Thoughts from the Chron 9th April
By Chris Gleadell
April 10 2009
Things were looking a little brighter this week as Saints bounced back from last weeks EDF disappointment at the hands of Cardiff with an emphatic 40-22 victory over highflying Gloucester at the Gardens. It was one of those Gardens days. The sun shone, the near full house support sang at their loudest and for an hour it was an entertaining ding dong of a game that might have gone either way.
April 10 2009
Things were looking a little brighter this week as Saints bounced back from last weeks EDF disappointment at the hands of Cardiff with an emphatic 40-22 victory over highflying Gloucester at the Gardens. It was one of those Gardens days. The sun shone, the near full house support sang at their loudest and for an hour it was an entertaining ding dong of a game that might have gone either way.
Chris Gleadell's Thoughts from the Chron 9th April 2008
Saints, who were never behind at any point, finally got a grip on the game with around a quarter of an hour to go. A Stephen Myler penalty edged a bit of daylight between the sides before two late, late tries from Bruce Reihana and Paul Diggin, his second of the afternoon, secured the four try bonus point that had minutes earlier had looked very unlikely.
A few of us were looking forward to the return of Carlos and his bag of tricks but the biggest sleight of hand of the afternoon came from one of our own. Nacho Lobbe's dummy pass between his own legs might not have had the same grace as the banana kick or the overhead chip but Carlos could only look on as his old club stole the day with maybe thoughts of what might have been had he still been here.
I said a couple of weeks ago that we seem to have stepped it up a bit recently and you can probably trace that marked improvement back to the narrow loss at Wasps at the end of February where we dominated proceedings. Yes there may have been the blip against Falcons at the Gardens but apart from that game we have manfully competed with the great and the good week in week out. A couple of losses may have gone our way on another day and scoring around 40 points against two (then) top four sides is not to be sniffed at. As a unit we look stronger game by game and you cannot help but notice that we have a squad that like playing for each other. The rumoured splits in the squad of the past look to have been consigned to history looking at the body language and on-field camaraderie on show.
Of course it is not all down to being the best of buddies, a few players have stepped up a notch or two lately too. Those two try scorers mentioned earlier are probably prime examples.
For my money Bruce had one of his best, if not the best, games in a Saints shirt on Saturday. Not so long ago, given his momentarily dip in form and the loss of the fullback shirt to Ben Foden you might have thought we were starting to see the beginning of the end of Bruce's Saints career. Indeed I was in that camp, sad as it would have been to see him go surely there would not be a place in the starting XV for Bruce now.
We need not have worried. Bruce went away got his nose to the grindstone and has come back, in my eyes anyway, as a born again winger and he is all the better for it. Rather than the direct runs from fullback up the centre of the pitch sucking in defenders that was his trademark Bruce looks to have more than an eye for the gap and opportunities for others opening up around him in his new position. I say ‘new' position but Bruce of course joined us after playing on the wing for both Waikato and the All Blacks but in a case of going back to the future for him he might just have found his niche for another season or two to come. On Saturdays form long may he continue.
On the other wing Paul Diggin has not stepped up a notch or two lately he has simply been on fire all season but just gets better and better as the campaign progresses. I do not know how Jim Mallinder motivates him or indeed what he puts in Digger's tea but in a short space of time he has gone from a bit part player of a Division One squad to not only nailing down a Guinness Premiership starting spot but also to be the leagues second highest try scorer so far with nine tries.
It all looked so very different not so long ago though. Yes Digger had a fairly successful Div One campaign but he had hardly set the world alight at GP level before. As other players moved on as the squad was rebuilt for the return to the top flight more than a few thought Digger would also be heading for pastures new. Shows how not only how wrong you can be but how astute our coaching team are as they saw potential in Digger waiting to be unlocked that many others did not.
Before this season most of us knew Digger as the local lad, the guy who wore his heart on his sleeve, the one player who went more mental on the pitch at a victory than we did in the stands. Of course he still has all that but just like Bruce in some respects he has gone away and added a new dimension or two to his game this season and it is certainly paying dividends for the club.
His upturn in form from an also ran to probably one of the first names on the teamsheet has surprised everyone, probably even Digger himself, but well done to him, he has proved a few of us wrong and long may his progress and strike rate continue.
