Saints 35 - 23 Not Nots

In the end this proved a convincing win and my fears were unfounded.  It didn't seem that way in the first 5 minutes however as Ryan Lamb managed two drop goals (one the result of a Smyler kick being charged down) and we were down 6-0 in the blink of an eye.  However that was the last time that the Exiles were to look threatening, the final score flattering them as a result of some disruption near the end of the match (more of which later).

Smyler came into his own.  Instead of being phased by his early mistake, he took the game by the scruff.  Wonderful positional kicking, great handling.  This was the fly half we wished we always saw.  Confident, play making.  He shortly narrowed the lead with a penalty from a difficult position.  In fact his place kicking throughout the game was fantastic, some really difficult kicks going over, and only one miss for the entire match.

The first try came from Jamie Elliott.  At only 18 he is the youngest player we have, but he is already showing flare and poise.  He was targeted with the high ball at the Irish restarts but he caught every one.  And he never dropped out of a tackle.  But even more impressive is his pace and his ability to spin out of hits.  He reminds me of Shane Williams in many ways.  And after a couple of attempts that didn't quite make it, finally he got over in the corner and things were moving the right way.

Next was a try magicked out of nowhere.  A smart pick up of a loose ball which had spilt out of a ruck by Brett Sharman and he was off.  But it was clear he couldn't make it the whole way.  Digger was on his outside and his arms were out for the pass.  Brett decided to kick ahead instead.  If you ever see a replay you will see Digger turn to Brett and say something very rude before haring down the field after the ball.  A lovely weighted chip ahead and then Digger was able to drop on the ball scoring a fine try.  Brett got a lot of plaudits, but the reports internally suggest that if he ever tries that again then he is going to find himself in the Wanderers for the rest of the season.

The try of the match came from Clarke however.  This time from a maul.  Tiny was standing his ground with a horde of Irish trying to bring him down.  Clarke sees an opportunity and scoops the ball out of Tiny's hands.  And after a neat side step around Hodgson he's got the field ahead of him clear except for one figure.  Delon Armitage.  Delon prepares, he waits.  Clarke nears him.  And just as Delon goes for the tackle Clarke makes a beautiful side step which completely out-manouvres Delon who only manages to get enough of a hand on Clarke that he is spun around and down while Clarke continues on to the line and the try.

Half time and Saints well in the lead.  Three tries up.  Almost 90% of territory.  Dominant.

Scoring slowed after half time but it was clear that the Saints weren't going to let go.  And from a game that had initially looked dangerous there was now the sniff of a bonus.  Sure enough it was to come.  From a scrum, that rock of our play this season, Ryan Powell went to the blindside.  Only Ojo to get passed, and a nice offload to Digger saw him go in for his second try of the match.

15 minutes to go and the Saints were firmly in charge.  London Irish hadn't looked like scoring but were making a quick foray into our 22.  Then disaster.  Digger attempted to tackle the biggest player on the pitch and got himself in completely the wrong position.  He received a knee to the head for his troubles and was laid out cold.  A long long time for treatment, and a lot of concern from the supporters, but he was awake when he was stretchered off, and later reports indicate that he recovered quickly and is OK.  However this disrupted the team.  At the restart after the injury they let in a soft try.  And then a mispass by TinTin allowed Ojo to race away for a second (although nearly caught by Elliott).  The Irish were able to go home with a semblance of respectability but, in reality, they were crushed.

Scorers:
Saints - Tries: Elliott, Digger (2), Clarke; Cons: Smyler (3); Pens: Smyler (2), TinTin
London Irish - Tries: Hala'ufia, Ojo; Cons: Lamb (2); DGs: Lamb (2); Pens: Lamb

Saints vs Not Nots

It's cold. In fact that's an understatement. The snow may not have arrived but I have more layers on than at any other time this season.

Big game tonight. Last week we went top of the league. Who did we knock off the top spot. London Irish. So they will be desparate to get that back again. If they fail then we start to see daylight between first and second for the first time this season.

