Saints 57 - Wasps 10

Nice to get back to winning.  Although Wasps were fairly dire so this is not really a true indication for the next few weeks.  But 8 tries to 1 (which was illegal anyway but we will let that pass) made braving the rather bitter weather worth it.

The Saints are now in the LV semi-final with a home game against the Scarlets.  Revenge or a repeat humilation, which will it be.

Half Time 22-3

Attendance 12,128

Referee Dean Richards

 MOM Christian Day

Northampton Saints

No.	Name	T	C	D	P
15	Paul Diggin
14	Jamie Elliott	2T
13	George Pisi
12	James Downey
11	Noah Cato	2T
10	Stephen Myler		7C		1P
9	Martin Roberts
1	Soane Tongauiha
2	Andy Long	1T
3	Brian Mujati
4	James Craig	1T
5	Christian Day
6	Calum Clark
7	Ben Nutley
8	Roger Wilson
16	Mike Haywood
17	Alex Waller	1T
18	Tom Mercey
19	Mark Sorenson
20	Samu Manoa
21	Ryan Glynn
22	Tom May
23	Vasily Artemyev

London Wasps

No.	Name	T	C	D	P
15	Hugo Southwell
14	Lee Robinson
13	Alex Cheesman
12	Chris Mayor
11	Richard Haughton
10	Will Robinson		1C		1P
9	Charlie Davies
1	Tim Payne
2	Nathan Morris
3	Ben Broster
4	Heinz Koll
5	Ed O'Donoghue
6	Tinus du Plessis
7	Matt Everard
8	Victor Gresev
16	Vladislav Korshunov
17	Bob Baker
18	Simon McIntyre
19	Joe Burton
20	Sam Jones
21	Joe Simpson	1T
22	Nicky Robinson
23	Charlie Ingall

Two Different Games, Two Similar Results

Bad times for the Saints. Two very different games a week apart, but between them shipping over 90 points. The defensive machine has fallen and no-one is entirely sure why.

The first of these matches was against Munster and it was the last pool game of the Heineken. We had already messed up the Heineken and wouldn't be going through but, as well as pride, there was the chance to drop into the Amlin. So not a dead rubber.

Munster played their best game this season. But that doesn't tell the whole story. The Saints just didn't really get going. Whenever they made progress then they rapidly shipped points from poor restarts. Was it the disruption of playing a home match in Milton Keynes, something that had caused an awful lot of angst amongst the fans. Was it the antics of Flash and his move to Saracens announced during the week leading to him storming off the training pitch a few days earlier. Was it ten players with their eyes on the England shirt. Whatever it was, the end result was ugly. The Saints scored over 30 points, normally enough to win a match but gar away even more. In the last 5 matches the opposition only crossed the try line 3 times, in this match Munster crossed 5 times. A remarkable transformation.

Which brings us to the second match. LV Cup this time. The LV is still a possible route for us to get to the Heineken next season. So some consternation when a young team was picked to play an almost full strength Bath side. And it was as painful as we feared. Lacking Dicko to marshal the forces and all the rest of the Englamd call ups to provide stability, there was a lack of game management that Bath were able to capitalise on.

Still wearing the shirt, still a Saint, but a tough week at the office!

Ospreys 22 - Saints 32

This always had the potential to be an interesting match.  Ospreys put out a fairly junior team (with a lot of players still in New Zealand or making their way back after a fairly successful World Cup for Wales - as an aside, how do Wales get to the 3rd/4th play-off and still go down in the world rankings, something wrong there) while the Saints had their World Cup players integrating back into the team.  One of those matches that is always threatening an upset. 

Looking at the result you could think that it was closer than, in many ways, it was.  Saints got the bonus point for 4 tries.  Ospreys only got one try, the rest of the points came from the boot of Matthew Morgan (rightfully MOM), and that was despite playing for 20 minutes with only 14 men after the ref gave two yellow cards.  But while the Saints showed their experience in holding the game and correcting early errors, the Ospreys youngsters should be proud of a fantastic effort

The first half was an untidy affair from the Saints.  A lot of errors, handling was rusty and penalties given.  Typical integration team, the world cup players not really sre of the new members of the team and calls not fully understood.  The first try came from Vasily, making 4 tries in two matches, after a nice pass from Lamby found Fodes who then put Vasily over unopposed.  For a while everything bogged down into a rough and slightly bad tempered game and the half time score was 19-10 to the Ospreys.  Saints fans where left wondering what was going to happen, the Saints looked dominant but weren't getting the points on the board whereas the Ospreys were keeping it all ticking over, helped by their one try just before half time coming from an intercept by Sonny Parker of a Vasily pass.

Jim Mallinder clearly gave the guys a bit of a talking to.  They came out looking determined, if not happy.  But they put the ill-discipline to the side and tightened up on all aspects.  Starved of penalty opportunities then the Ospreys were always going to struggle.  But even after Dylan collected the next two tries during the first fifteen minutes of the second half, he still didn't break a smile, clearly this wasn't enough in his mind and more was needed.  And sure enough, a few minutes after that Callum Clark collected a wonderfully weighted cross kick from Lamby to go over, with other men spare.  19 unanswered points and the Saints looked done and dusted.  A penalty each for the teams didn't affect the final score greatly and the Ospreys were unlucky to leave without a bonus point after a good display.