CONNACHT
In a break from the league this week its all eyes back to Europe and the visit of Connacht to the Gardens on Saturday for the European Challenge Cup quarter final.
If ever there was a banana skin it is this game but history teaches us we should not take these guys lightly. I am sure a few of you remember the last time we played Connacht at home in the pool stages of the old European Conference in 1997. Despite losing heavily in Galway the month before there were few that believed that the Irish side could come to the Gardens and win to knock Saints out of the competition.
This was in the day when Saints were about as reliable as an MP's claim form though. World beaters one week, abject the next, we chose the latter when Connacht came to visit. On a dreary cold October day when it rained from start to finish Saints were found wanting. Fresh from orchestrating the Lions tour win in South Africa, at fly half Gregor Townsend had a day to forget. Despite scoring an early try overlaps and kicks were missed, passes were dropped and the Irish took full advantage. To be fair to Gregor he was not the only one as the whole team looked disjointed. However it was debatable if even Saints at their best could have stopped Connacht's coup de grace. With a line out on the Saints line the Irish side opted to put everyone into it bar the hooker throwing in and the scrum half at receiver. Not only were Saints at sixes and seven on how to defend against this they also failed to get a grip in the resulting confusion and Connacht drove over and went on for a famous win.
An Irish press report of the day pointed out how very limited Saints were and how complacency surely played a part in their downfall. I am sure the same will not happen on Saturday and I do not expect to see a thirteen-man lineout.
But who knows if it's the last throw of the dice.
And the architect of the defeat that day? A young rookie coach called Warren Gatland. Now I wonder whatever happened to him?
A few of us were looking forward to the return of Carlos and his bag of tricks but the biggest sleight of hand of the afternoon came from one of our own. Nacho Lobbe's dummy pass between his own legs might not have had the same grace as the banana kick or the overhead chip but Carlos could only look on as his old club stole the day with maybe thoughts of what might have been had he still been here.
I said a couple of weeks ago that we seem to have stepped it up a bit recently and you can probably trace that marked improvement back to the narrow loss at Wasps at the end of February where we dominated proceedings. Yes there may have been the blip against Falcons at the Gardens but apart from that game we have manfully competed with the great and the good week in week out. A couple of losses may have gone our way on another day and scoring around 40 points against two (then) top four sides is not to be sniffed at. As a unit we look stronger game by game and you cannot help but notice that we have a squad that like playing for each other. The rumoured splits in the squad of the past look to have been consigned to history looking at the body language and on-field camaraderie on show.
Of course it is not all down to being the best of buddies, a few players have stepped up a notch or two lately too. Those two try scorers mentioned earlier are probably prime examples.
For my money Bruce had one of his best, if not the best, games in a Saints shirt on Saturday. Not so long ago, given his momentarily dip in form and the loss of the fullback shirt to Ben Foden you might have thought we were starting to see the beginning of the end of Bruce's Saints career. Indeed I was in that camp, sad as it would have been to see him go surely there would not be a place in the starting XV for Bruce now.
We need not have worried. Bruce went away got his nose to the grindstone and has come back, in my eyes anyway, as a born again winger and he is all the better for it. Rather than the direct runs from fullback up the centre of the pitch sucking in defenders that was his trademark Bruce looks to have more than an eye for the gap and opportunities for others opening up around him in his new position. I say ‘new' position but Bruce of course joined us after playing on the wing for both Waikato and the All Blacks but in a case of going back to the future for him he might just have found his niche for another season or two to come. On Saturdays form long may he continue.
On the other wing Paul Diggin has not stepped up a notch or two lately he has simply been on fire all season but just gets better and better as the campaign progresses. I do not know how Jim Mallinder motivates him or indeed what he puts in Digger's tea but in a short space of time he has gone from a bit part player of a Division One squad to not only nailing down a Guinness Premiership starting spot but also to be the leagues second highest try scorer so far with nine tries.
It all looked so very different not so long ago though. Yes Digger had a fairly successful Div One campaign but he had hardly set the world alight at GP level before. As other players moved on as the squad was rebuilt for the return to the top flight more than a few thought Digger would also be heading for pastures new. Shows how not only how wrong you can be but how astute our coaching team are as they saw potential in Digger waiting to be unlocked that many others did not.
