NORTHAMPTON SAINTS v SARACENS: match preview

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2025:11:05:13:50:29 by Darraghgirl.

I would also that Elliot Daly cannot be far more making a return and he can slot in at 13, 15 or on the wing. We shall see what the coaches prefer tomorrow lunchtime

Nice preview.

Will be interesting how Dowse & McCall utilise (start or bench) the England players that were away Sunday evening to Tuesday evening.

Dowson on the challenges presented by the England camp
[www.northamptonchron.co.uk]

It's been almost fun to hear some of the plaintive noises from clubs largely unaffected by significant England call-ups over the last decade discovering a new reality. Just imagine the same when there were up to 6 extra games in the calendar and you basically didn't get compensated beyond 5 players.
I remember losing Mako, George, Kruis, Maro, Isiekwe, Billy in the pack alone. I think there was one were we even lost Singleton too who was our 2nd choice at the time although that might be a traumatic hallucinogen.

Quote:

ComeOnSarries
I would also that Elliot Daly cannot be far more making a return and he can slot in at 13, 15 or on the wing. We shall see what the coaches prefer tomorrow lunchtime

I just read in a telegraph article that Daly is likely to missing the Aus match with injury.

McCalls comments elsewhere certainly suggest that Caluori will be playing though not whether he'll be starting against Saints. He suggests that the challenge of Micthell and Smith in addition to Saints talented backs will be a good mark of where he is, or words to that effect.

Caluori v Todaro (Italian U20 Centre/Winger) or Freeman would be a very interesting one on one!!

They absolutely destroyed our scrum at the prem cup game and we’ve got to be so much better there. Van der Mescht was unplayable for the 30 minutes he was on.
A fascinating contest, they are definitely favourites but a win would set us up wonderfully for some massive games after the break.

Saracens Men team to play Northampton Saints:


1 Eroni Mawi
2 Theo Dan
3 Marco Riccioni 
4 Maro Itoje (c)
5 Hugh Tizard
6 Juan Martin Gonzalez 
7 Andy Onyeama-Christie 
8 Tom Willis 
9 Charlie Bracken 
10 Fergus Burke 
11 Jack Bracken
12 Owen Farrell
13 Nick Tompkins
14 Noah Caluori 
15 Max Malins

Replacements:

16 James Hadfield
17 Rhys Carre 
18 Marcus Street
19 Nick Isiekwe
20 Theo McFarland 
21 Ben Earl 
22 Gareth Simpson
23 Angus Hall

We are up against:

15 George Hendy
14 Tommy Freeman
13 Rory Hutchinson
12 Fraser Dingwall (c) – 150th Saints appearance
11 Edoardo Todaro
10 Fin Smith
9 Alex Mitchell

1 Danilo Fischetti
2 Robbie Smith
3 Trevor Davison – 100th PREM appearance
4 Tom Lockett
5 JJ Van Der Mescht
6 Alex Coles – 100th PREM appearance
7 Tom Pearson
8 Henry Pollock

Replacements:
16 Craig Wright
17 Emmanuel Iyogun
18 Luke Green
19 Ed Prowse
20 Callum Chick
21 Archie McParland
22 Anthony Belleau
23 Tom Litchfield

Referee: Anthony Woodthorpe
Assistant referees: Harry Walbaum and Andrew Jackson
No.4: Neil Chivers
TMO: Christophe Ridley

At least the ref won’t have lectures from Jamie George all evening……seriously though, good line ups for two free scoring teams - should be a cracker

Interesting that AOC got the nod over Ben Earl as the starting 7.
I am assuming that Jamie must have a slight niggle not to have made the 23?
But two strong teams and here’s to a cracker tomorrow evening.

Another exciting selection from us.

Im looking forward to this game.

A win would represent a superb start to the season for us.

The Bracken brothers both starting is a fantastic reflection on their parents and the quality of the Saracens academy, and also the superb club leadership that feel confident enough to select players this young for tough away league fixtures. I count there are 12 (52%) ex/current academy Saracens in the match squad and 9 (60%) in the starting XV. Outstanding.

