ECC - Bristol vs Northampton Saints - Preview

By Maverick
October 28 2005

Northampton Saints travel to the Memorial Ground this Sunday to face Bristol Rugby in Week Two of the European Challenge Cup.

Four wins on the bounce then after last Saturday’s triumph against Arix Viadana. Saints continued their positive run with a solid performance to follow on from victories against Worcester, Dragons and London Irish. Seven tries in the plus column tells its own story but the coaching team will have been disappointed to leak three at their end scored by committed but limited opponents. Any defensive frailty will be seized upon by stronger teams and must be ironed out quickly.

 

It’s Week Two of European competition this weekend and Northampton travel to the Memorial Ground on Sunday to face Bristol Rugby at 3pm. This is an important match for Saints for all manner of reasons. We may have beaten three relatively poor teams in the last few weeks but this is the kind of fixture that the club must target for a win if the season is to progress with the glass staying half-full. It’s worth noting that after Bristol this weekend it’s back to the Guinness Premiership with an away fixture at Saracens and then we welcome the Waspy Nomads to FG. To continue momentum, a win on Sunday is an absolute must.

 

On Thursday, Bristol coach Richard Hill named his XV to face the Green, Black and Gold;

Vaughan Going, Brian Lima, Rob Higgitt, Sam Cox, David Lemi, Jason Strange, Jake Rauluni, Dave Hilton, Mark Regan, Darren Crompton, Roy Winters, Gareth Llewellyn, Matt Salter (capt), Joe El Abd, Dan Ward-Smith

Replacements: Alex Clarke, Neil Clark, Olly Kohn, Geraint Lewis, Lee Robinson, Mark Denney, Danny Gray 

It’s all change from the side that put in a creditable away performance at Narbonne last week. Hill has gone for experience over youth with wholesale changes in the front-five and four further amendments in the backs and he was in bullish mood when he talked to the press earlier this week stating, “That looks a strong team to me. We're putting a strong side out. Almost as strong as we can…” I think we get the drift, Richard. One to watch, then? Mark Regan returns to the Bristol front-row having recovered from a broken thumb sustained whilst polishing his Oscar at home. He will certainly add some steel to the pack but he does sometimes get “lost” around the park instead of getting stuck in at the breakdown. It will be interesting to see how he performs after the long lay-off.

 

Saints’ Director of Rugby Budge Pountney has named the following squad for the trip along the M4;

 

15 BRUCE REIHANA (capt)
14 SEAN LAMONT
13 Jon Clarke
12 DAVID QUINLAN
11 BEN COHEN
10 CARLOS SPENCER
9 MARK ROBINSON
1 TOM SMITH
2 STEVE THOMPSON
3 Colin Noon
4 DAVID GERARD
5 Damien Browne
6 Darren Fox
7 SAM HARDING
8 Daniel Browne

Replacements: 16 Dan Richmond, 17 Chris Budgen, 18 Matt Lord, 19 Mark Soden, 20 Johnny Howard, 21 Rhodri Davies, 22 John Rudd

 

Colin Noon is the surprise selection having recovered with almost indecent haste from the calf injury he picked up against Worcester in the Powergen Cup only three weeks ago. With new signing Pat Barnard arriving at Franklin’s Gardens in the next few days Noon will be keen to put in a strong performance. Other changes in the forwards from the side that beat Viadana see Tom Smith at loose-head and Darren Fox restored to the back row. In the backs, Mark Robinson claims the nine jersey and Sean Lamont is back on the right wing – Johnny Howard and John Rudd drop to the bench. Looking at the side as a whole, it would seem that Budge now has his starting XV virtually nailed down (Barnard excepted) and the more they play together the better they will get. What is also encouraging is strength in depth with competition for the shirt in every position. As supporters, we could just be witnessing the birth of something special in the world of Northampton Saints.

 

As I mentioned above, November will see Northampton exposed to teams with serious ambition at the top end of the league table. It is vital that the team continue to learn about each other and continue their development. With this in mind I’m taking Saints to win this one in an absorbing game. However, it may not be by much – shall we say Saints by 6?