Guinness Premiership Round 20

Northampton Saints v Gloucester

Saturday 4th April Franklin's Gardens

KO 3pm

Report by Aidan Preece

.....to halt a Gloucester side who are slipping away from the Premiership top four at the wrong end of the season.

But let's talk less of Gloucester's woes and more of Saints success. Northampton inspired by their captain Bruce Reihana's restored and elusive running never looked like considering defeat as an option and even when the game was tight (and it was tight for some considerable time) they called on calm nerveless resources that might previously have been absent.

 In fact Reihana who had a hand in all four tries arguably played one of his best ever games in a Northampton shirt and was worthy of his MOTM prize despite being pushed hard by a number of his team mates.        The first half of this particular confrontation was mile a minute stuff, Gloucester having the better of the opening exchanges but Northampton putting numbers on the board first as Stephen Myler converted an early penalty chance.

Saints immediately followed up the penalty with the first try of the match and quite possibly their try of the season after some excellent work by Joe Ansbro turned over the ball in Northampton's half. With plenty of work to do hooker Dylan Hartley took a massive gamble with a pass that on any other day might have seen an interception score. Unable to see where the support might be he made a big one handed blind pass behind his back which found the bread basket of mighty Tongan prop Tonga'uiha who forged a path straight up field.

Saints moved the ball wide and Reihana running a great line cut straight through the Cherry and White defence, Ben Foden in support. Foden with a man to beat was just about scragged but Saints were in behind and didn't waste the chance, as the ball was moved back across the field the athletic lock Kruger who had an outstanding game saw the opportunity to draw the last defender and pop a perfectly weighted pass to Diggin who sped over the line and around behind the posts for a guaranteed seven.

The west country boys now 10-0 down wasted no time in hitting back but were helped by Saints scrum half Lee Dickson's inadvertent blunder which must have lost him a few friends in the forwards union. Saints had worked hard to turnover a strong Gloucester attack which broke down on the try line, Dickson attempting to put the icing on the cake with a clearance kick succeeded only in whopping the ball directly in to the advancing defence allowing Nick Wood to gather and flop over the line for the easiest five points you'll ever see.

A feature of this match and an encouraging sight for many Saints fans will be the way in which Northampton are beginning to play heads up rugby, looking for the options with less panic and far more consideration, if the technical ability and skill levels begin to match this approach to the game then who knows what might be possible.

Evidence of this came not two minutes after Dickson's faux pas when that man Reihana grabbed the limelight again after a super break into the Gloucester half. Saints moving quickly kept the ball alive and as Neil Best burst forth he had the foresight to see the advantage he had to his left and shipped the ball wide where Hartley lurking on the wing bulldozed his way over, breathless stuff. Twenty two points in as many minutes and the warm spring sunshine bathing the Tetley's stand was matched by the warm glowing feeling given by Myler's conversion.

Saints were giving Gloucester a hard time, massively competitive at the breakdown and the scrum, Hartley and Tonga'uiha stood out as did Scott Gray who worked tirelessly throughout the afternoon. But rule Gloucester out at your peril, they came back hard with their own thumping runs deep in to the Northampton 22. Will James carrying the best part of the Saints pack with him as he crossed the whitewash, this time Ryan Lamb managed a successful conversion after having previously hit opposing posts with two earlier penalty attempts. The Orcs from the west were back in it at 17 -12.

No sooner was this reporter's handbook neatly tucked back into his shorts when Myler was offered an opportunity to advance the score for his side and gain another three points. He duly obliged. It was becoming a risky business looking away from the game for more than a couple of seconds at a time.

At 20-12 Saints might be forgiven their exuberance but they lost their focus for a split second and a poor kick from Dickson handed Gloucester their third try with just over 30 minutes gone, Lamb taking advantage of the momentary lapse in concentration and Mark Foster in the side for the injured Simpson Daniel finishing off a straight forward score.

Each time Saints looked liked breaking clear Gloucester pegged back the score, but it seems they still couldn't help themselves in front of their own posts and right on the stroke of halftime they were caught pulling back a player off the ball and handing Myler another opportunity. 23-19 at halftime, five tries and some real entertaining, enterprising rugby from both sides.

Halftime offered Dean Ryan the chance to stiffen the Gloucester sinews and their emergence for the second half saw a meaner less permeable defence, yet the half was no less entertaining for it. If the first half had been a point a minute then the second half was equally sprinkled with misdemeanours of several varieties some seen and some unseen yet curiously the game was just as absorbing.

Saints came back to the pitch a tad groggy and looked blunt and stodgy in attack in contrast to their first half. With a swirling breeze some high kicks from Northampton only succeeded in handing the advantage to their opponents and Olly Barkley on for Anthony Allen put the score to within a point.

Potentially the turning point of the match came with Andy Hazells departure to the sin bin. In what had been a keenly but cleanly contested match up until this point a fight broke out with several Northampton players clearly incensed by something. The following consultation between referee and touch judge required a chat with both Hazell and Hartley but resulted in a card for Hazell's inappropriate use of the boot whilst Myler's appropriately used boot reinstated a four point lead for the Saints.

Unbelievably that was it until the closing two minutes of the game saw Northampton score as many tries in a finish that bought the house down. Gloucester had successfully seen out Hazell's period in the bin and with the referee awarding tit for tat penalties at the scrum nothing had been forthcoming for either side.

With Gloucester now under the guidance of none other than Carlos Spencer they mounted a succession of forays into the Northampton half only to be denied by a stout defence. Saints built on a resulting penalty and rapidly advanced in to the Gloucester half coming to a halt right under the posts. With what seemed like an eternity for the ball to emerge quick hands from Myler's replacement Barry Everitt released Reihana who returned the complement by giving Everitt an easy conversion from in front.

                         
 Saints had finally broken clear and at eleven points down with less than two minutes to go Gloucester had no option but to look for the final try that would gain them a valuable losing bonus point, it was a gamble that failed for them in the worst possible way and one that handed Diggin and Northampton that final stumbling try bonus, but not of course until Reihana had made his trade mark break to set the local boy free. 

Pictures - Simon Robinson, Cdr Aitch & Empics 

View a Printer Friendly version of this Story.

Bookmark or share this story with:

• Digg
• Delicious
• Facebook
• Reddit
• Stumbleupon

Related Articles:

• News: GP: Saints vs Gloucester - Preview
• Thoughts from the Chron 2nd April
• News: Saints Frozen out by Gloucester 33 10