News

Abendanon for England?

September 28 2008

Bath star Nick Abendanon could provide the answer to England's full-back conundrum this season, with his club boss admitting: "He is in good touch."

Abendanon was ditched by former England chief Brian Ashton last year - just two games into his Test career.

The Johannesburg-born Bath prospect made his debut against South Africa when he was flown out before the second Test in Pretoria to aid an illness-ravaged England squad.

He also featured during the penultimate World Cup warm-up match against France at Twickenham, but one-man wrecking crew Sebastien Chabal exposed Abendanon's defensive frailties and the 22-year-old has not been seen in an England shirt since.

Currently part of the second-tier England Saxons squad, Abendanon can only wait and hope that his chance will come again.

England manager Martin Johnson appears to face a straight choice at full-back for the autumn Tests between Josh Lewsey and Mathew Tait.

Both players are part of Johnson's 32-strong elite squad selected almost three months ago, yet Lewsey is struggling for form with Wasps and Tait is viewed in many quarters as a better centre than full-back.

As matters currently stand, Johnson can only promote to his senior group in the event of injuries.

Abendanon though, could make a mockery of that selection system if he continues in his current vein.

He scored a dazzling try and was a prominent attacking presence throughout as Bath moved second in the Guinness Premiership with a 37-19 victory over Worcester.

Bath head coach Steve Meehan said: "I think Nick's performances have been far better this season than last season.

"He is working hard on areas of his game that he needs to work on, and he is a better pro now than he was. I also think he is making better decisions with ball in hand.

"Sebastien Chabal is someone who has run over quite a few guys, but Nick handled Lesley Vainikolo very well when we played Gloucester recently.

"He is in good touch, there is no doubt about that."

While the International Rugby Board's experimental law variations have helped turn some Premiership games into turgid affairs this term, Bath did their bit to buck the trend.

Abendanon, skipper Michael Lipman, wing Joe Maddock, centre Shaun Berne and substitute prop Duncan Bell all claimed touchdowns in only the third try bonus point performance from 24 Premiership games this season.

Meehan added: "We must not be scared of going out and playing.

"We can't go into our shells, even if the ELVs can put you under a lot of pressure.

"The rewards of such an approach over the course of a season will outweigh the risks.

"It has taken us the best part of 18 months trying to develop an attacking brand of rugby, and we don't want to go into our shells."

Worcester, 17-3 down inside 20 minutes, briefly hauled themselves back to six points adrift before Bath finished with a flourish that saw Lipman and Berne score.

Warriors rugby director Mike Ruddock said: "At 25-19 with only six minutes to go, it was a critical time.

"We decided to try and go for the win and move the ball wide from the kick-off.

"We felt there was a potential high tackle that could have been called, and it wasn't, then all of a sudden the ball popped away and Bath were free.

"The final score hurt us and the fact they scored a number of tries disappoints us."

Harlequins, who visit Worcester next Thursday, dropped out of the play-off zone after blowing a comfortable lead against London Irish.

Tries from Ugo Monye and Tom Guest underpinned a 20-3 advantage just before half-time, but a Delon Armitage try double and full-back Peter Hewat's 18 points edged the Exiles home 28-27.

Quins rugby director Dean Richards said: "In the first-half I thought we were outstanding. We played some superb rugby, but we shouldn't have allowed them to score just before half-time.

"They shouldn't have been in with a shout, but all of a sudden it brought them back within 12 points. As a consequence, it gave them a sniff.

"It comes down to our ability to take the pressure off ourselves, which we didn't do in the first 20 minutes of the second-half."

Exiles boss Toby Booth added: "I thought we showed an inner desire and determination.

"If you want to be a consistent performer, if you want to play Heineken Cup year in and year out and you want to challenge for trophies, that is the kind of performance you have to put in.

"I see that as a development of the mental side of our game, as well as the statistics saying it was a great turnaround."

Saracens made it 70 points and seven tries in their last two home games by brushing aside Vicarage Road visitors Northampton 26-12.

Saints, whose Ireland international flanker Neil Best did not play ahead of his Rugby Football Union disciplinary hearing on Tuesday, saw all their points kicked by full-back Stephen Myler.

Saracens scored tries through Rodd Penney and Michael Owen to climb into fourth place, one point behind Leicester.

Northampton had substitute scrum-half Ben Foden and hooker Dylan Hartley sin-binned within six minutes of each other, and rugby director Jim Mallinder admitted: "Once you lose two men, you really are struggling."