NICK CAIN LOOKS AT THE REASONS BEHIND THE SACKING OF JIM MALLINDER AT NORTHAMPTON

If you want to know what has gone so wrong at Northampton that it led to Jim Mallinder being sacked this week, there is a cameo that offers an explanation. It involves Victor Matfield, one of the greatest lineout forwards the game has known, a 2007 Springbok World Cup winner who was a master of his art.
Matfield spent the 2015-16 season with the Saints, and although the South African lock was in the twilight of his career at 37, the depth of knowledge he had at his fingertips after winning 127 caps for his c...