Saints rediscover winning ways

By Howlin
December 11 2005

If you are looking for a blow by blow chronology of the game dear reader, then look elsewhere. Although you will probably find it hard to find a detailed match report in the media due to this being the "secondary" European competition. The best bet is to review the thread on our own message board.

But what you will find here is the match as seen by a one eyed, glass full saints supporter who has just seen his team win for the first time in an age. A supporter who for the first time in months left Franklin's Gardens with a satisfied grin. A supporter who for the first time in god knows how long didn't spend the next four hours after the game berating the refereeing decisions, whining about poor kicking from hand , lambasting the poor lineout performance or pining for the days when Northampton Saints had a forward pack feared the length and breadth of the land.

For yes dear reader the Saints won. They won by 32 points to 20. They scored four tries and secured a bonus point. And do you know what ? It feels bloody good!

There were probably areas in the game that can still be improved , but today was full of positives. After some early jitters the scrum performed well. The lineout was the best I can remember for a long time. Some of the tackling in midfield was awesome. Bruce missed a couple of kicks but looked fairly assured for a man whose "confidence is blown" as some would have you believe. Dan Browne was given man of the match for a good all round performance including the saints first try peeling off the back of a scrum feinting the pass and gliding over like the Mercedes of number eights that he is. But for me the biggest positive, and my man of the match, was the mercurial talent that is Carlos Spencer.

After the Leicester game Carlos apologised for a poor performance. Well if he was determined to make up for it today he did so in bucket loads. His chargedown early in the game and a couple of robust tackles signified that this was a man on a mission. He even played at scrum half while Howard warmed the bench having giving the ref some ill timed advice. But it was Spencer's contribution to Saints other three tries that emphasised his influence on the outcome of the game. Saints third try was created by two inside pop up passes from the King with Bruce crossing the whitewash. Saints fourth try that seemed so long in coming was initially created by the King deciding to up the pace in the middle of the park with a long outside pass and loop around. Johnny Howard sneaking round the outside of a ruck formed shortly afterwards. But Saints second try. Well if they don't show this in their round up on Sky Sunday night then there is no rugby God. For me this was one of the best tries I have seen at the gardens. Saints recycle ball just inside their half. Carlos has ball in hand. Suddenly he changes direction and glides around the blindside at pace. The crowd waken, they can see something is on,there are players outside Carlos and the defence are taken by surprise. Within seconds he has passed the cover and is feinting a pass outside. More defenders beaten and the crowd are now roaring him on. Then a sublime inside pass to Bruce who is cutting in on the angle, I swear these two have a telepathic understanding. Bruce scythes through like a knife through butter steps inside and the try is on. Then to cap it off and to prevent any doubt of a try Bruce passes inside to Sam Harding who is bursting through the middle like a greyhound on heat. Touch down under the posts and not once did any Narbonne defender get anywhere near the ball carrier or the ball. Absolutely fantastic. The Gardens erupt. Three kiwis combined to produce the magic but don't forget the running off the ball by several others, Ben in particular to create the space. Worth the entrance money on its own and illustrates why some of us have been keen to keep the faith in what Budge and Grays are trying to build.

There was a grittty determination shown by the whole team today, Wally in particular had a very solid game. Narbonne were not here to roll over. They may be tenth in the French league, but remind yourself where Saints are in the GP. A try in each half and penalties kicked to the corners showed their ambition. Tournaire was keen to mix it at every opportunity until he limped off early in the second half and his team managed to keep the Saints and the crowd quiet for long periods of the game. But this Saints performance had a steely edge. In what has been the soft underbelly period just after half time in previous games , Saints held out. They repelled what looked like a certain try as Tournaire barged through the middle and restricted Narbonne to a couple of penalties until their late try.

So it was job done. Saints still head the group on eleven points. But Bristol also have eleven with Narbonne on eight so still a long way to go before qualification can be celebrated, starting with the return fixture next week. Narbonne showed enough today to demonstrate that this will need another strong showing to get the desired result. If you want predictions turn to Wellsaint as he got this one spot on. As for me I'll be there with a bit more hope in my heart thanks to today's solid performance.