Two very good sides picked and I think both sides with availability of most of their players.

Great to see some returnees including McFarland and Hall. Shame to see George and Cinti out and no quick return for Segun although that obviously gives us more chance to see our bright young thing.

We're still persisting with the 6/2 but at least Hall is wing and 13 cover and Simpson has covered wing for us before.

I'm very glad to see no Haffar for Saints. I rewatched the last meeting yesterday and he was the difference when he came on. Bad day for our experience bench but he was punishing us at the scrum and running over us in the loose. Iyogun in a quality LooseHead but lacks that impact (forgot that Haffar has moved to Tigers)

Interesting difference of styles at 8 starting and on the bench.

I'm really hoping for us to back up last week and am interested to see how Saints deal with Caluori if our game revolves around him again.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2025:10:23:17:29:36 by PaulHerox.

I hope they use Noah as a decoy, not simply punt the ball to him all night. Other holes will appear on the field if we are smart in our use of him.

Agree Eric. Same applies to using Willis for all our forward momentum.
The more we mix it up the harder we'll become to play.

According to the Times:
"by kick-off on Friday, nearly 1,400 days will have passed since Sarries last won there [Franklin's Gardens] on January 2, 2022"
Feels like that would be a good one to change.

Quote:

Eric Browett
I hope they use Noah as a decoy, not simply punt the ball to him all night. Other holes will appear on the field if we are smart in our use of him.

But also:

1. Noah is up against a very young and inexperienced winger. I’m sure we will be testing him out early doors, and if it works we’ll keep doing it (and equally I’m sure Saints will send one or two over to Tommy Freeman and see whether Jack can cope).

2. The cross field is such a great option when we have run out of ideas or the defence is set. Previously we’ve just grubbered it away with a 10% chance of regathering. Now we have a different option with a considerably higher success percentage.

Theo Dan is a liability at the moment

Sub Theo Dan now. We have to get a foothold and the lineout won’t give it to us

Theo Dan is a liability at lineout. Get Hadfield on

Absolute horror show in every way this

Malins looks slow as hell

Half of 2 halves ...great ending and Burke and Farrell working well

Great last 10 minutes from the team!

How on earth are we ahead in this game? We’ve been awful! Even with the ball we’ve been awful!

Some great individual brilliance to get back into it but why make it so tough?! Saints exceptional at times but because they had it so easy at the breakdown. Keen to see Earl and Big Nick come on at 50. Theo great in loose but darts must be priority #1 and he’s too unreliable

Roller coaster!

O-when the what?

We’ll take the point. Can we stop now before this turns horrible?

Bench has been abysmal

What on earth has happened to Malins? He was terrible against Quins and possibly worse tonight

I think we need to move a few players on like Tiz, Nick I, AOC, when JMG came off there was a drop off. I hope these players prove me wrong, maybe we need a new full back as well.

Physically completely dominated. I understand the backs being dominated but our pack punches well below its weight at times.

I thought Malins was shocking for the second away game in a row. He’s a bit of a liability defensively. Kick the ball through and he loses all sense of space and time and just seems to panic.

We’ll take the point. Imo it was pretty undeserved.

That was a proper reality check. We lost to Quins because we couldn’t catch. We lost today because Saints are a miles better side than us.

We lost that through mistakes. I hate singling out players so I won’t but for goodness sake, it’s not difficult to see a couple of young men that are completely out of their depth. Well done Brackens.

If you were a Sarries forward you would feel hard done by as I think we edged it up front but the Saints backs were different class to ours in terms of their speed and accuracy of pass. Malins was found out again so we really need Daly back 15. Burke is a bit predictable and also missed a very important touch finder. Our young wingers will have learnt a lot tonight but were outplayed by Freeman who is genuinely class.
Still it was an entertaining game and Saints at home are formidable opponents and we weren’t embarrassed just well beaten!

I can’t agree we edged them up front.

We did in the scrum, but their carrying was so much more violent and dynamic than ours. Our second rows all just fold in contact, Christie was picked up by Pearson and just deposited 10m back towards our try line.

