Thoughts from the Chron 26th November
By Chris Gleadell
November 27 2009
It was back to the bread and butter of the Guinness Premiership this week for Saints and the clash with Harlequins at the Gardens. The lads duly wrapped up the victory over a spirited Quins to maintain the current run of form. Thankfully the forecasted deluge did not reappear for a second week and the game was played in much better conditions than we saw against Saracens the Saturday before.
Thoughts from the Chron
26th November 2009
Whilst the ball was a proverbial ball of soap in that game on Saturday Saints were able to work more with ball in hand without fear of it spilling to the opposition and the game was so much better for it.
A deft kick through by Jon Clarke which evaded David Strettle allowed Bruce Reihana to score with just three minutes on the clock and it looked like it was going to be Saints day. Quins to their credit though were far from out of it at any stage of the game but the dying minutes and too tried to make headway with ball in hand. But for a couple of forward passes and fumbles they may well have led at half time.
Oddly enough though the turning point looked to be when Neil Best was, in my mind harshly, sinbinned for a check on ex-Saint Nils Mordt. Rather than it denting Saints ambitions it seemed more to galvinise them in a none shall pass attitude. With the return of Besty, after his ten minutes kicking his heels either side of half time, the tempo was raised further and finally the breakthrough second try came from Juandre Kruger galloping down the wing on the hour.
Quins fought back briefly and against the run of play with a well taken score by Josh Drauniniu but it was only a respite. Saints were again camped in the visitors half but it took till the closing minutes before Man of the Match Soane Tonga'uiha wrapped up the third given an event filled close to the game. With a bonus point going begging the Saints went all out toscore the fourth try but an optimistic pass was picked off by Drauniniu who sped away to score his second and deny Saints that extra point.
It was overall perhaps a fair result, Saints certainly in control of a game they never looked like losing but a fourth try would have been the icing on the cake rather than an expectation against a side who more than played their part in the afternoons entertainment.
So with a third of the Guinness Premiership season now gone Saints have five wins out of eight. Who knows but for the two gifts to Tigers and the disputed score at Wembley it may well have been more. It is no good crying over spilt milk though (though that never stops me harping back to these these instances ad nauseum) but when all is said and done we find ourselves third in the table probably higher than any of our expectations pre season.
There is of course still a long way to go in the season and there are still some hurdles to overcome, including whatever mother nature throws at us over the next couple of months, so nothing is guaranteed. However looking back at the fixture list we have already played three of the top six sides away from home so perhaps some of those higher hurdles have already been encountered and a place in the end of season playoffs still looks a strong possibility.
NEWCASTLE
Of those two trips away to, at present, top six sides that remain the game at London Irish down in Reading is the last of the regular season at the start of May but the first, up at Newcastle, is just 24 hours away on Friday night.
The Falcons, as they seem to do about every other season, are confounding the critics yet again. After the mass exodus of talent over the summer, including their talisman Jonny Wilkinson to Toulon, most had them down to struggle this term. Along with returnees Leeds and Worcester I had predicted Newcastle to be this seasons also rans and maybe if the other two put a string of form together perhaps even relegation candidates. Steve Bates and his team seem to have recruited well though and with a pack built around the block of granite that is Carl Hayman they look to be back on track and a match for any side as last weekend win at London Irish showed.
The North East is never an easy place to go and play, especially on a Friday night in November. Weather conditions look to be fair though a little windy, but when isn’t it up there, so Saints might still be able to play their running game instead of a game of attrition in the mire where Mr. Hayman and his cohorts might have had a field day.
Saints welcome back skipper Dylan Hartley and Shane Geraghty who like Ben Foden the week before might feel he has a point or two to make despite staying with the national squad.
It is again a tough one to call. My heart tells me we will get something up there though my nagging head keeps saying damage limitation but then perhaps looking a bit closer at Newcastle’s home form there are chinks of light for Saints. In the four GP games so far they have just the one victory over lowly Worcester. Table toppers Sarries ground out a win, as they do every week, up there while both Bath and Quins have gone home with a share of the spoils. What price a third draw? I wouldn’t bet against it.
ENTERTAINING RUGBY
I knew it would not take long in fact I am surprised some apologist for Martin Johnson has not been shouting it from the rooftops since the game against Australia. Yet again there have been increased rumblings this week that England’s problems are down to the clubs and the turgid fare the Guinness Premiership has been churning out.
There is no doubting that there have been some downright coma inducing games on offer this season. Some say it is about the fear of failure, some say the laws should be changed but in my mind it is clearly in the hands of the coaches be it at club or international level and a lack of ambition outside of not ending on the losing side. It is a hard fact of pro rugby but some clubs have to realise they are not only in the business of wining, or not losing by the looks of it, but in the entertainment business too. Indeed the club at the head of the table may very well learn that the hard way. They might win week after week but it is not putting backsides on seats to the extent that their CEO is actively talking of moving them from their current home.
Now I am not saying everything is sweetness and light at Northampton and that we have the answer to the games ill in this country but thankfully we are not one of those clubs that the turgid tag has been applied too and this is what confuses me. If clubs like Saints and Irish can fling the ball about and be successful, and get people in through the gates, why not others?
If you are racking up tries then where is the fear of failure if you outscore the opposition and exactly what are the laws that need to be changed? On Saturday we saw a good open expansive game and got five tries for our money using exactly the same laws and given it was between the two biggest clubs that have recently relegated then it puts others fear of failure in context. Saints and Quins more than most know exactly what is at stake.
Which brings me back to England, forget those law changes it is a red herring, this is not a world wide problem. Again we see a conservative game geared to not losing rather than trying anything that has risk attached to it. Clearly given the three games played it just does not work against the worlds top players, yet I have no doubt we will blunder on in the same style hoping as always something will drop into place.
A quote from our own Ben Foden perhaps summed up what exactly is going on, he said of his England omission this week. "I like to take people on and run from my own line, and if England don't agree with that style of rugby, then I'm not their man."
And I have a feeling that amongst the England players Ben is not alone in that thought. Now is that solely down to the clubs or just a dearth of inventiveness in some parts of the coaching world in this country?
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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2009:11:27:12:31:08 by Saintsby.
If it was just all about winning by whatever method Sarries would have sold out signs up each week. Like it or lump it to get new people through the gate, 80 minutes of boredom punctuated by a minutes euphoria at the final whistle isn't a big seller to new people. Yep the diehards love the victory alone but you are not going to entice new people back week after week that way and if you can't survive on the diehards cash alone then you're up some creek without a paddle.
We may have a slightly different agenda because we are already filling seats but if we went down the same route, forget that new stand.