News: Match Preview Northampton Saints v Bath Rugby.
By David Lowrence
December 2 2009
It is some time since I last visited the Bath board to partake in a spot of Coochiebaiting. Somehow it would seem to be a little heartless, as Bath visit The Gardens on Saturday, in the midst of a poor run of matches which sees them at 11th in the League with 11 points. However I can put my heart away and make an exception in this case, so I will indulge myself on ERE between now and Saturday!
Guinness Premiership Round 10
Northampton Saints v Bath Rugby
Franklin's Gardens Saturday 5th December 2009 KO 3pm
Last year's equivalent fixture saw Bath dent Saints' home record by fighting back with a Butch James try 8 minutes from time to claim a 28 point draw.It was not without it's moments though.
At the time, Bath were the League leaders, so it was no mean feat to hold them to a draw, and Saints' supporters were pleased with that result. In the Christmas return fixture at the Rec however, we lost 25-14.
Matches between the two sides have usually been spicy affairs, (Grewcock feasting on the Buzzard's scrumcap springs to mind) and for some reason, I always think that Saints will play second fiddle and be the underdog. However the record since 1996 in the top league tells an intriguingly different story. Of 24 matches Saints have won 14, drawn 1 and lost 9. Of the home games Saints Have won 10, drawn 1, lost 1. How the mind plays tricks!
Bath's only win this season was an away match against Sale, but they managed a draw with Worcester, and ran Harlequins close. Saints come to the match with a clean sheet at home, and having won their last two Premiership games. So what can be gleaned from the above to help this pessimist preview Saturday's match?
Err?.....not a lot really! Saints are on a roll. The rollercoaster which has represented Northampton's progress over past Premiership outings has become stuck at the top of the ride. The altitude, and the worry that the unaccustomed good vibes represent a position with which many of us are still coming to terms gives a strange feeling to this scribbler. It's fantastic, but the nosebleeds and lack of oxygen remind me that it is a long while since we have been this good, and it is a steep drop! The team is playing for all its members, the supporters are louder than ever, the ground is packed but I seem to have taken over Bleach's mantle at the nervous naysayer. So what gives cause for these feelings? Bath, having had an Annus horribilus off the pitch last season, are following up with a dreadful season on the pitch. On their Sportnework ERE board, the squabbling has broken out. Did Steve Meehan really blame the supporters for the current woes? "How very dare you!" comes the reply. Lines are drawn in the sand, snipers take up their positions - there will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. (For CoochiCoo teeth will be provided). Comparisons can be drawn with Saints in our relegation season - scouts are scanning the boards for the appearance of the weretoogoodtogodown bird, and when it appears over the Bath Spa the similarities will be complete. But they are not yet there.
Beware the wounded recdweller. The Bath team is packed with some really good players. One suspects that (and Annie Blackthorn on their site agrees with me) they could leave the Meehan coaching manual on the bus and just pick the first fifteen guys through the gates to Franklin's village and let them play their own game. That way they could win. It won't happen though! But if Steve Meehan and his coaches have been able to instil a modicum of teamwork and pride into the squad this week, they could cause a nasty surprise.
Saints on the other hand need to address the return of first-half-itis. I love the expansive game Jim is fostering, but the Brazilian approach of "It doesn't matter how many you score we'll just score more", is directly responsible for the increase in hospital referrals in Northampton as more and more of us become gibbering wrecks. Saints are very good at it though!
When Sat'dee comes
I think that Jim will resist the temptation to rest any of the players this week, given his regard for any Premiership team and the "momentum" style, which he seeks. Paul Diggin, Bruce Reihana and Ignacio Fernandez Lobbe are unavailable through injury. In paying due respect to Bath, and barring upsets in training, I suspect the team will be:
Northampton Saints -
15 Ben Foden
14 Chris Ashton
13 Jon Clarke
12 James Downey
11 Joe Ansbro
10 Shane Geraghty
9 Lee Dickson
1 Soane Tonga'uiha
2 Dylan Hartley
3 Euan Murray
4 Courtney Lawes
5 Juandre Kruger
6 Phil Dowson
7 Neil Best
8 Roger Wilson
Replacements
Joe Gray
Brian Mujati
Santiago Gonzalez Bonorino Christian Day
Scott Gray
Alan Dickens
Stephen Myler
Chris Mayor
Steve Meehan has a harder job. When a side is not producing results, do you stick with the selections, knowing that class is permanent, or do you change it around? ERE is full of stabs (both literally and figuratively) at the team. I don't know enough about the squad to predict a team, so I will repeat the forecast from Big Ears on their site, because he gives some reasoning for his choices, and I believe that our match up in players could provide some interesting "cameo" events on Saturday!