Tom and Gonzalez and big Rhys held their own - the rest seem to be a bit lightweight. They shouldn’t be, but they are.

And the line out isn’t acceptable

Maybe because im knackered but im not too bother by that. Saints are way ahead of us in terms of their squad cycle and are top of the league for a reason. Four tries after a poor start and we really fell apart after the intercept and yellow card. Still the lads stuck at it and fight for every yard, they were out on their feet by the end. It feels like we’re not to far off away from home on that viewing.

Borthwick broke Jamie George and in turn he screwed Saracens.

Daly's broken arm recovery time is killing the backs. Malins is awful.

Both Brackens take a bow, well done. I like Burke as well, he's going to be ace.

Also C Bracken is really rather good.

Quote:

Simitch
We lost that through mistakes. I hate singling out players so I won’t but for goodness sake, it’s not difficult to see a couple of young men that are completely out of their depth. Well done Brackens.

Agree Simitch, little errors were capitalised on, missed touch, intercept pass etc. I am fairly pleased with a point out of that, but should’ve been 2. Cannot afford to make mistakes against Saints, they can score from anywhere.

Quote:

wolfgangvonb77
I think we need to move a few players on like Tiz, Nick I, AOC, when JMG came off there was a drop off. I hope these players prove me wrong, maybe we need a new full back as well.

Totally totally agree with the comment and wolfpacks too re the forwards. Just not acceptable that players of their quality perform like that and get outgunned so easily. Honestly what has Theo mc done since his new and improved deal however many months ago? There are other big names in there too. I want a monster or two from the townships. But like the saints fella tonight that until this year no one had heard of.

It’s not a disaster but it’s a reality check.

A win against two awful sides in Newcastle and Bristol at home. Sale was good but they lost two men at critical points in the game. The wins are good but they are marginally asterisked for me.

A loss against a dreadful quins side.

And then a loss tonight where we don’t really deserve anything.

Things to love but things to still be concerned about



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2025:10:24:21:54:47 by Stonexjim.

Well done to Saints. The better team with a great attack coach. Pollock involved in some key moments and their man mountain JJ sucking in our defence like a green, black and gold vortex.

1 point so not a disaster but certainly not good. Anyone with even the vaguest idea what our gameplan was.

I don't think Malins was found out ComeOnSarries as that suggests he has never had or doesn't have the class at FullBack but he's definitely having a bad wobble. Unfortunately he was far from alone.

We at least got a point and got back into the game well in the first half. Tizard, especially when it all went a bit pear-shaped in the first half had a very good game. Willis increasingly influential but can't do it alone.
On the plus side it had a bit of a feel of Chiefs v Quins twenty odd minutes in and we at least fought our way out of that. Lots of lessons for the younger players and a fair few for the coaches too.

Some odd and quite poor decisions by us on field and a lack of composure helped Saints out as did some very poor moments from normally good players.

For me Farrell looks checked out. I'd prefer to see Tompkins who has been one of our better players back at 12 and any warm body at 13.
This is exactly the sort of game we're told he thrives in and will make the difference.

It feels like the break comes at a good time for the coaches and players to really get whatever the plan is understood and working better.
It's all a bit too Jekyll and Hyde right now.

Quote:

wolfgangvonb77
I think we need to move a few players on like Tiz, Nick I, AOC, when JMG came off there was a drop off. I hope these players prove me wrong, maybe we need a new full back as well.

They have to get better and fast now Tom is leaving. He’s approximately 85% of our carrying ability. We really need to get more from Tizard, Isikwe, Christie, Earl, McFarland.

There is no reason why Tizard or Isikwe can’t be as good as Alex Coles is, but they aren’t.

It's definitely a concern that our "good on paper" bench failed to deliver again.
We know these are good players so you have to ask why we aren't getting the best out of them.

Agree with Strangelove that the reality is it was a few things here and there that were certainly the difference between 1 and 2 points but to be honest better a result like this than one than flattered us.