Before this season most of us knew Digger as the local lad, the guy who wore his heart on his sleeve, the one player who went more mental on the pitch at a victory than we did in the stands. Of course he still has all that but just like Bruce in some respects he has gone away and added a new dimension or two to his game this season and it is certainly paying dividends for the club.
His upturn in form from an also ran to probably one of the first names on the teamsheet has surprised everyone, probably even Digger himself, but well done to him, he has proved a few of us wrong and long may his progress and strike rate continue.
CONNACHT
In a break from the league this week its all eyes back to Europe and the visit of Connacht to the Gardens on Saturday for the European Challenge Cup quarter final.
If ever there was a banana skin it is this game but history teaches us we should not take these guys lightly. I am sure a few of you remember the last time we played Connacht at home in the pool stages of the old European Conference in 1997. Despite losing heavily in Galway the month before there were few that believed that the Irish side could come to the Gardens and win to knock Saints out of the competition.
This was in the day when Saints were about as reliable as an MP's claim form though. World beaters one week, abject the next, we chose the latter when Connacht came to visit. On a dreary cold October day when it rained from start to finish Saints were found wanting. Fresh from orchestrating the Lions tour win in South Africa, at fly half Gregor Townsend had a day to forget. Despite scoring an early try overlaps and kicks were missed, passes were dropped and the Irish took full advantage. To be fair to Gregor he was not the only one as the whole team looked disjointed. However it was debatable if even Saints at their best could have stopped Connacht's coup de grace. With a line out on the Saints line the Irish side opted to put everyone into it bar the hooker throwing in and the scrum half at receiver. Not only were Saints at sixes and seven on how to defend against this they also failed to get a grip in the resulting confusion and Connacht drove over and went on for a famous win.
An Irish press report of the day pointed out how very limited Saints were and how complacency surely played a part in their downfall. I am sure the same will not happen on Saturday and I do not expect to see a thirteen-man lineout.
But who knows if it's the last throw of the dice.
And the architect of the defeat that day? A young rookie coach called Warren Gatland. Now I wonder whatever happened to him?
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Chris Gleadell's thoughts from the Chron 9th April
Posted by: ComeOnYouSaints.com (IP Logged)
Date: 09/04/2009 23:41
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Re: Chris Gleadell's thoughts from the Chron 9th April
Posted by: Eif Jones (IP Logged)
Date: 10/04/2009 00:01
I think you have been kind to the coaching staff. Many of us could not understand why Digger was not a first choice in the GP team weeks before the coaches finally gave him game time. His performances in the Wanderers and the odd EDF/ECC game were more than enough for me.
Re: Chris Gleadell's thoughts from the Chron 9th April
Posted by: oddshapedballs (IP Logged)
Date: 10/04/2009 08:11
Another bit of Monday morning quarter-backing or is there any actual evidence of this opinion? I am sure I would have remembered if you had posted anything complimentary about Saints or one of their players.
A very nice piece, by the way, Chris.
A very nice piece, by the way, Chris.
Re: Chris Gleadell's thoughts from the Chron 9th April
Posted by: St Francis (IP Logged)
Date: 10/04/2009 08:52
OSB: as you know, Eif always keeps his thoughts to himself until they have been proved correct.
And yes, a most enjoyable piece CG, thanks.
And yes, a most enjoyable piece CG, thanks.
Re: Chris Gleadell's thoughts from the Chron 9th April
Posted by: St.Rich Joe, Niamh and Sam's Dad (IP Logged)
Date: 10/04/2009 09:36
You are a star Mr G.
Couldn't agree more about air Digger. Is it just the coaches though? For me his linking with Foden is the key. Those two in tandem, terrify defences. As for Bruce? Well like you said he has un-reinvented himself and seems to revel in his old position. Is it just the case that a change is as good as a rest? For Dylan's try on Satdee you have to say there was element of luck involved, the trap that turned into a kick ahead left him with no option but to run, but also having to run onto the ball allowed him to see what the defence was doing and with it being so alien in our ariel ping-pong culture they were mostly confused. Saying all of that, there is very little luck involved in being able to see all of that at pace or the hands he had in all four tries against Gloucester.