Match Details

• Half Time 19-10
• Attendance 4,463
• Referee Neil Hennessy 

Ospreys

No.	Name	T	C	D	P
15	Ross Jones
14	Tom Prydie
13	Ben John
12	Sonny Parker	1T
11	Eli Walker
10	Matthew Morgan		1C		5P
9	Tom Habberfield
1	Cai Griffiths
2	Scott Baldwin
3	Aaron Jarvis
4	Tom Smith
5	Ian Evans
6	James King
7	Sam Lewis
8	Morgan Allen
16	Mefin Davies
17	Joe Rees
18	Duncan Jones
19	Richard Kelly
20	Chauncey O'Toole
21	Tom Grabham
22	Will Price
23	Kristian Phillips

Northampton Saints

No.	Name	T	C	D	P
15	Ben Foden
14	Chris Ashton
13	Scott Armstrong
12	James Downey
11	Vasily Artemyev	1T
10	Ryan Lamb		3C		1P
9	Lee Dickson
1	Soane Tongauiha
2	Dylan Hartley	2T
3	Paul Doran-Jones
4	Courtney Lawes
5	Mark Sorenson
6	Calum Clark	1T
7	Tom Wood
8	Roger Wilson
16	Mike Haywood
17	Alex Waller
18	Tom Mercey
19	Samu Manoa
20	Phil Dowson
21	Martin Roberts
22	Stephen Myler				1P
23	Jon Clarke

Saints 36 - Sarries 6

Over the last couple of years the Sarries have become a bit of a bogey team for the Saints. There are several reasons behind it - some of the support is more football like than rugby, the Tiny incident, the fact that they keep beating us (!). Anyway, having finally got a win last week this was theoretically not the match that we now needed. Yes, it's LV Cup so not the full first choice Sarries, but it isn't our top team either. Some interesting choices in the team though - Vasily Artemyev making his debut, Jamie Elliott finally back from injury, Tom Wood back from the World Cup, Sarge back from injury. And on the bench Dylan, Courtney, Tiny, Cesare.

It turns into a dream start for Vasily (now nicknamed Vaseline for his ability to slip through) and he has a try within minutes of the whistle. Like last week the team are showing signs of playing and running. A second try for Vaseline before half time and he has won over the fans. Sarries putting on pressure but other than two penalties they can't follow through.

The second half continues well. Vaseline gets his third try, a hattrick on his debut, how's that to light the rugby world, and Jamie Elliott gets a brace. When the Saints run then hey are fun and dangerous. When they go back to a kicking game then it becomes less dominant and some worrying moments. When the Saints play well though it is a great game, audacious off loads which don't always go to hand but you can forgive for the vision. And without the ones that don't go to hand then those that do wouldn't happen either and we wouldn't have 5 tries. It's worth mentioning the last try, a beautifully weighted chip from Smyler going into Elliotts hands for him to dive over after a sprint for the line.

Saints 38 Leeds 23

Well I said that the first ten minutes would be important. Saints scored a try ten minutes in and then got rolling. Flatmates Tonks and Commins both scores tried so that gives them something to talk about tonight!
Leeds will be bitterly disappointed to throw that away. They get a bonus point for 4 tries, but not enough.

Mixed feelings coming away from this game.  Certainly if we let the Sarries get this far ahead next week then it is unlikely we will be given an opportunity to get back in.  But a lot of credit to the team for not letting their heads drop and to show this much resilience.

Defence was poorer than we normally expect from the Saints.  Exactly why is unclear.  TinTin does struggle and bounces off a lot of tackles rather than holding his man, and then we seemed to be leaving gaps that aren't normally there.  Just not tight enough.  The attaking game was better though for the first half lacking penetration.  Not least because of unforced errors at vital times.  Sometimes it is as thought they try too hard, and by trying to force it then they slip.

Scores:
Saints - Tries: TinTin, Brett, Tonks, Piggy, Sarge, Commins; Cons: TinTin, Brooce (3);
Leeds - Tries: Tincknell, Craig, Fourie, Rowan; Cons: Thomas (2)

Saints 12 Leeds 19

Not a half-time score I was expecting to see. Saints not firing properly and squandered some chances. But more importantly the Saints defence is leaving holes for Leeds to come through. And this week we don't have a Wanderers team out. A number of our first choice players who should be doing better than this. Can Jim turn them around now and fire them up. The first 10 minutes of the second half will be crucial.

Sent from my iPhone

London Irish vs Saints

An interesting game this one. As a result of International and Saxons duties the Saints were severely depleted. Even those that weren't committed elsewhere were being rested so this was effectively a Wanderers team. In fact two of the bench are normally on loan to Cambridge.

Despite this they put on a good show and at times had London Irish worried. They probably showed more running rugby but were unable to break through a resilient Not-Not defence.

A loss but a good run out for the youngsters, some of whom showed promise for the future.

Sent from my iPhone

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

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)