Phil Dowson gives scrum coach appointment update

Northampton boss Phil Dowson will decide on scrum coach Matt Ferguson’s replacement before the Premiership resumes in the third week in March.

With James Craig set to lead the Premiership Cup side, Dowson will use the six-week-long break from league action to take a step back and focus on recruitment and forward planning for next season instead.

At the start of the year, it was announced that this season would be Ferguson’s seventh and last at Franklin’s Gardens as part of the men in Black, Green and Gold’s senior coaching team.

Dowson says they are in the process of sifting through the applications that have flooded in.

“One of my projects over this PRC (Premiership Rugby Cup block) is to get stuck into that.

“I think that’s a work in progress as we stand.”

Ferguson has had a big impact since arriving at Saints in 2018, especially in developing the scrummaging of young props like Tarek Haffar, who had a superb game in last Friday’s defeat to Harlequins, which has left the reigning champions fighting an uphill battle to make the playoffs.

“Tariq is an incredible athlete, his power scores; his strength; his ability to run onto the ball – you saw that in spades.

“He is a really, really good man, a really unique character within the group. He has steadily been developing away and now he has got a run of games and he looks like he is growing into it and is showing what he is capable of.

“I think his scrummaging is very good, Matt Ferguson has been developing that, but his differential is his ability to carry the ball and get through contact is a really good skill to have.”

As for Ferguson’s replacement, Dowson admits he has big boots to fill.

“We need to evolve and keep changing and having different messages and different delivery styles I think is important.

“Obviously, Ferg has had a huge impact at the club and that can’t be undermined. So, yeah, there are  big boots to fill, on and off the field in terms of what he does around the environment.”