Alan Gaffney has warned that England and Northampton Saints must work together to identify Harry Mallinder’s best position or his career could be ruined. Mallinder linked up with England yesterday having been replaced at half-time in Northampton’s European Champions Cup defeat by Saracens after a torrid 40 minutes at fly half, one of three positions that he has played this season
Eddie Jones, the England coach, views Mallinder as a full back and he can also play at inside centre. Gaffney, who joined Northampton as interim coaching consultant this month, rates the 21-year-old highly but fears that he could become a victim of his versatility.
“The one thing we can’t do is keep swapping him between these positions,” Gaffney said. “I’ve been guilty of that in the past and probably destroyed people’s careers by using them as utility players and not concentrating on one slot. Harry’s got a huge future in the game and it’s a question of us looking after him.
“We’re happy to talk with Eddie about that. I think Eddie will decide what he wants to do with the English side. We’ve got to work out what’s best for us and at the same time what’s best for Harry.”
Northampton started promisingly, leading with tries from Cobus Reinach and Nafi Tuitavake after 17 minutes, but they did not score another point in the match as Saracens ran in seven tries. Saints could not even force a penalty out of Saracens in the second half.
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“We were very, very passive in defence and allowed their forwards to dominate that contact area,” Gaffney said. “They got off the line and put pressure on us. We just didn’t handle it at all.
“Harry struggled with that but he wasn’t in isolation. He wasn’t helped by people dishing the ball and transferring pressure at the same time. We’ve got to address a number of issues.”
