Saints 34 - Falsons 13

Overall a harder fought match than last week at the Wasps.  Not helped by being down 4 men to the Autumn Internationals.  And then definitely not helped by the injuries as the game progressed (not looking good for Dicko, which is depressing).

The forwards again showed their dominance.  One of the longest drives you are ever likely to see was the result of one action.  Bascially they were all over the Falcons scrum, but couldn't quite turn that dominance into a score for a lot of the match.  It is sometimes as though they are too powerful, and it all runs away with them.

An odd interview at half time.  ESPN spoke to the Falcons coach who implied that Brookes had been brought off as he was struggling but would come back on in a new position later.  Sure enough, later in the seond half an "injury" meant that Brookes was able to come back on.  Tactical substitutions are illegal in rugby union, so this smells funny to say the least.

Brett Sharman got man of the match.  Also odd.  Certainly Brett played well in the loose and is rapidly coming up to form.  But his line-out throwing still leaves a lot to be desired.  A number of times the Saints could have had the Falcons on the rack, only for the line-out to let us down.

But, overall, another excellent result.

Scorers:
Saints - Tries: Dicko, Tonks, Ansbro, Downey; Cons: Smyler (4); Pens: Smyler (2)
Falcons - Tries: Manning; Cons: Gopperth; Pens: Gopperth (2)

Wasps 10 - Saints 37

So the previous post was the prematch round-up.  But having come back from the match we can say that this was sheer devastation.  It put to bed one of the last bogey grounds for us.  A stunning display of rugby.

The Saints came out of the blocks firing on all cylinders.  There was a level of determination that has been missing in a few games.  Clearly this was one that they meant to win.  What made it more impressive is that they never let up.  Accused many a time of not being clinical enough, there was no time when they seem to relax and go off the boil.  A full 80 minutes of intensity.  Described in the papers as a "drubbing" or "trounced".  No quarter given.

Smyler wasn't quite as good with the boot from the tee as we would hope.  But he scored the opening try with a bit of nifty footwork.  He also set up Flash's try with a lovely grubber for Flash to retrieve and go over.  His kicking from hand was good and his overall game management was excellent.  There was variety which kept the Wasps guessing, giving us the edge throughout.

Tiny scored twice.  Making him our highest try scorer, not bad for a prop.  Possibly, and I haven't confirmed this, he may be the highest try scorer the premiership this season.  And Courtney scored as well, showing the dominance of the scrum.  In fact it was impossible to count how many times the Saints got the turnover, stopping the Wasps from ever having enough possession to be a threat.  Line-outs again proved to be a strong point, so much so that Tom Wood has now received a call-up for England in place of the injured Simon Shaw.

An away win with a bonus.  A great day.  And we are second in the table, one point behind the Irish.

Scorers:
Saints - Tries: Smyler, Flash, Tiny (2), Courtney; Cons: Smyler (3); Pens: Smyler (2)
Wasps - Try: Jacobs; Con: Walder; Pen: Walder

Prematch Wasps vs Saints

Ten minutes to go and the ground I filling up. History favours the Wasps today. Last time we beat them on the own soil was 1999. And overall the victories lean to them. But this Saints line-up is the team that beat Edinburgh in Murrayfield last week. Playing well they have the strength and the game management skills to close out the Wasps.
It's dry. It's sunny. Everything is here for a good match. Let battle commence.
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Ansbro

Congratulations to Joe for being picked in the Scotland squad for the up-coming internationals.  His place in the Saints is difficult. In many teams he could be in the starting line up but he is more often on our bench.  This partly reflects his versatility.  Having him on the bench means he can be called in for wing, centre or even full back.  But he is one of those players that you are happy to see come on.  Greatly loved by the Saints fans, he is a good and strong player.

It's difficult supporting a team.  You want your players to get recognition but at the same time don't want to lose them.  I really don't like the idea of not having Ansbro to fall back on but I am very pleased that he has got what he deserves.

Edinburgh 27 - Saints 31

A trip up to Scotland for the team.  Unfortunately I had been sent down to Torquay with work so that was about as far away as I could get.  I was on the train and having to rely on text messages while the match was being played.

Edinburgh are a tough team at Murrayfield.  It might be the atmosphere, or lack of it, with so few fans in such a large stadium.  Everyone can be seen crowding around the players tunnel.  On TV the Saints followers had a louder voice than the home crowd.  It may be the width of the pitch, although this suits the Saints well.  Whatever it is, this is not an easy match, and they nearly beat Cardiff away last weekend.  So it promised to be a match.