Bath Rugby -
15.Cuthbert(his
best position and more reliable than bendy)
14.Maddock (if not fit, Stevo)
13.Carraro (strong, fast, not really had much ball)
12.Hape ( best option at the moment)
11.Bannahan (still a potent weapon) (Ed - Albeit a carpet)
10.Little (plays flatter, place kicking better)
9.Bemand (good SH in his own right)
1.Catt (good scrummager and good around the loose)
2.Hawkins (throwing bit hit and miss but good in loose)
3.Bell (about only player who has earned his corn so far)
4.Grewcock (a player with go forward and can be spiky) (Ed - Let him try and eat Courtney's scrum cap)
5.Hobson (looked good in LV=.not much competition)
6.Browne (ball carrier who does a lot of the donkey work) (Ed - C Block - Bring a large mirror - He'll never get
past it!)
7.Ovens (tough call. Salvi is class but too many pens)
8.Watson (c) (natural leader, and top class player)
Dixon
Flatman
Wilson
Hooper
Jonny F
Classens
Davis
Bendy
Having aired my worries about success, I now feel much better! Saints have laid a number of ghosts in the past nine GP matches, including the away match monkey and the perceived dependence on icon players. Saturday is the time to nail the myth that we can't be ruthless against a weaker team. From the off, Saints must play their game, Pressure, Pressure, Pressure. Using our strength up front, Bath (who will want to prevent Tin Tin from playing his normal game) should be pinned to the back foot. Don't let them get a sniff.
For 80 minutes.
It might get a bit lively, but let Bath play the negative game. This is a golden opportunity for five points, provided Saints don't try and force it. Just play their own game, and the points will come.
And so to a prediction: - deep breath, - Saints by three tries
If you do not already have an account Click here to Register.
On the other hand, I am looking forward to seeing Courtney come up against a scrumcap almost twice his age...
Up and atom,Saints!
Bridesmaids no more.
One of my favourite Saints V Bath matches is 1998 and I've made no secret of this. 11 years on I can see this match going the same way as that one but as this is Saints we're talking about, I'm prepared fo any possible outcome. Looking forward to a great match and hopefully a glimpse of the Perigrine!
No alcohol for January. I'm a dryathlete in aid of cancer research.
Dryathlon
Quote:What a lovely preview but why start with the coochie baiting? Aren't we above that?
Let without sin cast the first stone...
This is a five point win for Saints this week. I'm off to do my Smurf swindle.
Quote:The Begatter
why start with the coochie baiting?
Because was something of a tradition over the years.
Because I enjoy it
It is the pantomime season
David L
What if there were no hypothetical questions?
- Live wrong and preposterously
I'm sure they'll have one eye on what Leeds are doing this weekend too - no bigger motivation for Leeds to get off the bottom of the table.
I didn't think we'd beat Newcastle away and we did with relative ease (and with some help from the ref apparently). This is a game we should win. I'm sure Big Jim and Nobby have been demanding full commitment and no complacency towards this game, as they do every other. I reckon saints by a dozen at least.
Come On You Saints
Saint til I die
Come On You Saints
As for Bath as i said somewhere on another thread, they might have a big game in them, whether thats this week who knows but I still think if we're near the top of our we'll edge it.
I am currently feeling 'edgy' on this one got bannana skin or is that 'Bannana man' written all over it!Top of the League 2014-2015 Season
We will need to be switched on all game or there could be an upset.
Looking forward to the visit to FG, not so much the match, but you never know........
"Your days are numbered. Use them to throw open the windows of your soul to the sun. If you do not, the sun will soon set, and you with it."
-- Marcus Aurelius, Roman Emperor 161-180 A.D.
"Your days are numbered. Use them to throw open the windows of your soul to the sun. If you do not, the sun will soon set, and you with it."
-- Marcus Aurelius, Roman Emperor 161-180 A.D.
You guys are playing top class rugby and deserve to win by a street. If we perform like last Saturday it will be by a town.( I regret)
By the way I,live in Frome where Jon Clark was born and bred and played for the local club's minis and we want him back- Please!
Quote:Bathovalballer
I have always had a regard for a 'proper'rugby club like Northampton
PLEASE!!! don't call us that - that TOKS on the SArries Fezheads board might see it - and it will wind him up something chronic!
David L
What if there were no hypothetical questions?
- Live wrong and preposterously