Earl is rarely good off the bench, he seems to be one of those guys who has to start and grow into the game. Carré was good I thought. Others were forgettable though. I know we have a load of backs injured but 6-2 just hasn’t worked at all. Just let more of the back row stay on for the full 80 and rotate them for the next match.

McFarland seems to have list his octopus quality.

Malins isn't supposed to be fullack

Will IVZ be able to push his way back in?

I agree wolfpack they will need to step up.
we have some exciting young players and im glad we keep blooding them and they are gaining experience. We miss another ball carrier and a centre that can smash the ball up and tackle heavy like Brad B. I really loved Nick I as a player he was a nuisance at the line out and was winning turnovers.
When Ben E is back up to speed and if we mamage to get Jac we will be lethal at the breakdown with Maro there as well. The future is bright.

credit to Saints who looked lively & dangerous whenever they moved the ball. We did well to fight back either side of half time but Saints back in control in the last quarter.
Some work ons -
back 3 defence looked pretty fragile & Max had a very uncertain game positionally.
Some recurring worries re Theo's lineout throwing.
Out attack looked pretty ponderous & timing of passes (a fundamental skill) was frequently off.
as commented elsewhere we need more of the pack making ground in possession.
Some pluses -
good fightback
Willis, Maro & Tompkins are bang in form & looking strong. We really don't need any of them getting injured during the dreaded (by me) autumn internationals or training camps.
Scrum is definitely better than last season.

Their number 5 was the difference
Simple game plan from them, he smashed up the middle and then they went wide off quick ball

We were at our best as a team when we had a horrible back row with units like Burger playing for us. We are too lightweight except for Willis. Thats clearly been a decision re players signed and targeted but we likes of Theo Mac , AOC and Isiekee rarely impact the game. They may shine if we are winning but rarely change a game... we need 2 or 3 horrible big physical lumps.

Quote:

wolfgangvonb77
When Ben E is back up to speed and if we mamage to get Jac we will be lethal at the breakdown with Maro there as well. The future is bright.

I thought this too until last night.

A back row stable of McFarland (soft), JMG (class), Earl (small), Morgan (small), Christie (small), Michelow (small) just isn’t going to be physical enough.
Earl thrives for England in a backrow with Curry and usually a second row playing at 6 (Martin, Chessum, Lawes, Coles etc). He hasn’t played particularly well for us consistently for quite a long time.

Our pack was absolutely blasted last night. Either they need to get much tougher (like we did after being hammered by Clermont at Watford all those years ago) or like Saints did after being hammered by us at the SX in 2023).

Or - as has been described above - we have to go find some Michael Rhodes or Jacques Burger style player from the highveld because atm when a team wants to compete physically against us we’re just far far too soft.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2025:10:25:08:38:19 by #wolfpack1.

Quote:

#wolfpack1

Quote:

wolfgangvonb77
When Ben E is back up to speed and if we mamage to get Jac we will be lethal at the breakdown with Maro there as well. The future is bright.

I thought this too until last night.

A back row stable of McFarland (soft), JMG (class), Earl (small), Morgan (small), Christie (small), Michelow (small) just isn’t going to be physical enough.
Earl thrives for England in a backrow with Curry and usually a second row playing at 6 (Martin, Chessum, Lawes, Coles etc). He hasn’t played particularly well for us consistently for quite a long time.

Our pack was absolutely blasted last night. Either they need to get much tougher (like we did after being hammered by Clermont at Watford all those years ago) or like Saints did after being hammered by us at the SX in 2023).

Or - as has been described above - we have to go find some Michael Rhodes or Jacques Burger style player from the highveld because atm when a team wants to compete physically against us we’re just far far too soft.

I don't agree with your one-word assessments of the Sarries backrowers at all. Saracens are very well served there. There's a temptation to overreact to losses like last night and think problems exist that really don't. That was Saints playing at home as best as they can play and Saracens really could have won that match. The two Brackens butchered a very VERY easy 2 on 1 which would have been scored under the posts - it wasn't replayed much because Saints recovered possession and play continued but it was a terrible miss. The other bit of bad luck/poor play was the first Pearson try from the kick through. Malins really did make a hash of that, dreadful really (just hoof it out ffs) but instead he tried to control a bouncing ball and failed. However, those keen eyed among you will have seen on the TMO replay that Pearson actually knocked the ball forward slightly with his left hand before he touched it down with his right hand. Saints got away with that. That's a 14 point swing right there.

