Another Semi, another loss
By Darraghgirl
March 8 2014
There had been much debate before this game as to the sort of team we would put out. On the one hand there is the theory that “this is a development competition and these are the players that have got us here” and on the other hand “we need to win a semi final so lets put out a decent team”.
Last year little DG and I made the journey up to Salford to see Saracens fail to turn up against a spirited Sale team. This time, with a sense of Déjà vu and tickets for the England Wales game tomorrow, Little DG decided to play netball and I watched it from the sofa. From where, due to the lack of volunteers from those who went to the Gardens, I write this report.
As expected, Mark McCall went with the development squad citing “those players who have got us this far deserve to play”. One might suggest that that isn’t exactly true. This team wasn’t good enough in the final pool game at the same venue against the same opposition and there was no reason to suppose they could turn the tide. The team that took the field showed 14 changes from the win against Bath with only Wray surviving. It also showed a marked similarity to the team which lost to The Saints on the 1st Feb with the only changes being tinkering around the edges, Barrington and George for Saunders and Gill in the front row and Botha and Wray for Smith and de Jager. Arguably only Wray would find his name on the First team sheet. By contrast the Northampton side included a little bit of fairy dust with the appearance of Ben Foden, George Pisi, Christian Day, Phil Dowson, Sam Dickinson and Kahn Fotuali’I all of whose names would normally be on the first team sheet. On paper it didn’t look enough and sadly that is what would prove to be the case.
Last year most of our backs and a proportion of our forwards were away on international duty so we had little option but to play our Storm team but this year, with only Faz and Billy out for the whole six nations, we could, perhaps should, have strengthened the team a tad. Ash must be short of match practice, Brad, Burger and Tomkins are recently back from injury – now everyone has another week off!
Saints got the better of the early exchanges and went ahead from a lovely penalty by Hooley (probably the high point of his day). Dominance from the Saints pack produced a second penalty and Saints went 6-0 ahead after 10 minutes. Then the first real Sarries’ attack but Tagi couldn’t quite pick up a grubber kick near the line. Saints lost their promising centre Tom Stephenson with an ankle injury however that allowed Stephen Myler to take the pitch and although initially he sat back and allowed Hooley to run the game, he gradually picked up the reins and by the end of the match was well and truly in charge.
Tim Streather made a lovely break but Tagi just didn’t have the pace to find the line – maybe it would have been a different story if Ash was playing. Some bewildering refereeing at the scrum saw free-kicks and penalties alternate seemingly at random. Then Wilson broke dangerously down the wing but Foden’s defence was good enough to force him into touch.
Eventually after a promising 10 minutes, Sarries won a scrum on the Saints’ 5m line. Wray peeled off the back and after several attempts through the forwards, Mordt found Ransom who wriggled his way through the defence to score. Mr Hodges, who did Sarries few favours all match, seemed determined to find a reason to disallow the try but the TMO couldn’t find any sign of a knock on and the try stood. Spencer converted and Sarries took the lead.
Sarries were awarded a penalty after a good kick chase but Spencer missed a fairly straightforward kick. Botha then, somewhat to his surprise, found himself in the clear. He offloaded to Bosch but somehow the Argentine lost the ball with the try line beckoning. With 5 minutes to go before the break, Sarries seemed to have scored again with a lovely break from deep by Bosch. Again Mr Hodges went to the TMO and this time the pass was ajudged forward although to be honest on TV (where it was a poor angle) it looked flat at worst. Kyran Bracken (not surprisingly) and Will Greenwood (in the neutral corner) both felt the call was harsh on Sarries. Had the try stood I think the game would have followed a somewhat different course but there we are. Sarries had another opportunity to score before halftime but this time it ended in a knock on and as the half time whistle sounded, for all their pressure and territory, Sarries had a lead of just a single point. Too many points had been left out on the pitch due to poor finishing.
Sarries started the 2nd half as they had left off the first with Streather almost putting Bosch through for a score. Sarries changed their props but the tide was turning and momentum seemed to be with the Saints. Two Spencer clearances were charged down putting Sarries back into danger. Wilson just managed to get George Pisi in touch but Saints were now camped in the Sarries’ 22. Saints also changed their props and immediately forced Sarries to collapse a driving maul. Inevitably Saints got the ball over the line through George Pisi. Mr Hodges again went to the TMO but there was no saving Sarries and the try stood. Hooley pulled a simple conversion horribly but Saints were back in the lead at 11-7.
There was more extraordinary refereeing at the scrum (free kick one way, penalty the other) before both teams brought on their big guns. Smith, Hodgson, De Kock and De Jager replaced Sherriff, Mordt, Spencer and Melck while Manoa and Clark replaced Craig and Nutley. Immediately Saints won a kickable penalty but Myler showed Saints’ ambition by kicking for the corner. It was all Saints now, a Myler drop goal stretched the lead to 14-7. Sarries, who had looked so assured in the first half, began to wobble. A line-out was knocked on. Foden kicked the ball deep into the Sarries 22. Bosch seemed to have it covered but then dithered and was forced to knock on. There was only ever one outcome from the Saints’ scrum in front of the post and George Pisi duly scored his second although again Hooley missed the conversion.
At this stage the penalty count was 10-1 in favour of Saints. One had to question how a game, which was otherwise pretty even, was so one sided when it came to interpretation by the referee. I have yet to be impressed by Mr Hodges’ officiating and this performance did nothing to convince me!
The wheels were really coming off now for Sarries. They stole a line out but knocked on. Dubious penalties were conceded at the scrum. Passes weren’t going to hand. An apparently deliberate knock on by Saints wasn’t given. Eventually Charlie intercepted a careless Saints pass and headed for the tryline as fast as his 33 year old legs would carry him. It wasn’t fast enough and George Pisi made a try saving tackle. But play was now in the Saints 22 with an attacking lineout – which was overthrown and the chance was gone.
It was all Saints now. Ransom and Wyles (on for Tagi) forced Autagavaia into touch but it made no difference. With just 4 minutes left, George Pisi collected the ball from a driving maul and no one was going to stop him getting his hat trick. Myler had taken over kicking duties and converted the try for 26-7. Finally, in the last minute, Sarries were awarded just their second penalty of the game (the final count was 13-2). Inevitably the resulting lineout was knocked on and it was all over.
So Saints go to Exeter next weekend (which at least means I don’t have to persuade Mr DG why I’ll be out at rugby for another whole Sunday!), their 3rd LV Cup final in 5 years. This was our 4th successive defeat to Northampton and our 5th successive semi final defeat (going back to the Premiership semi-final in 2012). We are becoming the Tim Henman of Premiership rugby. Let’s hope last season doesn’t repeat itself in 2014.
Northampton
Foden, K Pisi, G Pisi, Stephenson (Myler), Collins (Autagavaia), Hooley, Fotuali’I (A Day), E Waller (A Waller), Hayward (McMillan), Mercy (Denman), Craig (Manoa), C Day, Nutley (Clark), Dowson, Dickenson
Saracens
Ransom, Tagicakibau (Wyles), Streather, Bosch, Wilson, Mordt (Hodgson), Spencer (De Kock), Barrington (Gill), George (Saunders), Du Plessis (Johnson), Sherriff (Smith), Botha, Melck (De Jaeger), Hankin, Wray
Scorers:-
Northampton:
Tries: G Pisi (3) Conv: Myler, Pens: Hooley (2) DG Myler
Saracens:
Try: Ransom Conv: Spencer
Att 11,062
Referee: Leighton Hodges (WRFU)
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2014:03:23:17:21:05 by Darraghgirl.
