News: Saints (24) Grind down Exeter (21)
By Jonathan Stockham
September 10 2012
What a glorious day it was to return to The Gardens for the first competitive home match of the 2012/3 season. The sun beamed down on an immaculate greensward, old friends and acquaintances were well met and new players given the once over during the warm up. All set fair surely for a home victory against those nice but pesky new-ish boys from the south west? A victory it was and with a bonus point but by an uncomfortably narrow margin.
Aviva Premiership – Round 2
Sunday 9 September 2012, Franklins Gardens
Attendance: 12,230
Northampton Saints 24, Exeter Chiefs 21
By Jonathan Stockham
Now, before I start, I was always under the impression that opposing teams wore contrasting shirts so that the spectators, commentators but primarily the referee could tell them apart. Exeter obligingly wore their away strip of white which made them stand out quite nicely against the usual Gold Black and Green of the Saints. However, the contrast was obviously not sufficient for the referee, JP Doyle or his so called assistants, to spot when the visitors were on the wrong side of mauls, flopping off their feet on the wrong side of rucks and not rolling away after the tackle. I could suggest that they should’ve gone to the country’s leading opticians but sadly there is no cure for colour blindness.
The inexplicably bad performance of the officials was such that Nobby West left his perch at the rear of the Church’s Stand three times to complain to the fourth official and, at one point, Doyle’s decision making was so ludicrous that Jim Mallinder himself, normally the most placid observer of the game, stormed down to the touchline to complain.
I’ll leave it at that and Mr Doyle’s next meeting with the ref’s assessor to hope for better things to come.
To the match and in short Saints were the better team on the day playing some exciting rugby with a good blend of running and handling skills which brought the four tries and 5 league points. There were a few dropped balls as final passes went to ground and Exeter were no pushover and defended in dogged fashion. Saints also damaged their cause with 2 yellow cards for, first Van Velze just before half time, and his replacement, Rhys Oakley, as the clock ticked down to no side and with Exeter sniffing a shock win at the death. Four yellow cards in the last two games suggests that discipline needs a bit of work in the squad sessions this week.
In the forward battle, Saints generally had the upper hand in the set piece. Penalties were harvested from strong scrummaging but Chiefs are a wily bunch and were able to get their fair share of disruption and wheeled the scrum productively on a couple of occasions. Lines outs generally went with the head but Saints used theirs more profitably to set up some pretty impressive mauls.
After an early exchange of missed penalty kicks by Lamb and Mieres, Saints had two “tries” ruled out after having a foot in touch in the build-up to the first and the ball carrier bundled
Into touch a metre short for the second. Still, it all looked promising after the first quarter and it could only be a matter of time before the tries rolled in.
Another near miss after Saints turned over Exeter ball at a scrum was followed by a sparkling try for Saints set up by Foden running back a clearance kick. The England full back jinked and darted through the first up defence to feed Artemyev who could have scored himself but turned in to pass to the rather more substantial figure of Day who was able to power his way over for Saints’ first try of the afternoon. Lamb shaved the outside of the right hand post with the conversion so 5-0 after 18 minutes.
The second try came after a period of Exeter possession with a cracking counter attacking move involving first Lamb with a break, then Hartley, Foden, Manoa and finally Artemyev, who again preferred to cut back inside rather than skinning the last defender. He was tackled short but quick recycling saw Dowson dot down in the left corner. Lamb judged the blustery cross wind much better this time to add the extras and put Saints 12-0 ahead.
Chiefs then stepped it up a gear and when a Saints attack broke down and with Day down injured after a heavy tackle, Dolman scampered in for Chiefs’ first try to which Mieres added the conversion. 12-7 after 28 minutes.
Saints then gave away 3 more points after a high tackle and kick by Mieres. To make matters even worse the referee decided to use the TMO to look at some foul play and sent Van Velze to the bin for a dangerous tackle. Mieres took the subsequent penalty kick and Chiefs went in for half time refreshments 1 point ahead.
Mr Doyle demonstrated his best judgement of the day after getting fed up waiting for the Sky producer to tell him that the second half could kick off by signalling Lamb to get on with it, accompanied by a filthy look from the Sky man in the headphones on halfway. Maybe that’s why the stadium countdown clock stuck on 40 minutes!
After 10 minutes and a kick straight into touch Lamb was replaced by Myler to much applause and hopes of better things to come. Myler then kicked off straight into touch after another successful penalty kick to Exeter had extended their lead to 12-16!
As the half wore on, Saints started to build some momentum. Slick handling, first right then left, broke Chiefs’ defensive wall enough for Myler to feed Burrell who shaped to pass but backed himself to accelerate through from 20 metres out to get the try. Myler missed the conversion but Saints were now ahead by a single point. Burrell had come on as a first half replacement for George Pisi who appeared to pull a hamstring and wasn’t moving very easily as he moved on to the bench after the break to watch his team mates.