I would like a baby eating lock though, Tizard just looks like a huge Labrador puppy.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2025:10:25:09:25:45 by Toga.

I think our forwards did pretty well given 5he quality of the opposition, by far the best team we’ve played in have played in 2025.
Couldn’t understand why we weren’t busing Christie in the lineout given that hes one of the top catchers this season.
Thankfully Theo’s throwing improved dramatically after the first 20 minutes.
I also thought the ball had come off Pearson thigh during their second try, was sat behind those posts.
Unfortunately Calouri had his ankle strapped up before the game and clearly wasn’t moving freely. But at least he showed he can tackle.
Ultimately a backline with 3 players with 1 start each against one with 3 Lions was always going to be a struggle.

Quote:

The Bard
Ultimately a backline with 3 players with 1 start each against one with 3 Lions was always going to be a struggle.

But, as had been said on here many times, we have to give these youngsters a chance to gain experience, which means learning from mistakes and accepting that there may be consequences of those mistakes for the team . As Richard Branson once said (I think it was him) "he who never made a mistake never made anything".

Having said that it would obviously be better to pair the teenaged wingers with a more experienced wing on the other side.....except they're all injured.

Feel makeup of our 5-8 is overall too lightweight abd teams such as Quins / Saints have realised they can samsh us up with physical ball carriers. We get too attached to players emotionally and whilst all are skilled we ahve too many of the same type.

Quote:

JK12
We get too attached to players emotionally and whilst all are skilled we ahve too many of the same type.

I agree.

The comment above saying they’re small wasn’t necessarily pejorative (the comment that McFarland is a bit soft was, but I stand by it). The point is more they’re all of a size, style and weight. They all have their merits and are good players, but they are all very similar and as JK says, the bigger sides just beat us up. I think some tough and brave decisions need to be made in the pack (as they seem to have been made in the backs) if we’re to progress.

Firstly I know this comment on this forum is going to be controversial! but maybe if Faz & the rest hadn’t wasted so much time in trying to slow the game down, there would have been time for a score at the end and 2 POINTS!
If Ben Kay can pick up on this being so obvious then so should the officials!

Thought Brackens, JMG, & Burke all had good games and the comments about the other players in this post are fair.
Dan’s 🎯 have concerned me for a while!!

Any news on JG?

Feel we went for a demographic re speed and athletic ability that isnt what the Prem is about now. Its horrible bowling ball at two of the 5-8 positions and an aggressive jackel at 7.

Quote:

tigersimon
Firstly I know this comment on this forum is going to be controversial! but maybe if Faz & the rest hadn’t wasted so much time in trying to slow the game down, there would have been time for a score at the end and 2 POINTS!
If Ben Kay can pick up on this being so obvious then so should the officials!

Thought Brackens, JMG, & Burke all had good games and the comments about the other players in this post are fair.
Dan’s 🎯 have concerned me for a while!!

Any news on JG?

Or conversely, speeding the game up to a tempo that better suited the home team might have resulted in a bigger defeat.

Ben Kay is Captain Hindsight when he isn't being Leicester's chief fan in commentary.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2025:10:25:10:28:19 by Toga.

Toga,
I did think that about the Pearson try, but assumed Ridley watched it enough times and closer than me to rule that he hadn’t knocked it on.
————————
The youngsters (eg Brackens) will made the odd mistake but it’s up to the senior players to step up.
They made no more mistakes than Theo or Max!

Jac Morgan as a direct replacement (if true) for Willis doesn’t make sense to me.
Are Scotland trying to get AOF north of the border?