And it lived up to it.  Anyone says the rules prevent tries at the moment needs to watch this game.  Edinburgh especially showed some lovely ball skills.  But at half time the Saints were in touch 24-21, and the Saints are normally stronger in the second half.  Sure enough they came on and closed the game down, made it flow their way, and took control.

Smyler had a great day.  Only missed one kick, and he managed the game well.  It is easy to overlook how good Smyler is.  He isn't an "in your face" player, so he doesn't get noticed, but he is great at releasing the rest of the backs.  His kicking from hand still needs more distance but he understands the game well and plays for the team.  Welcome back.

Tonks had a good debut for the first team.  Full back is a focus positin, and with us being used to Fodes there then they are big boots to fill.  But he had a good game.  Well played and looks good for when the autumn internationals reduce our squad down.

It's easy to think that a bonus point would have been the icing.  But an away win, especially in the Heineken Cup, is a rare commodity.  Effectively 4 bonus points!  And Cardiff lost to Castre so that puts the Saints in the driving seat.

Scores:
Saints -  Tries: Downey, Digger, Rabbit; Cons: Smyler (2); Pens: Smyler (4)
Edinburgh - Tries: Cairns, Jacobsen, Talei; Cons: Paterson (3); Pens: Paterson (2)

Northampton 18 - Castres Olympique 14

Good news, but only just.  The Saints believe in living dangerously at the moment.  There were many times when this game could have been lost.  It is easy to blame the opposition, Castres came with the game plan of slowing us down and took every opportunity to act an injury, but there wasn't the fire needed in the team (or in the supporters to be honest).

This was another game that showed our weakness with the boot.  We could have been 11 points in the lead by half time but too many missed kicks allowed Castres to remain in touch leading to a nail biting second half.  When TinTin took a relatively straight forward penalty only for it to make a maximum of 5 inches off the ground then we knew it was going to be a struggle.  Brooce, after a good day kicking last week, was no better.  The calls for Smyler to be allowed back in as the first choice are getting louder.

Fodes try came within a minute of the second half starting.  Many got their hopes up and thought that this was a new invigorated team.  It wasn't to prove so however and everything bogged down.  The only thing that brightened this performance is that the following day Cardiff had as much of a struggle (in fact slightly more) against Edinburgh.  This seems to have lead to some confusion as to who is top of the pool.  The Blues are claiming it, but surely the points difference is in the favour of the Saints.

Golden moment - Smyler took a penalty.  It hit the upright, it then hit the cross bar, it bounced over (phew) and then hit the linesman on the head.  Classic.

Scorers:
Saints - Tries: Brooce, Fodes; Cons: TinTin; Pens: TinTin, Smyler
Castres - Try: Tekori; Drop goal: McIntyre; Pen: Bernard (2)

Saints 27 - Exeter 21

You should never complain about a win, but this one was odd.  Just about everyone thought this was a bonus try match.  Yes, Exeter have played well, and they shouldn't be underestimated, but surely the Saints were going to come back from the Sarries match with the blood running hot.  Somehow though all the dominance failed to turn into tries, and another yellow card pur the mockers on our aspirations.  Another match spoilt by too many penalties being given away, and this rings a lot of warning bells for the rest of the season.

A moment of confusion for the Saints supporters when Chris Budgen scored a try.  Dismay that we had let in a try mixed with joy for an ex-Saints player with a certain amount of favoured following.  We like Exeter.  It's a result of us being in the Championship so very recently.  But we don't want them scoring against us (everyone else, that's fine).

Lovely try from Digger.  It's not nice to see Flash sidelined with an injury, but of all our positions then I worry least about this one as I have a lot of time and admiration for Digger.

And Brooce got his 1000 points for the club.  It's been a while coming.  Almost there last season but then he gave the ball to Flash to score a try.  But for this match Brooce was given kicking duties.  There might be something interesting there if Jim has decided that the No.10 is no longer the kicker, or it might just be that TinTin had a groin injury.  We will see as the season progresses.

Strange.  5 matches in, 4 won, and second in the league, and yet we still don't seem to be firing on all cylinders.  Where will it go from here?

Scorers:
Saints:  Tries: Digger, Tiny; Cons: Brooce; Pens: Brooce (5)
Exeter:  Tries: Arscott, Budgen; Cons: Steenson; Pens: Steenson (3)