Quote: Stu M "He was poor on Saturday but he's never been a metre maker. He does a particular job for the team and usually does it well. If you look at the kick pressure he places on the opposition, he works extremely hard in this area. Look at the analysis from Jon Wells after the Good Friday match where he highlights the speed of Lees in putting pressure on last tackle options.
Ive said it on another thread but Havard is the pick of the English props at the moment bar a firing Walmsley. For his age and potential that lad has the world at his feet. His footwork is superb and I say again he is the nearest English prop I've seen to an on form Thompson'"
That’s all well and good on Lees but if that’s the highlight of his game, I don’t think he warrants some of the billing he gets. The reported NRL links interest me. Being good at applying kick pressure won’t be enough in that league if he’s not making ground forward with the ball and as a prop it’s your bread and butter.
As for Havard, he’s a top young player. There are areas of his game that concern me a little in terms of him going to the absolute top but he is improving. It’s just areas around intensity and aggression but he’s getting better in that regard. Saturday was much better than Good Friday from him in terms of him keeping our tempo up when he came on but there’s still work to do. If he gets there though, we could be talking about him as one of the best props on either side of the world (a long way to go yet though).