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England back row to share joint captaincy at Saints

12 Nov 2020

Northampton Saints will be captained by Lewis Ludlam. (Getty)

Lewis Ludlam has been named Northampton Saints’ co-captain for the 2020/21 season by Director of Rugby Chris Boyd, and will lead the squad alongside Alex Waller this term.

The 24-year-old flanker has enjoyed a whirlwind two years since the Kiwi coach arrived at Franklin’s Gardens, initially bursting into the spotlight during the 2018/19 campaign to become a first-team regular for the first time in his fledgling career.

Catching the eye with his dogged ball-carrying and furious work-rate, Ludlam then earned his first international call-up ahead of last autumn’s Rugby World Cup in Japan, and has since won eight caps for England.

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Ludlam skippered Northampton on several occasions during the 2019/20 season, showcasing his ability to lead from the front, and will now assume the role on a full-time basis.

Waller meanwhile is closing in on an astonishing 300 appearances for Saints, with the experienced 30-year-old loosehead within striking distance of that milestone in his 12th season at the Club.

This will be Waller’s third campaign as co-captain, first leading the squad alongside Dylan Hartley and then Teimana Harrison last season – who has taken a step back from captaincy duties, but remains a key member of the leadership group at Franklin’s Gardens.

And Boyd believes that in Waller and Ludlam, he has a duo that can help keep Saints’ playing group together and continuing to progress.

“I think the model of leadership and influence we have in place now more accurately reflects the group,” he said. “It’s time for the younger guys coming through to stand up and take some ownership around the place, so we felt having the connection between Alex and Lewis was a really good way to drive that.

“Lewis is someone that speaks really confidently in front of the group; he’s really positive but also happy to call people out when required, and he really embraces everything that playing for Saints is all about.

“Teimana was very happy to continue to captain the team but felt that the group needed a more active style of leadership, and Lewis was really keen to take on the role – I think he is a great man for the job.”

Saints wrap up their preparations for the 2020/21 campaign this week, with a shorter-than-usual preseason schedule concluding with Friday afternoon’s warm-up match against Worcester Warriors at Franklin’s Gardens.

The men in Black, Green and Gold then travel to Sale Sharks the following Friday for their Gallagher Premiership opener at the AJ Bell Stadium.

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YeowNotEven 54 minutes ago

Rugby down under could have hit high gear with Anzac Tests

Would have been awesome to have a Bledisloe ANZAC game.

It would suck if they had it in Perth every year though. Gotta get it to Eden park.

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David Gomiez 55 minutes ago

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Spew_81 57 minutes ago

Hurricanes vs Waratahs takes: The yellow wall in midfield, Tahs backs outshined

Love should get some time at 10. He’s clearly got the ability to be a second playmaker, but primarily at 15. Some time at 10, even just standing at first receiver, will only help his playmaking skills. He set up two tries with good distribution.

He kicks goals well. He could be a second B Barrett. But keep his main position at 15.

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SG 1 hour ago

All Black's England switch hanging by a thread

England have absolutely no need for him. Tom Willis and Ben Earl are better with a much higher work rate.

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JW 1 hour ago

'Ulster, though no one wants to admit it, isn't much more than a development province right now.'

No full games on the IRU YT channel unfortunately, all on subscription? Looks a fairly good level (1A).

Yes I mean I wouldn’t really know the local ratio of origin here, but certainly as a province with less resources mine has a ratio that veers heavily towards club rep. The club stories are often the best so get probably an imbalanced proportion of coverage to where most players actually come from though.

Those were a couple of Ulster (regional) clubs too, good good. Those clubs/size towns are very much where you find most talent coming from (compared to the big city), so your productivity depends very much on your systems in place for scouting talent. With the more wealthy and popular sport of NRL (hence more info out there) I’ve seen some interesting studies on player origins in this respect, which I think would be a very balanced base of data to draw conclusions from.

Yes I’m wondering how those names as examples compare to the likes of Bryne getting squeezed out for a lack of places. I’m only thinking of effects far down the line as a result of Irelands #1 ranking and increased publicity/interest and how Irelands system will take advantage of them.

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GP 2 hours ago

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Regarding the Crusaders side . Great to see promising young lock Jamie Hannah back in the starting team. He has certainly been through the mill since debuting for the Crusaders, even before playing for Canterbury. All his hard work has paid off. Antonio Shalfoon , who has been rested for this match has been amazing locking with AB captain Scott Barrett. I really rate Jamie Hannah as one of the best young locks of which there are a few coming through. Including his Canterbury and Crusaders team mate Liam Jack. Father is Graham Jack ,he played for Canterbury and the Crusaders in the 1990’s. Older brother of Chris, who of course was an All Black.

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Andrew Nichols 2 hours ago

All Black's England switch hanging by a thread

Gloucester are in the market for a top-class replacement ..Well why would they then be talking to HS?

7 Go to comments

Utiku Old Boy 2 hours ago

All Black's England switch hanging by a thread

I include Cunningham-South. He was born in England but moved to NZ at 4 yrs and learnt his rugby there. His dad was a schoolboy coach. In recent years, Teimana Harrison was - as was Brad Shields.

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GB 2 hours ago

All Black's England switch hanging by a thread

Cunningham-South was born in the UK but raised in NZ.

Makes a good point, wouldn't walk into the English set up.

Better to roll his sleeves up and play himself into the ABs

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Spew_81 2 hours ago

Rugby down under could have hit high gear with Anzac Tests

Not sure what the ethical issue is. If it’s going for the money, it’s either do that or NZ rugby slowly dies as all the better players leave. So it’s the more lesser of two evils. Sell out a bit more as a Union, or the players sell out one by one.

42 Go to comments

Spew_81 2 hours ago

Rugby down under could have hit high gear with Anzac Tests

Yes, the team was similar. But the two locks made a huge difference. Kaino wasn’t a lock and Tuipolutu has only very recently started playing close to his potential (his work rate was terrible until recently).

The Irish lineout maul wouldn’t have been the weapon it was on that day if Hansen started Whitelock and Retallick (or even two proper locks). Though they wouldn’t have been guaranteed to win.

Doing the new haka when the Irish were mourning a great of theirs didn’t help. The action at the end of that haka has been interpreted negatively and some see it as a but disrespectful.

Still if the All Blacks did their normal haka they wouldn’t have been guaranteed to win.

42 Go to comments

Koro Teeps 2 hours ago

All Black's England switch hanging by a thread

Absolutely no certainty he would make the current English squad. He’s not in the All Black conversation either. Physical, explosive player with ball in hand but sometimes struggles to impose himself fully on all aspects of the game.

7 Go to comments

DC 2 hours ago

All Black's England switch hanging by a thread

Who are the Kiwis (plural)? The only one I can think of is Ethan Root.

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Gradier Walter 4 hours ago

Don't get out over your skis on the Highlanders