News: Oh Pooh!
By Howlin'
November 4 2012
The Annual East Midlands Derby. A match looked forward to by Saints and Sinners, Tigers and Pundits. Howlin reviews yesterdays latest in the series, as we returned to Pooh Corner
Aviva Premiership Round 8
Leicester Tigers v Northampton Saints
Saturday November 3rd LO 2:15
Welford Road
Tigers 16 Saints 12
No one knows where we're going
No one knows where we've been
Strangers follow us dangers fall on us
Life play tricks and they're mean
Only one thing can save us
Only one thing will do
Stand up nice and straight Don't capitulate
Courage lives and it's you
Catch a tail by the tiger
Take the horns by the bull
A bird in need is a friend indeed
So pull the eyes over the wool
"Uh, Gobo I think you got it backwards. The saying is that you gotta catch a tiger by the tail "
"Sure, If you want to do it the easy way. On the other hand if you really want bravery. then you gottaCatch a tail by the tiger"
I watched two games of premiership rugby yesterday. Now I don’t know what the average number of penalties per match is, but it seemed to me that both games were dominated by the referee’s whistle. I will leave you dear reader to ponder why this is, but it does also strike me that the manner in which games are officiated differs between the premiership, the Rabo, the HC and then again in the Southern Hemisphere and in internationals. Why is this ? There is only one set of laws is there not ? The fact that the game has been professional since 1996 and this glaring anomaly hasn’t been addressed (in fact appears to me to be worse) starts to depress me. Yes it’s a hard job, blah, blah blah. But they are there to facilitate a game of rugby , not dominate it. And please don’t get me started on the TMO experiment aaaaarrgghh !
The other aspect that stays with me on this gloomy morning characterised by incessant rain, is the histrionics of players, milking penalties, remonstrating with the officials and the crowd baying for blood in unison at the slightest apparent misdemeanour. This depresses me more. Many of the reasons I stopped going to round ball matches are beginning to manifest themselves on a rugby pitch.
But the main reason for my downbeat mood and amazingly accurate impression of Eeyore this morning was the inevitable result of events at Pooh corner yesterday. Yes, Saints did grab a tiger by the tail and for long periods of the match tamed him. Admittedly this was made easier by the tiger having some of its sharper teeth removed prior to the match; but visiting Welford road with many of your own better players and leaders missing on the back of a poor run of form and results, has disaster written all over it . Saints quelled the inner beast and set about their work with determination and purpose, controlled the ball, quietened the crowd and took a deserved lead.
But still some old errors came back to haunt them. In particular the restarts were abysmal. In a game so tight these errors gain huge significance and but for a timely slip could have presented Tigers with a try.
There were positives. Lamb, I thought, had a good game at flyhalf, particularly kicking from hand in the first half. Certainly he outshone the young prodigy playing opposite him on the day. No doubt Ford’s day will come , but this wasn’t it as his kicking boots let him down. Strength in depth was illustrated as Tom May, the fourth choice at fullback had a solid game and Callum Clark made a solid return whilst giving no reason for further criticism from the keyboard heroes.
But the saints didn’t grab the tail by the tiger, that’s far harder. Defence was superb, but the attack, whilst pretty at times , lacked true penetration. Now much of this is due to Tigers robust defence, please do not underestimate the opposition (even without its sharpest teeth) but Saints do also struggle when they cannot build the pressure through momentum. This is something they need to overcome. In the premiership, the way so many games are officiated , the match so often ends up staccato rhythm rather than flowing beauty building to crescendo. This will be all the truer with the weather we will be experiencing over the coming months. Saints need to learn to win in these conditions.
Thankfully the match was won by the only try , although Cockers admitted this was an injury substitution and not a moment of tactical genius. Whether it was a moment of inspiration or a defensive error depends, I guess, on what colour shirt you wear. But a bonus point away in the Tigers den is not a bad return in the course of a season. All is not lost. We are still only two point behind Leicester. Currently the poor result away at Irish is the thorn in Saints side, not a loss at Welford road. But perhaps it is from the loss last week that Saints have most to learn. For all their faults Sarries are an extremely well drilled side who know how to win away from home. It’s not pretty but boy is it effective. A bit more nous yesterday and Saints could have grabbed the tail by the Tiger and come away with a win. Time to learn these lessons lads .
In the words of the great Winnie the Pooh himself “Rivers know this: there is no hurry. We shall get there some day.”
But guys, please, make it in my lifetime.
TIMELINE
3mins SAINTS Pen Lamb 0-3
10mins SAINTS Pen Lamb 0-6
17mins LEICS Pen Ford 3-6
32mins SAINTS Miss DG Lamb
40mins LEICS Pen Ford 6-6
HALF-TIME
41mins LEICS Try Smith Con Ford 13-6
45mins SAINTS Pen Lamb 13-9
53mins LEICS Pen Ford 16-9
73mins SAINTS Pen Lamb 16-12
76mins SAINTS Yellow card Lamb
FULL-TIME LEICESTER 16 SAINTS 12
Jim adds his comments
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My only quibble is with your assessment of Ryan Lamb's performance. Other than kicking from hand... but let's not go there.
Winnie the Pooh must have been a Saints fan to write so knowingly and with such stoicism!
*I could agree with you - but then we'd both be wrong...*
Should be happy with the LBP but feel strangely disappointed.
alive and well in Shrubbery Terrace
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and i do so agree with your comments on the soccerisation of the game.
Quote:ComeOnYouSaints.com
What do you think? Y
Thanks Howlin. A good read.
By the way, is antone else finding that clicking on "reply" rather than "quote this message" is sending me to a general sportsnetwork rugby sites page?
Quote:ballagher
Thanks Howlin. A good read.
By the way, is antone else finding that clicking on "reply" rather than "quote this message" is sending me to a general sportsnetwork rugby sites page?
Yes, Ballagher. Same is happening to me. One for the Techies to sort out I think.
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David L
What if there were no hypothetical questions?
- Live wrong and preposterously
The bit that strikes me most is the free ball and instant pressure we put ourselves under at restarts
No alcohol for January. I'm a dryathlete in aid of cancer research.
Dryathlon