B continues to substitute players with no clear reason then he is going to get criticised.


On paper I thought England would beat NZ if they played to their potential and didn't show NZ too much respect. Okay, the off the ball tackles certainly stopped England scoring tries, but I would have liked to see more smashing over gainlines and less kicking for position. Yes, I also know it's the Springbok endorsed world cup double winning formula but the Kiwi defence isn't the Bok defence, is it. If you have the power to put Smith on the front foot then why muzzle him? I guess what I'm saying is back, yourself. Why give the momentum to a team like NZ? Why feed the beast? Don't give the ball to NZ. Well d'uh.


Our scrum is a long term weakness. If you are going to play Itoje then he needs an ogre next door and a decent front row. Where is our third world class lock? Where are are realible front row bench replacements? The England scrum has been flakey for a while now. It blows hot and cold. Our front five bench is not world class.


On the positive side I love our starting backrow right now. I'd like to see them stick together through to the next world cup.


Anyway, there is always another Saturday.

7 Go to comments
C
CO 2 hours ago
Scott Robertson responds to criticism over All Blacks' handling errors

Robertson is more a manager of coaches than a coach so it comes down to intent of outcomes at a high level. I like his intent, I like the fact his Allblacks are really driving the outcomes however as he's pointed out the high error rates are not test level and their control of the game is driving both wins and losses. England didn't have to play a lot of rugby, they made far fewer mistakes and were extremely unlucky not to win.


In fact the English team were very early in their season and should've been comfortably beaten by an Allblacks team that had played multiple tests together.


Razor has himself recognised that to be the best they'll have to sort out the crisis levels of mistakes that have really increased since the first two tests against England.


Early tackles were a classic example of hyper enthusiasm to not give an inch, that passion that Razor has achieved is going to be formidable once the unforced errors are eliminated.


That's his secret, he's already rebuilt the passion and that's the most important aspect, its inevitable that he'll now eradicate the unforced errors. When that happens a fellow tier one nation is going to get thrashed. I don't think it will be until 2025 though.


The Allblacks will lose both tests against Ireland and France if they play high error rates rugby like they did against England.


To get the unforced errors under control he's going to be needing to handover the number eight role to Sititi and reset expectations of what loose forwards do. Establish a clear distinction with a large, swarthy lineout jumper at six that is a feared runner and dominant tackler and a turnover specialist at seven that is abrasive in contact. He'll then need to build depth behind the three starters and ruthlessly select for that group to be peaking in 2027 in hit Australian conditions on firm, dry grounds.


It's going to help him that Savea is shifting to the worst super rugby franchise where he's going to struggle behind a beaten pack every week.


The under performing loose forward trio is the key driver of the high error rates and unacceptable turn overs due to awol link work. Sititi is looking like he's superman compared to his openside and eight.


At this late stage in the season they shouldn't be operating with just the one outstanding loose forward out of four selected for the English test. That's an abject failure but I think Robertson's sacrificing link quality on purpose to build passion amongst the junior Allblacks as they see the reverential treatment the old warhorses are receiving for their long term hard graft.


It's unfortunately losing test matches and making what should be comfortable wins into nail biters but it's early in the world cup cycle so perhaps it's a sacrifice worth making.


However if this was F1 then Sam Cane would be Riccardo and Ardie would be heading into Perez territory so the loose forwards desperately need revitalisation through a rebuild over the next season to complement the formidable tight five.

28 Go to comments
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