News: Harlequins Hounded by powerful Saints

By Rich Lindsley
January 8 2012

We often liken supporting the Saints to being on a rollercoaster. Friday night was however a pure joy ride at Franklin’s Gardens, Northampton’s former zoo and Pleasure Park. It wasn’t a perfect performance, it wasn’t as one sided as the 24-3 scoreline suggests but it was a massive statement to the rest of the Premiership.

Aviva Premiership Round 13

Northampton Saints v Harlequins

Friday 6th January 2012, Franklins Gardens K.O. 19:45

Saints 24 Harlequins 3

All the talk pre-match was of the match-ups around the park and with the national coaches in the stands how this was a potential England trial. Foden v Brown being top of the bill with contests such as Marler v Doran-Jones and Wood v Robshaw on the undercard. In the case of the last two, the contest is less positional and more as potential captains for the six nations. I have personally been puzzled by the talk of Wood as England skipper. He hasn’t led Saints to my recall, however I’m fortunate to have learned it is media influence that currently propels his name to this discussion. Tom Wood at RWC 2011 was the man that the pundits firstly think should have been picked more and even more significantly, whilst all around him were losing their heads was viewed as the consummate professional. In short the press people saw a leader.

The match exploded into life from the first whistle. Quins did what they have done all season and tried to run out of their own 22. Saints had an early chance of their with Tiny almost putting Ashton through on one his cutting angles. The next 10 minutes was all Quins, the stat from ESPN was that during that period Saints had the ball for just 30 seconds. For all that possession Quins had diddly squat in terms of points, whilst Saints were 3-0 through Lamb’s assured boot. The reasons for this are the story of the match. Quins, the highest tempo team in our league, were slowed by a Saints pack playing like 8 back row forwards. To the fore of this was Hartley, easily my man of the match, who demanded and received a big performance from his colleagues. This victory was built on defence and frankly were we still playing now I don’t think Quins would have scored.

The next 10 minutes was all Saints. They could and if we’re being hypercritical perhaps should have scored three tries. As it stands Foden and Manoa perhaps bombed two chances before the team set up camp in the left hand corner. Lamb also kept the scoreboard ticking with a neat drop goal. Pressure is the key in matches of this stature and the Saints ramped up the PSI with a series of 5M lineouts. During that series Easter, overshadowed by Wilson all night, deservedly earned 10 minutes in the sin bin. To their credit Quins scrambled and won the ball back before Saints could trouble the scoreboard. The try did finally come. First Lamb demonstrated his circus skills, juggling the ball to bemuse the defence and the passing to Foden on the right wing. With plenty of work to do ‘air Ben,’ took Brown on the outside and skinned him! The England pretender is not the first and will not be the last to be caught out by Foden’s power and pace.

As half time approached Quins finally got on the scoreboard. Good work from Robshaw (PICK THIS MAN FOR ENGLAND,) saw him first charge the ball down and then work his team into a good midfield position. The resulting penalty was an easy 3 points even for Rory Clegg (The ESPN commentators called him Nick at one point, a bit harsh on the deputy PM I thought.) Saints messed up a lineout and inexplicably the man monster that is Kohn gave a silly penalty for Lamb to close the half with another well taken penalty. Half time: Saints 17 Quins 3.

The second half started much the same as the first. Quins had a long period of territory and possession and really should have got some points. The talking point will always be ‘what if,’ as Nick Evans would never have missed from the tee in the style of Rory Clegg. Franklin’s gardens is not the place to have a kicking mare because respectful silence aside, we’re not that charitable in the stands.

After 13 minutes without the ball Hartley won a turnover which turned into a penalty. The resulting lineout was defended well and Quins made a mess of our ball forcing Lamb to kick away. Former Saint, Gray, lost his head with a late hit for another pointless penalty and Saints didn’t fluff their second chance. A good drive down the left saw the ball swept wide but a poor pass denied the Ashton and Foden show on the right. Composure and more importantly the ball was kept so the Saints came back right, the Quins defence panicked and Lamb put Wilson in for a try through a gaping hole. Delicious rugby.

The next passage of play saw Quins desperately mounting a fight back. At a ruck Sorrenson was adjudged to have come in from the side and was promptly given a yellow card. Zorro was highly aggrieved by this and to be fair he has a point. This leads me to my bugbear with our current referees. According to the laws a ruck is a contest for the ball between players on their feet. The interpretation I am seeing applied is that an attacking side can do what it likes to keep the ball, they can all have a nice lie down if they want, their gate of entry is also about 2 metres wide, however the defence must stay on it’s feet and their gate on entry is about the width of a yellow card. Watch some of the matches this weekend and you will see attackers clear out rucks from all angles, sometimes they’re virtually coming in on the defending side. In super rugby the man on his feet has ‘all the rights to the ball,’ Zorro was the only man on his feet, Quins had no scrum half, what was the problem? The problem is that our refs are favouring the attacking side, it makes for a good game at times and Mr. Pearson did apply this consistently to both sides. Under those conditions and given the previous warning and the fact we probably should have lost Hartley earlier in the match the yellow makes sense. I still don’t like it.

So with a one man advantage surely Quins would now make a dent in their 21 point deficit. Erm…no! They did start to get quicker ball as the Saints defenders tired but the home line remained unbreached. Some huge hits, particularly from Manoa aligned with a streetwise edge saved the day. As the match closed a moment that defined the night was a huge hit from replacement hooker Haywood. As that promising young man got to his feet he was mobbed by congratulatory colleagues. A penalty was won, the ball kicked out and sir blew no side and we all celebrated wildly.

The pessimists will say that this was another bonus point squandered. That would be unfair on a Quins side that defended very well indeed. This match was won by defence first, through good leadership, with solid set pieces and through the pace and energy of our half backs. If Hartley was the side’s soul, Dickson was it’s heartbeat. Together they inspired the Saints.

So what of those match-ups? Well Marler is not an international prop but PDJ might be. Wood and Robshaw just need a number eight to partner them and either would make a good England captain. Foden is marginally better than Brown but the national side are fortunate to be able to choose either. I have a horrible feeling that Lamb and Dickson have also catapulted themselves back onto the national radar. But…I don’t really care about all that, this wasn’t an England trial. It was a great night to be a Saint.

Jim Mallinder's Thoughts

...and Ben Nutley Says:

News: Harlequins Hounded by powerful Saints

Posted by: ComeOnYouSaints.com (IP Logged)

Date: 08/01/2012 09:38

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