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Couldn't agree more about air Digger. Is it just the coaches though? For me his linking with Foden is the key. Those two in tandem, terrify defences. As for Bruce? Well like you said he has un-reinvented himself and seems to revel in his old position. Is it just the case that a change is as good as a rest? For Dylan's try on Satdee you have to say there was element of luck involved, the trap that turned into a kick ahead left him with no option but to run, but also having to run onto the ball allowed him to see what the defence was doing and with it being so alien in our ariel ping-pong culture they were mostly confused. Saying all of that, there is very little luck involved in being able to see all of that at pace or the hands he had in all four tries against Gloucester.
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Re: Chris Gleadell's thoughts from the Chron 9th April
Posted by: Howlin (IP Logged)
Date: 10/04/2009 10:18
Good stuff Mr G. A few years ago Digger was sharing a house with another young player doing mostly what young players do. They were told the facts of life by Grays (I think) and one of them decided to put their nose to the grindstone and the other didn't. One wanders off into obscurity the other is fast becoming a mini legend.
Saint til I die
Saint til I die
Re: Chris Gleadell's thoughts from the Chron 9th April
Posted by: ChrisG (IP Logged)
Date: 10/04/2009 11:10
Eif, look at the stats, look how many games Digger played in the GP before we were relegated. Then before the start of this season look at when he last scored a Premiership try, you might be suprised, it suprised me.
Re: Chris Gleadell's thoughts from the Chron 9th April
Posted by: St.Rich Joe, Niamh and Sam's Dad (IP Logged)
Date: 10/04/2009 11:35
Mr G, I'm a bit on the lazy side today but that does sound interesting. Could you point me in the right direction please mate?
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Re: Chris Gleadell's thoughts from the Chron 9th April
Posted by: ChrisG (IP Logged)
Date: 10/04/2009 11:39
Re: Chris Gleadell's thoughts from the Chron 9th April
Posted by: St.Rich Joe, Niamh and Sam's Dad (IP Logged)
Date: 10/04/2009 11:43
Oh I see! Quite a contrast there then!!!
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Re: Chris Gleadell's thoughts from the Chron 9th April
Posted by: ClaireJ (IP Logged)
Date: 10/04/2009 11:49
Great read to start the weekend Mr G!
Digger has come a long way this season... He didn't even make the Pre-season trip to France - he was with the Sevens team at HQ playing his socks off. Here he is scoring against Leeds...
Since then he's put in some barnstorming performances... here's to it continuing!
Some strange things are happening to my post!!
Edited 5 time(s). Last edit at 2009:04:10:12:10:36 by ClaireJ.
Digger has come a long way this season... He didn't even make the Pre-season trip to France - he was with the Sevens team at HQ playing his socks off. Here he is scoring against Leeds...
Since then he's put in some barnstorming performances... here's to it continuing!
Some strange things are happening to my post!!
Edited 5 time(s). Last edit at 2009:04:10:12:10:36 by ClaireJ.
Re: Chris Gleadell's thoughts from the Chron 9th April
Posted by: ChrisG (IP Logged)
Date: 10/04/2009 11:51
Yep 2005 Rich!
Re: Chris Gleadell's thoughts from the Chron 9th April
Posted by: oddshapedballs (IP Logged)
Date: 10/04/2009 15:47
Last Saturday all the papers and the tipping web-sites were shooing the punters away from Mon Nome. The kindest thing that was said about it was that it would do well to finish around the same place (tenth) that it finished in 2008; 100 to 1 was the right price.
Afterwards, 100 to 1 was a ridiculous price.
For my money Digger was one of those that seemed to have found his level last season. In League 1 it took him quite a while to get into the team and he did well, scoring plenty of tries but not rated by the Esher coach. I wouldn't normally mention that but Mike Smid has a more than half-decent reputation.
I cannot recall anyone posting that Digger was a better bet than Chris Ashton or saying Monty would slip right down the pecking order (for whatever reason). Nobody trumpeted Digger taking a first team starting spot as the coming of a Messiah. Please remind me when we last have someone riding that high in the Prem try-scoring charts and was it a young Ben Cohen or a wily old Pat Lam.
You'd have thought that that sort of talent, were it that obvious, would have been the topic of hot message board discussion. Instead it was Euan's scrummaging, Juandre's line-out, Myler's kicking percentage and the travesty of how little game time Dylan was getting for England.
I am happy to admit that I was wrong. Digger has proved me wrong and long may he continue to rub my nose in the dirt.
Afterwards, 100 to 1 was a ridiculous price.