Traditionally this has been a close game. Last season we won, but only in extra time with a try in the last play of the game. Something that did not go well with Delon Armitage who had a go at the ref. The same Delon who was released by Jonni from the England squad this week so he'll be out there.

Too close to call.

Saints 28 - Dragons 3

It's very easy to get disappointed by not getting bonus points.  This was a good win unfortunately undone by some decisions made by the ref (more of which later).  In this case though the lack of a bonus probably means that the Saints are out of the LV Cup.  The set up of the LV is strange.  What matters is how the teams in another pool perform, rather than how you perform.  We could do a lot of damage to the other teams in our pool, but we don't come up against them.  The other pool is being hammered by ours.  So what will happen is the top from our pool will go through and then the top of our competing pool will go through even though they have lost more games.  It's weird.

But, to the ref.  Unfortunately this ref decided to throw yellow cards against the Dragons props.  This may sound like a good thing, but it lead to uncontested scrums.  This is a disaster for us.  Having a man sent off actually helped the Dragons.  Not only does it take away our powerhouse, but it means that the Dragons backs are able to take defensive positions knowing that they won't be going backwards.  How this was the correct decision compared to a penalty try is beyond me.

But, some good play by the team.  Second try for Smyler which is excellent.  TinTin was playing full back and this was the normal mixed bag.  The defining moment of his career may well be when he managed to break through the Dragons defence, outrun them all ..... and then trip over his own feet before getting to the try line. 

Scorers:
Saints - Tries: Smyler, Digger, Clark; Cons: Smyler (2); Pens: Smyler (3)
Dragons - Pen: Jones

Go Flash

Flash scores two against the Wallabies. And the second is an iconic moment, fantastic running from his own 22 in order to score. Beautiful to watch.

Chris Ashton try v Australia 13.11.10

Chris Ashton try v Australia 13.11.10: "Chris Asthon scores an incredible 95m try against Australia"

Tiny Award

Tiny has been awarded the Premiership Player of the Month.  And he definitely deserves it.  He is the Saints leading try scorer this season, which is no mean feat for a prop.  In fact, unless anyone else did anything magical recently, he is the leading try scorer in the premiership this season.  Which is nothing short of amazing.  But when you see Tiny charging down the pitch you just know that inside there somewhere is a wing trying to get out (as opposed to the ones in front of him who just want to get out of the way). 

Well done Tiny.

Crack

And the bad news is in.  Dicko has a broken leg after the match against the Falcons.  Expected to be off for at least 8 weeks.  I suspect that this is going to have a significant impact on the games over the next couple of months.  I believe that Lee is under-appreciated, and doesn't get the recognistion he deserves for everything he does.  Ryan Powell will have to step up now, and that is going to be tough.

Saracens 22 - Saints 22

We weren't able to make this game as we were in London for a friends birthday party.  I did suggest that we could stop at Watford on the way back.  But I was out-voted.  I suspect that the main reason I was out-voted was because the girls thought we were going to lose this one.  Our recent history against the Sarries has not been good, and they were turning out a strong side whilst ours was really a Wanderers team (too many England call ups and too many injuries).

So while we were meandering around the Wellcome Museum I was recounting the score.  And couldn't beleive how close it got.  In fact it was almost a win.  The Saints played the better rugby and had more to show, with three tries, but indiscipline let the Sarries keep in touch.  And then it sounds as though they sat back a bit in the second half letting the Saracens back in.  Finally in the dying minute TinTin touched down to bring the scores level.  Sadly, rather than pass the ball to Joe Ford, TinTin decided to take the conversion himself - after had a poor day with the boot already - and missed. 

An opportunity gone begging.  But, to be honest, I'll take a draw.  Just from now on I'm going to have to cheer on the Sarries as we need them to beat everyone else in our pool.

Scores:
Saints - Tries: Dreyer, Digger, TinTin; Cons: TinTin (2); Pens: TinTin (1)
Saracens - Try: Melck; Cons: Wgglesworth; Pens: Wigglesworth (5)