CARPENTER: “THIS SEASON COULD BE MY BEST ONE YET”

Sharks full-back Joe Carpenter says he’s relishing going head-to-head with Quins counterpart George Furbank on Sunday – but he says putting a good team performance is more important than any individual rivalry.

Furbank swapped Northampton for The Stoop in the summer and, after a frustrating last season through injury, will be looking to put in a good performance on Sunday to get himself back in the England reckoning.

But Carpenter has England ambitions of his own and he wants to continue his electric start to the season to put him in the best place to add to his one England cap.

“It’s been different not going on England tour this summer and I’ve definitely felt more able to prepare for the new season,” he said. “I’d done two summer tours previously and the training and the matches are very intense.

“So it was unfortunate to miss out this time but it did allow me to have ten weeks of prep to get the body right and that’s something I needed. I think that’s shown in the games. I feel a lot fitter and a lot stronger and I’ve been happy with how I’ve started the season.

“It would be nice to have a good performance against England competition on Sunday but that’s just a bit of extra personal motivation. It’s more important to focus on how we prepare here and what we do.

“They’ve come off the back of a big loss so they’ll be emotionally spiked this weekend, and we need to match that.”

Only Exeter winger Immanuel Feyi-Waboso has beaten more defenders in the opening two rounds of the season, while Joe’s 7.5 defenders beaten per 80 minutes ranks 3rd in the league.

Against Saracens the Yorkshireman made ten carries, the most of any of the Sharks backs, and gained 38 metres.

“We didn’t get the result against Bristol but I was happy with my performance,” Joe said. “Then to go away and win at Sarries was brilliant. It’s not been perfect but I’m happy with how I’m performing.

“For me it’s about building that momentum up and backing up performances. I need to make sure I put another good training week and make sure I’m in the best place to perform on a weekend.

“I’m fitter, I’m more experienced and that means that when tough moments come, they feel a bit more normal. I think I’ve learned when to turn up the tempo and when to be a bit more restrained so I think my game is going in the right direction.

“It’s definitely an aim (to score more). But we’ve got so many good wingers and as a full-back my job is to connect the inside boys and the wingers. I would love to score more but I’m just as happy getting assists and putting those boys away as I am scoring.”

“Hopefully this season will be my best one yet.”

Your Sharks have a chance to make it two from three against Harlequins on Sunday after coming through a tricky first half when they were reduced to 13 men at one stage.

And Joe credits the influence of some of the experienced new recruits for pulling the team through.

“We’ve brought in a lot of experience in guys like Nicky and Courtney, but I think the big difference is that last week we focused on ourselves,” he added.

“Against Bristol we made it very hard for ourselves with our discipline and decision-making. We felt like we let them into the game so the challenge was to be smarter and I really felt we had that calmness so that when we were under the cosh we could stand up tall and work hard and get the communication right.

“It’s easy at a place like the StoneX, when the crowd is up and you’re under pressure to go into your shell. But it was Nicky who brought us all in and told us not to panic and said ‘we’ve got this’. He said nothing changes and that if we did our jobs then we’d be fine.

“Discipline is definitely still an issue but Al said ‘imagine how good we can be with 15 men for 80 minutes.’

“In the past we might have crumbled in that first half but to come out of that period with 13 men ahead was massive for us in that game. Maybe for the season too.”