Jeremy Guscott: Luther Burell must tackle his weight to be world class

Luther Burrell is playing well in a Northampton team that is sitting on top of the league with 48 points having played 13, won 10, lost 3 as we head into the second half of the Premiership season, and has all the credentials to remain as champions. The Saints centre has done his England hopes no harm in a winning club environment, and I disagree with those who say he had a slump in form over the summer in New Zealand.
Burrell has never lost any form, and in most respects he’s maintained the level that saw him make a strong impression for England in the last Six Nations. That is impressive because, even though he’s 27, he is inexperienced at top tier level.
In New Zealand he was not obviously out of form, and if he had dips they were no more than those experienced by Kyle Eastmond and Billy Twelvetrees. Although Burrell isn’t the playmaker that Twelvetrees is, he has the size and power to comfortably find gaps and offload securely in contact. By contrast, Twelvetrees has been unable to put in commanding performances for Gloucester, with too many loose passes and missed connections in his play.
That’s not to say the Burrell doesn’t have improvements to make. Where he can make a bigger impact is in defence. His tackling could do with tightening-up, and he is another England player who needs to hit as hard in defence as he does in attack.
At the moment Burrell has only a 72 per cent tackle success rate in the Premiership, which is nothing to shout about. By comparison, Twelvetrees is 76 per cent and Eastmond 84 per cent, so he has ground to make up. If he does so, Burrell will be world-class – but to be one of the best centres in the world the next step for him is to be consistently exceptional.
However, Burrell is not a one-man band, because Northampton have a complete squad. They possess the game to blow teams away with muscle and a route one approach, or they can switch to a skilful all-inclusive passing style of play which punishes teams who aren’t fit enough to last the pace.
The match that persuaded me that this group of Saints are going to take some beating came just before Christmas when they had the better of Leicester despite playing with 14 men for 63 minutes.
Local derbies are ferociously hard mentally and physically, because you have to muster every bit of focus and determination to win them, and the fashion in which Northampton beat a Tigers team that will grind down most teams when they get an advantage spoke volumes.
What gives Northampton an edge against most of their closest challengers is that they have forwards who can, and will, do more than the number on the back of their shirt suggests.
One of the reasons New Zealand are the best team in the world is that they have forwards like world rugby player of the year, Brodie Retallick, who do more than just push in scrums and jump in lineouts. Retallick can run and distribute the ball, and makes smart decisions. That’s a huge advantage, and it’s one that Northampton have taken on board.
Forwards like Samu Manoa, Tom Wood, Courtney Lawes, Christian Day and Alex Waller all do more than is written on the tin, and are high grade rather than just good club players.
Manoa at times has single-handedly smashed holes in teams with his power and ferocity. His tackle on Julian Salvi in the Tigers match was one to remember, because the flanker didn’t see or hear the 6ft 6in and 19st Manoa bearing down on him. When Manoa launched himself he knocked Salvi right off his feet. It was inspiring, and that’s what Manoa has been all season for Saints.
Burrell and others can learn from Manoa’s rare ability to hit as hard carrying the ball as he does without it. Look around at other players and you will see the difference. Ben Morgan of Gloucester is a big carrier who knocks players out of his path, but when it comes to defence Morgan generally uses the weight of the ball-carrier to help complete the tackle. By comparison, Manoa will run to meet the ball carrier and attempt to smash through him rather than roll with him. That’s destructive defence that is aggressive and can turn defence into attack.
Tom Wood is like a Duracell battery, because he keeps on going when other players run out of juice. He’s exceptional around the park, carrying, tackling and makes a big lineout contibution. Courtney Lawes has also taken the next step by moving on from looking for that one big tackle and now makes big contributions in all facets of the game.
Alex Waller has taken his opportunity while Alex Corbisiero has been injured, and the loosehead’s try against Tigers when he dummied and went over like a three-quarter has to be applauded.
The Saints backline makes the most of the versatility of the forwards, with fly-half Stephen Myler as the main tactician. It has taken a while for Myler to earn his starting place but he’s seen off the likes of Shane Geraghty and Ryan Lamb and become the control centre for the Saints.
Saints have two quality scrum-halves in Kahn Fotuali’i and Lee Dickson, who both provide an effective link between forwards and backs. Fotuali’i has more all-round ability, and has the X-factor ability to break from anywhere, reading situations in split seconds. Dickson is solid and is always looking for quick tempo, and has a good tactical brain and an effective kicking game.
The Pisi brothers, George and Ken, bring that South Seas running brilliance that we see from all Samoan rugby players. They can run at speed, step off either foot, swerve, pass and off-load, which is a handful to deal with.
With Ken on one wing, the Saints back three is the last piece in the jigsaw. George North is a world-class wing with size and speed who you can put in the same category as Julian Savea and Bryan Habana, and Ben Foden is getting back to his best at full-back and challenging Mike Brown for the England shirt he lost due to injury.
That makes the Northampton backline as dangerous as their forwards, and the chasing pack of Bath, Saracens, Wasps and Leicester will have to go some to hunt down the champions.