Christie has had a few really poor games in the last 2 losses

Both he and Malins are shadows of themselves at moment. Both had major injuries and I will get grief but I wouldn't resign AOC at end of season , too much sentimalitt when extending contracts recently

Was it McFarland’s first game of Season for Saracens?

Small margins.

6-2 split bench didnt miss touch. Or fumble the ball. Or throw a hail mary. Max at 15 puts us under constant pressure at the moment. Thats something easily fixable. Big Theo was always going to be rusty first minutes back.

Smith should have been timed out on a conversion. Bracken puts a more sympathetic pass to his brother, Ferg finds touch and we dont thow an intercept and we come away with 5.

And are we really bemoaning our back row?? That said a nasty bok would be a welcome addition when Tom hops on the Eurostar

I think it's possible to reframe it slightly. We played what could easily be a Top4 team at Home and after a poor start got ourselves into a competitive situation despite not being or allowed to be at our best.

We played against one of the best groups of attacking backs in the Prem, certainly the best coached by Vesty. Missing Furbank but still able to field 3 starting England Internationals and another in the wider squad and with only one relatively inexperienced winger.
The benefits of playing a style and structure that suits all the players and that they are comfortable with was apparent as was the confidence with which they play.
I certainly remember earlier seasons at Saints where it was all coming together and that was understandably much rougher. That is were we want to be but with a new attack coach and three players in not long out of the Academy we are at the beginning of that development curve.

Just like Sale failed to cope with Caluori last week so we failed to deal with JJ this.
Only the very best teams with the best coaching cope with that sort of "unexpected game-changer" on the fly. I've watched the Saints games this season and he has never been used as much and to such effect, not so much the gainline but the defence he was committing and the honey-potting that ensued. Next game Saints will play a team who will have had a month to work out how to deal with/mitigate his impact and they likely will to a degree.

We have two excellent players in Malins and Onyeama-Christie who have come back from bad injuries and that they are playing at all is incredible. Both have had a very good game and struggled in a few at the start of the season but they are quality players wo it's about how the coaches support them and get the best out of them.

Many of us talked about the need to blood youngsters and back players from the wider squad to nail down XV and 23 places. Injury may have informed some of those choices but this is the reality of that. Players will get tested, fail, learn and succeed not necessarily in that order! Think about Elliott at the start of last season and how many on here were decrying his issues in defence even by mid-season he'd made huge strides and that's the benefit these players will hopefully gain from this exposure.
Of course some of he mistakes were being made by more experienced players too and you'd hope that as the confidence returns and the rustiness wears off that will improve too.

The same applies to the coaching. New combinations in the team require time to settle and time to deliver. Our scrum has looked pretty good so far this season and that seems a positive reflection on the work of Webber and Peel as well as the players.
Hopefully the confusion and lack of execution in our attack will be ironed out with more game time.

It's probably a good thing for the team that there's an International break now as it looks like they'll benefit from more time together, a bit of a reset and the coaches getting on the same page.
Hopefully the club season will start again with us in a better place.

Our backs row is too similar thats the issue not the quality. Take willis out and its lightweight. Needs heft adding and some hard decisions taking re recruitment and mix

Quote:

JK12
Our backs row is too similar thats the issue not the quality. Take willis out and its lightweight. Needs heft adding and some hard decisions taking re recruitment and mix

Absolutely.

Quote:

PaulHerox
The same applies to the coaching. New combinations in the team require time to settle and time to deliver. Our scrum has looked pretty good so far this season and that seems a positive reflection on the work of Webber and Peel as well as the players.
Hopefully the confusion and lack of execution in our attack will be ironed out with more game time.

It's probably a good thing for the team that there's an International break now as it looks like they'll benefit from more time together, a bit of a reset and the coaches getting on the same page.
Hopefully the club season will start again with us in a better place.

I’m not sure I agree that the issue is confusion, game plan, lack of clarity etc.

Preseason I was one of those who wanted to see evolution in selection in the backs and a much more attacking game plan. We’ve got it and that’s great.

Problem with last night was it was one of those where everyone has a game plan until you’re punched in the mouth. And saints punched us again and again and again and we couldn’t do anything about it.