So, 17-16 with 20 minutes left and Mr Doyle seemed to have taken the Saints coaching team’s complaints on board at last as Chiefs were pinged for not rolling away and being on the wrong side of a maul in quick succession.
Saints used the penalties to work themselves up to a line out on 5 metres. Clean ball and a brilliant move off the training paddock saw Hartley loop round and barge through the forwards for a bonus point try which Myler improved. A slightly more comfortable lead now at 24-16 with 14 minutes left.
Saints were now reaping regular penalties, although Myler missed with a kick from 30 metres out. Then the wheels nearly fell off!
Oakley got his yellow card, Chiefs sniffed blood and attacked. As Saints normally resilient defence got stretched, Matt Jess ran the angle to score in front of the Sturtridge and a conversion would have made the final minutes just too nerve wracking! Fortunately, conversions were off the menu and the non-existent clock finally ticked to zero as Exeter looked to mount another attack.
Final score, 24-21 and 5 points to Saints plus a losing bonus to Exeter.
OK, early days yet but Saints still have work to do to control a game for 80 minutes and to cut out indiscipline which is putting the team at a disadvantage for large parts of a match. The No 10 shirt debate rolls on but there is plenty of opportunity for one of them to improve to become a true game maker.
Dylan Hartley deservedly won Man of the Match, leading a strong forward effort which had the upper hand on the visitors for much of the game. Luther Burrell stepped in well for George Pisi and looked well able to handle the pressures of Premiership Rugby.
And can we have a proper ref next time please?
Teams:
Northampton Saints: Foden; K Pisi, G Pisi, Waldouck, Artemyev; Lamb, Dickson; Tonga'uiha, Hartley, Mujati; Manoa, Day; Dowson, Wood, van Velze.
Replacements: Sorenson for Day (31), Burrell for G Pisi (35), Myler for Lamb (50), Oakley for van Velze (61), Mercey for Mujati (63), Waller for Tonga'uiha (67), Haywood for Hartley (74).
Sin Bin: van Velze (38), Oakley (78).
Exeter Chiefs: Arscott; Tatupu, Whitten, Dollman, Jess; Mieres, Chudley; Sturgess, Whitehead, Mitchell, Hayes, Muldowney, Johnson, Scaysbrook, Baxter.
Replacements: Hanks for Muldowney (31), Naqelevuki for Tatupu (49), Phillips for Baxter (58), Barrett for Chudley (61), Moon for Sturgess (63), Alcott for Whitehead (65), Steenson for Mieres (76), Budgen for Mitchell (77).
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Many thanks!
We have plenty of contenders waiting to take his place if the coaches don't believe he is cutting the mustard.
Saint til I die
"Your days are numbered. Use them to throw open the windows of your soul to the sun. If you do not, the sun will soon set, and you with it."
-- Marcus Aurelius, Roman Emperor 161-180 A.D.
"Your days are numbered. Use them to throw open the windows of your soul to the sun. If you do not, the sun will soon set, and you with it."
-- Marcus Aurelius, Roman Emperor 161-180 A.D.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2012:09:10:22:30:51 by Paul Flatt.
(to rhyme with minger of course)
Wake up you literary folk!
The only man to be cuckolded by Guinness!
David L
What if there were no hypothetical questions?
- Live wrong and preposterously
Essentially it becomes get a supporting runner every time, offload every time.
If you can make it stick through 5 or 6 tackles you're going to create a lot of space if you're a man up - which they did first when Daisy was down, and then when Oakley was off. The surprise was that they didn't really try it when GV was off
Hasn't Murray just done incredibly well.
Bridesmaids no more.
Quote:Eif Jones
It's so easy to criticise the ref. As I've said before, if you play a tight forward dominated game plan with rolling maul after rolling maul, then the interpretation of the ref comes more and more into play. Obviously his interpretations did not suit the writer or the Saints coaching staff but rose tinted specs don't help when judging. I found little to get excited about in his performance either way. He could have red carded the no 8 but didn't. The tackle was worse than Warburton's, the citing just about confirms that.
Hasn't Murray just done incredibly well.
Murray has done incredibly well! Proud of him as a son of Perthshire myself.
Eif, you said, "then the interpretation of the ref comes more and more into play" Sorry but the ref is supposed to apply the laws not have discretion over which ones he uses. I try not to criticise officials generally when I write reports but a lifetime of playing and then watching rugby told me that Doyle got it badly wrong on Sunday.
His inconsistency in awarding penalties to Saints for offences Exeter committed in the second half which he had ignored in the first simply prove the point.
Thanks for that Stockers, I have been wondering for some time whether the laws are written so loosely that the refs have no alternative but to interpret.
Saint til I die
Quote:It's so easy to criticise the ref.
Yes isn't it? - especially after that performance. It would have been dishonest not to.
David L
What if there were no hypothetical questions?
- Live wrong and preposterously
Stockers, your restraint does you justice. JP Doyle was so bad I don't think I could have been so judicious.
Eif, god bless 'im, is Eif…
More, please, Cap'n!
*I could agree with you - but then we'd both be wrong...*