News: Saints Hit For Six in O’Driscoll Masterclass
By Serious Saint
December 8 2013
The only good thing yesterday was the kick off time, as the six o’clock start gave me an extra three hours of glorious anticipation for the evening ahead. All week we had been reminiscing about the night when Munster came to town and were vanquished. Parallels were understandably drawn between that game in 2009 and what we hoped would unfold at Franklins Gardens. Alas, that bubble of anticipation was unceremoniously popped inside of 3 minutes as Luke Fitzgerald dotted down the first of his 3 tries.
Heineken Cup Round 3 Pool 1
Northampton Saints vs Leinster Rugby
Saturday 7th December KO 6pm
Franklin's Gardens
If I’m totally honest my bubble was suffering something of a slow puncture from the moment our announcer, Geoff Allen, did a quick about-turn on the team selection removing James Wilson from the fray and moving Ken Pisi from wing to full back. I like K Pisi and think he’s been showing some real form this season; however, to play him at full back was unfair on him and on us. It’s possible to play a full back on the wing, in fact Stuart Lancaster swears by it, but to place a winger, unused to the positioning and kicking game required is, frankly, suicidal. The fact that we’ve seen it all before with George Pisi against Scarlets and that there was a more obvious replacement makes it all the more baffling.
In the light of this it wasn’t going to take a genius to see where Saints short-comings might be. However, sadly for Saints, Leinster actually do possess a genius in midfield and he took control. I first saw O’Driscoll in the home Heineken fixture of 2001 and was struck by his sheer pace as he seemed a yard faster than anything we were seeing in the First Division at the time. He has, of course, added so much more to his game over the years as that pace has diminished and, even as a die-hard Saints fan, I have to say it was a privilege to see his performance last night.
Leinster had named a very strong side for this fixture and even with the late withdrawal of Cian Healy, Saints were always going to be up against it. With Foden, Corbisiero, G Pisi, Kahn Fotuali’I, Ma’afu and Wilson all out and with Daisy, for some reason, on the bench, our strength in depth was going to be tested.
As a contest, this match never got going. Within a minute, Ken Pisi had marked Madigan’s high kick but then contrived to drop the ball whilst taking a quick tap. A couple of phases on from the resulting scrum and O’Driscoll put through a beautifully weighted chip for Fizgerald’s first. 3 minutes in, 0-7 to Leinster.
Worse, or better, depending on your allegiance, was to follow. O’Driscoll was again instrumental as the ball was moved through the hands and he somehow contrived to pass through his legs allowing Fitzgerald the time to sidestep Elliott and score. Madigan misses the conversion. 6 minutes gone and Leinster lead 0-12.
For the first quarter Saints hardly had their hands on the ball and when they did have possession it was invariably lost through a combination of errors or poor decision making. Waller and Dickinson made a couple of surging breaks but Leinster’s defence was not unduly tested.
On 23 minutes Sean O’Brien starts to make his presence felt, firstly by stripping Pisi of the ball and making good ground forcing Saints to infringe at the ruck. Madigan badly misses the shot at goal but within minutes O’Brien is at it again. A rampaging run, followed by quick hands and Rob Kearneys’ perfectly timed run puts Heaslip in for another try. Madigan converts, 25 minutes gone and it’s 0-19 to Leinster.
Saints now had 10 minutes or so when they began to put a couple of phases together and play some rugby in the Leinster half of the field. Burrell made a noticeable break and Samu puts O’Brien on his backside with a typically powerful surge. However, little is achieved, and they just can’t sustain the pressure or possession as the ball is either knocked on or coughed up in contact. Leinster’s superb defence is responsible for many of Saints errors as their line speed and tackling is fantastic.
On 38 minutes the visitors secure the try bonus point as Pisi is beaten to the high ball by Rob Kearney and he takes the ball to ground in the Saints 22. Without the benefit of tv I can’t say precisely what happened next other than Reddan seemed to telegraph a dummy and then trot to the try-line comfortably side-stepping Dickinson on route. Not good.
Half time and Saints are down and out 0-26.
Believe it or not the final score could have been so much worse if Leinster had been a little more clinical after the break. Luther Burrell’s miss-timed rush defence let Sean Cronin through a gaping hole to storm 30 metres up field before passing forward to Fitzgerald in a scoring position. This was quickly followed by another bit of O’Driscoll magic. A wonderfully timed run and off-load which Reddan just failed to gather as he plunged over the line.
Saints were also putting a few moves together but still not executing them precisely enough. Myler’s penalty kick to touch giving a great attacking position but Saints are unable to win their own line-out ball despite Daisy appearing at half time.
Towards the end of the 3rd quarter the usual procession of replacements begin and I have to say my attention starts to waiver as the game is up for the Saints and the London Pride is finally kicking in. Leinster have no such problem and, as a result of Saints chasing the game and playing from deep, O’Driscoll picks off a stray pass and scores at his leisure. Leinster lead 0-33 with 18 minutes still to play.
Saints finally get on the score sheet, whilst the visitors are reduced to 14 men, with Dickson forcing himself over the line after several attacking phases. However the scoring is not finished for the evening and Fitzgerald claims his hat-trick after another scintillating move by D’Arcy creates the space for him to score on 70 minutes.
The final whistle comes as something of a relief and the scoreboard beams out the score as a stark red reminder of what’s gone before, Saints 7 – 40 Leinster.
I’m not a great one for post mortems of sporting events and I really wouldn’t know where to start with this one! However, how the team and management deal with this defeat will say a great deal about them. I will be packing my bag on Friday for the trip to Dublin with some trepidation but curious to see how we emerge from this drubbing. We have the makings of a fine side but we got caught cold yesterday by a superb team the like of which we rarely see at the Gardens.
Proof-checking this piece, as a rugby fan, there’s an error in the first line. There were two good things about yesterday and the second was to have witnessed that performance by O’Driscoll. He may have put my team to the sword but I wouldn’t have wanted to miss it but I pray he can’t do it two weeks running.
SAINTS
K Pisi, Elliott, Waldouck, Burrell, North; Myler, L Dickson; A Waller, Hartley (capt), Mercey, Manoa, Lawes, Dowson, Wood, Dickinson
Reps - Haywood, E Waller, Denman, Day, Clark, Glynn, G Dickson, Collins
LEINSTER Rugby
R Kearney; D Kearney, O’Driscoll, D’Arcy, Fitzgerald; Madigan, Reddan; McGrath, Cronin, Ross, Toner, McCarthy, Ruddock, O’Brien, Heaslip (capt)
Reps - Dundon, Bent, Moore, Cullen, Jennings, Cooney, Gopperth, Kirchner
Honesty from Tom Wood
If you do not already have an account Click here to Register.
David L
What if there were no hypothetical questions?
- Live wrong and preposterously
Doesn't make me feel any better but there you have it....
I'm glad you added the paean of praise to BOD, which was well deserved. A master player at the top of his profession.
Could I add that Nigel Owens had a good game, too? He seems to make a habit of letting the best teams play their best rugby; it was a shame Saints weren't at their best - but part of that was because they weren't allowed to be.
*I could agree with you - but then we'd both be wrong...*
Top of the League 2014-2015 Season
Once a scrum half .... always a scrum half