A couple of years ago after we gave them a dusting in the semi finals of the Premiership at the SX, all the Saints players were told to go away and get bigger heavier and more aggressive. They did and won the league. They didn’t change their style. Everything was done with a couple more lbs and much more violence. That’s what we need to think about imho. How to be bigger, more violent and more dynamic - blasting rucks rather than pushing, making gain line carries again and again and again rather than a trundle to set up the next phase.

And as per the other comments, it’s tricky when all your backrow players (except Tom) for all their undoubted quality are of the smaller quicker lighter variety, and your locks are a bit soft.

The way Nick I has come back from a serious heart problem has been amazing and AOC with his injury.
It reminds me of Leinster some amazing players but they were missing some gnarly players and weight in their pack. They brought in Barritt for a season and now Savea. Plus they added RG Synman who is colossal.
The power of the French teams always caused them problems in finals.
I do agree that we cant be sentimental about players and if they cant reach the same heights with us then they may do well elsewhere. I'm not sure why we got Tizard as he doesn't do much in contact. Unless we have a few brutes in the pack we will face problems with a team who packs a punch.
I will always get behind the team and not digging any players out but apart from Tom we are missing gainline players.

100% agree , this is a forum for opinions. For me we have very skilled players but I feel Theo Mac ( out of contract ) needs replacing in the summer with a brute of a ball carrier.

Sodeke is certainly one player we have with the requisite heft. We’ve introduced youngsters into the back line with some great success, hopefully we can be brav3 enough to do the same in the forwards.

I feel we have cheap options in the young players to cover likes of Theo Mac and Tizzard in Michellw and Sodeke. The spend on a true barsteward of a ball carrier

Just checking this is the same forum that wanted the coaches to give the young talent a chance...

Quote:

saracen1971
Just checking this is the same forum that wanted the coaches to give the young talent a chance...

Not me.

I wish we still had Richard hill, Ryan constable and George Kurtis in the team. Might let mako back if he says please

Quote:

saracen1971
Just checking this is the same forum that wanted the coaches to give the young talent a chance...

Yes.

And surprise surprise what’s been the best thing about us this year?

Noah
Charlie
Jack

It’s almost like some of us were right…

I'm also glad we have this board to debate and discuss and also to find out about up and coming players.
Speaking of up and coming players hows Luke Davidson doing? Heard that he was a player to look out for the future.

Wasnt involved for Ampthill this weekend, who did even worse than the Sarries teams this weekend. Conceded 66 at home to Bedford with a good few of our lads playing.

It’s no secret that Saints like to play a high tempo game - trying to slow them down on Friday night either didn’t work or perhaps kept the score below fifty depending on your point of view.

[quote PaulHerox]I think it's possible to reframe it slightly. We played what could easily be a Top4 team at Home and after a poor start got ourselves into a competitive situation despite not being or allowed to be at our best.

We played against one of the best groups of attacking backs in the Prem, certainly the best coached by Vesty. Missing Furbank but still able to field 3 starting England Internationals and another in the wider squad and with only one relatively inexperienced winger.
The benefits of playing a style and structure that suits all the players and that they are comfortable with was apparent as was the confidence with which they play.
I certainly remember earlier seasons at Saints where it was all coming together and that was understandably
much rougher. That is were we want to be but with a new attack coach and three players in not long out of the Academy we are at the beginning of that development curve.

Some very complimentary words there thanks Paul.
It's a joy for us Saints fans to watch our lads grow together as a squad and the style of play over the past few years.
As good as we can be (Leinster away last season comes to mind), we still have lapses and need to work out ways to get over the line in tight, high pressure games.
That's where the like of Sarries and Tigers (boo!) can still teach us a thing or 2 at times.
Best of luck for the season and perhaps paths will cross again in a semi or final (if we can hold our nerve 😁).



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2025:10:27:14:29:31 by fleetg.

Not sure why Harry Wilson is not used a bit more, although not the biggest (in terms of locks), he does have some grunt and gives his all. Could be used in back row as he has done already this season.