News: AP: Harlequins vs Northampton Saints - Match Preview

By Serious Saint
September 12 2013

After a comfortable success against Exeter Chiefs in their Aviva Premiership season opener last weekend, Northampton Saints turn their attention to their first road-trip of the season - a journey down to London to take on Harlequins at The Stoop. COYSDC contributor, serious saint, takes a look ahead to what we might expect on Friday evening...

HARLEQUINS vs. NORTHAMPTON SAINTS

Friday, 13th September 2103 - 7.45pm (BT Sport)

THE TWICKENHAM STOOP, LONDON

MATCH PREVIEW

I’m really looking forward to my trip to Twickenham this week; we will travel with high expectations and it’ll feel good to be back on the road with the Saints. I hope the journey down is a little less arduous than the last time I visited The Stoop when the four-hour slog through evening rush hour traffic had us keeping an eye on our watches and an ear on the travel bulletins.

On that balmy night in 2010 there wasn’t a Mighty Quin in sight as Saints strolled into town and secured the Amlin trophy. My little girl was lucky enough to be the mascot that evening, and was very excited running out onto the pitch, hand in hand, with her idol Bruce Reihana. I was equally beside myself, as child minder, with access to the players tunnel immediately before kick off. What has always stayed with me from that evening is the intensity of the players in those minutes before the whistle goes. Running off the pitch drenched in sweat after their “warm up” and the palpable tension as they steeled themselves in the tunnel to do battle. It was a fascinating insight and I imagine there will be the same intensity on Friday evening as these two “top four” clubs face each other once again.

Saints failings against the other title contenders, during the regular season last term has been well documented and it is something that needs to be addressed if we are to secure a comfortable top four finish. Quins on Friday evening would be a fantastic venue for The Saints to prize that particular primate from their backs.

Harlequins and Saints have been there or thereabouts for the past few seasons with Saints making the last four play-offs and Quins making three out of the past five, including their win in the final in 2012. They also did the double over the Saints last time around but ran out of steam during the second half of the season and failed to secure the home semi-final that had looked nailed-on. Who knows, perhaps the international calls that come with domestic success had an impact.

There will be potential match-ups all over the field this Friday with England contenders Dickson v Care, Foden v Brown and Burrell v Turner-Hall all possibly going head to head. The most fascinating of course is Woody v Robshaw with not only an England place at stake but also the captaincy. Doran-Jones up against his former teammates will be interesting too!

Quins have a great balance of youth and experience and in Luke Wallace have a real diamond that looks ready to really break through and ultimately take on the mantle of club captain. Joe Marler has grown on me and become so much more than a mere pantomime villain with a silly haircut and an easy line in sledging. His performances over the summer with England marked him out as being full of potential and a real threat.

However, in the event of a Nick Evans injury, Ben Botica will need to show far more than Rory Clegg seemed capable of last season, if Quins are to be championship contenders once again. The loss of James Johnson will hit Quins hard as he is a class act and we wait to see if the smiling Doran Jones can fill his shoes. There will be some nervousness on Friday in the home ranks as the performance last weekend against Wasps was far from convincing. However, they won and that’s what good sides do even when they underperform. Be in no doubt, Quins are a good side.

As for Saints, well they certainly lived up to the hype in the first half against Exeter and gave us all a tantalizing glimpse of what maybe possible this season. In the first forty minutes on Saturday Saints showed us more promise, skill and penetration than I recall from the whole of last season, save the wonderful display at Allianze Park.

In the three-quarters the pace of Foden, Burrell and North is going to terrify the opposition and in the pack Samu and Courtney will do the same…..in a less subtle way!

I could write enthusiastically about each member of our squad, as I firmly believe that this bunch of lads can deliver. I’m generally optimistic at this stage of each season but this year more than ever and, from the atmosphere in The Gardens last Saturday, I think you lot are too.

However, I’m not going to make a prediction for this game, as it’s too close to call. My heart always says Saints but home advantage and Saints failings against the big sides last time around still makes me nervous.

Alas, what I can say with some certainty is that I will not be back in a Twickenham tunnel come Premiership final day next May, as my little girl is not so little anymore. However, I am certain that Saints will be there again as this fine squad of players comes of age too. My Team Selection:

15. Foden

14. Pisi K

13. Pisi G

12. Luther

11. North

10. Myler

9. Kahn

1. 1. Corbs

2. 2. Dylan

3. 3. Mercy

4. 4. Daisy

5. 5. Samu

6. 6. Woody

7. 7. Nutley

8. 8. Dickinson

Oh alright then, 18-26 to The Saints!

News: AP: Harlequins vs Northampton Saints - Match Preview

Posted by: ComeOnYouSaints.com (IP Logged)

Date: 12/09/2013 14:41

What do you think? You can have your say by posting below.
If you do not already have an account Click here to Register.