Northampton Saints vs London Irish Match Preview
Another LI win ?
By Billy Hamilton
January 3 2003
Our game against the Saints on Saturday is the first of four important games in January. These games are important to our future in the three different competitions of which they are part
Northampton Saints vs London Irish
Sat 04 Jan 2003, at Franklin's Gardens - KO 15:00
Match Preview
by Billy Hamilton
Our game against the Saints on Saturday is the first of four important games in January. These games are important to our future in the three different competitions of which they are part.
I am indebted to Robin Clive (OxonRob) for his analysis of our recent results which I reproduce below:-
"All told we have played 18 games this season. We lost seven of the first nine games, winning against Sarries and Edinburgh, both at home. Since November 1st we have played another nine and lost only three of them, including a good but losing performance against Glos (away) and a dead dodgy game against Newport (away) which we should have won at a canter.
In fact we have only lost TWO of our last six ZP games (both against mighty Glos) beating Tiggers, Newcastle twice, and drawing at Brizzle.
Could this be seen as evidence of a recovery? I actually think so, BUT....
We also need to look at our home and away form. Counting all matches we have now lost four from nine at home and six from nine away. In fact the only team we have beaten away from home are the poor old Falcons. (Add Bristol, with whom we drew, and the numbers add up.)
We are not yet out of the poo in the ZP, having only won four from 13 games all season, three of those wins coming at the Madstad. We have more away games left in the ZP than we have home fixtures, so is there trouble ahead ?"
So there you are we are playing better but our away form leaves a lot to be desired. We therefore need an improvement on our away form to beat Northampton who lie fifth in the table eleven points ahead of us. The Saints lost only three times at home in the calendar year of 2002 - to Sale, Leicester and Gloucester.
Saints coach Wayne Smith is in no way complacent about his side's chances. This week he said: "I took a trip down the M4 on Sunday to watch London Irish play Newcastle. I am glad I did. The match video could not do justice to the ferocity of Irish's defence or the commitment with which they played. At the very least it reinforced to me the challenge we face on Saturday."
He has made two changes from the team that was narrowly beaten by Gloucester last weekend. Oriol Ripol has come in for wing Jon Sleightholme, and prop Robbie Morris will start in place of Chris Budgen. The bench will be finalised after training tomorrow to give Smith a chance to look at potential injury returnees, No 8 Grant Seely (knee) and wing Ben Cohen (leg). Unavailable for selection because of ongoing injuries are Mark Connors (shoulder), Matt Dawson (knee) and Andrew Blowers (knee).
On our side the only significant change, other than due to squad rotation, is the absence of Ryan Strudwick due to the injury ankle sustained last weekend which may keep him out for up to three months. This game will mark Paul Gustard's 100th appearance in the Premiership including his time with Leicester.
Northampton Saints
Nick Beal *, Bruce Reihana *, Peter Jorgensen *, John Leslie (capt) *, Oriol Ripol *, Paul Grayson *, Ian Vass; Tom Smith *, Steve Thompson *, Robbie Morris, Steve Williams *, Jon Phillips, Rob Hunter, Budge Pountney *, Mark Soden
Replacements from:
Dan Richmond, Chris Budgen, Matt Lord, Darren Fox, Grant Seely, Johnny Howard, James Brooks, Mark Tucker, Ben Cohen *.
London Irish
15. Michael Horak*; 14. Paul Sackey; 13. Nick Burrows; 12. Brendan Venter*; 11. Justin Bishop*; 10. Barry Everitt; 9. Darren Edwards; 1. Mike Worsley; 2. Naka Drotske*; 3. Rob Hardwick*; 4. Glenn Delaney; 5. Nick Kennedy; 6. Paul Gustard; 7. Kieron Dawson*; 8. Chris Sheasby*.
Replacements:
16. Hentie Martens; 17. Mark Mapletoft*; 18. Declan Danaher; 19. Richard Kirke; 20. Bob Casey*; 21. Neal Hatley; 22. Simon Halford.
* Denotes International
Summary of meetings between the teams in the Premiership
| Played | 18 | |
| Northampton Saints Won | 12 | 66.7% |
| London Irish Won | 5 | 27.8% |
| Drawn | 1 | 5.6% |
| Biggest Win for Northampton Saints | 51 - 10 | 13 Dec 1997 |
| Biggest Win for London Irish | 48 - 12 | 18 Nov 2001 |
| Northampton Saints top try scorer | Ben Cohen | 4 tries |
| Northampton Saints top points scorer | Paul Grayson | 125 points |
| London Irish top try scorer | Niall Woods | 6 tries |
| London Irish top points scorer | Niall Woods | 55 points |
| Previous Meetings | ||
| Date | Result | Venue |
| 27 Oct 2002 | 14 - 12 (L) | Madejski Stadium |
| 19 May 2002 | 38 - 14 (L) | Madejski Stadium |
| 29 Dec 2001 | 24 - 15 (L) | Franklin's Gardens |
| 18 Nov 2001 | 12 - 48 (W) | Madejski Stadium |
| 17 Mar 2001 | 10 - 13 (W) | Madejski Stadium |
| 26 Aug 2000 | 27 - 10 (L) | Franklin's Gardens |
| 26 Jan 2000 | 44 - 20 (L) | The Stoop |
| 13 Nov 1999 | 24 - 19 (L) | Franklin's Gardens |
| 05 Jan 1999 | 8 - 32 (W) | Franklin's Gardens |
| 24 Oct 1998 | 26 - 10 (L) | The Avenue |