For my money Digger was one of those that seemed to have found his level last season. In League 1 it took him quite a while to get into the team and he did well, scoring plenty of tries but not rated by the Esher coach. I wouldn't normally mention that but Mike Smid has a more than half-decent reputation.
I cannot recall anyone posting that Digger was a better bet than Chris Ashton or saying Monty would slip right down the pecking order (for whatever reason). Nobody trumpeted Digger taking a first team starting spot as the coming of a Messiah. Please remind me when we last have someone riding that high in the Prem try-scoring charts and was it a young Ben Cohen or a wily old Pat Lam.
You'd have thought that that sort of talent, were it that obvious, would have been the topic of hot message board discussion. Instead it was Euan's scrummaging, Juandre's line-out, Myler's kicking percentage and the travesty of how little game time Dylan was getting for England.
I am happy to admit that I was wrong. Digger has proved me wrong and long may he continue to rub my nose in the dirt.
Re: Chris Gleadell's thoughts from the Chron 9th April
Posted by: St.Rich Joe, Niamh and Sam's Dad (IP Logged)
Date: 10/04/2009 16:52
I like being wrong too OSB, there's nothing better than having your expectations exceeded! Too often it's the other way around. When I first saw Fox I thought he was a nailed on international, that seems a ridiculous thought now. There have been so many down the years but then I'm a Saints supporter first and a Rugby Union pragmatist much later! There's one name we all expected big things of this season. Chris Ashton. The snake charmer has frankly had a season to forget. The pragmatist in me is starting to win the battle, I hope I'm wrong there too! One area I have been happily right is that I thought Nacho was a good signing, that was so right it was nearly wrong!!! That unpredictability is all part of the wonderful journey isn't it?
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Re: Chris Gleadell's thoughts from the Chron 9th April
Posted by: broonie (IP Logged)
Date: 11/04/2009 06:57
richard, that would have been brusa who jointly topped the scoring charts with (i think) steve hanley in (i think) his second season with us
we may not have been wondering why digger was not picked, but quite a few were puzzled why asp-botherer was continuing to be picked.i reached the conclusion it was a case of giving someone the opportunity to fail, a good managerial move if you can stomach the consequences.
i greatly hope our back three continue to play "two go" on kick returns, with the third rotating in.it means the part of the field we attack, as well as the angle we attack it from, become far less predictable than the fullback always getting the ball and running up the middle, and the opposition have to shift their big forwards around a lot more.
we may not have been wondering why digger was not picked, but quite a few were puzzled why asp-botherer was continuing to be picked.i reached the conclusion it was a case of giving someone the opportunity to fail, a good managerial move if you can stomach the consequences.
i greatly hope our back three continue to play "two go" on kick returns, with the third rotating in.it means the part of the field we attack, as well as the angle we attack it from, become far less predictable than the fullback always getting the ball and running up the middle, and the opposition have to shift their big forwards around a lot more.
Re: Chris Gleadell's thoughts from the Chron 9th April
Posted by: St.Rich Joe, Niamh and Sam's Dad (IP Logged)
Date: 11/04/2009 07:12
Yeah ok Broonie I'll concede I've been way too enthusiastic about Ashton (there I'm packing it in,) I'll stop acting like the labs do when they see their leads.
I wasn't just thinking about counter attack with Ben & Digger. In attack we seem to stack two blind and until a couple of weeks ago it was mostly Ben & Digger but lately Ansbro is also part of the combo (of course that may have been going on for a lot longer but then I don't see the match as quickly or as comprehensively as you, it's the lab thing again!)
As for Bruce I don't care too much about the past, I just hope he continues this rich vein of form. He's certainly enjoying his rugby.
ps I know your reply was to OSB not me
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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2009:04:11:07:21:24 by St.Rich Joe, Niamh and Sam's Dad.
I wasn't just thinking about counter attack with Ben & Digger. In attack we seem to stack two blind and until a couple of weeks ago it was mostly Ben & Digger but lately Ansbro is also part of the combo (of course that may have been going on for a lot longer but then I don't see the match as quickly or as comprehensively as you, it's the lab thing again!)
As for Bruce I don't care too much about the past, I just hope he continues this rich vein of form. He's certainly enjoying his rugby.
ps I know your reply was to OSB not me
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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2009:04:11:07:21:24 by St.Rich Joe, Niamh and Sam's Dad.
Re: Chris Gleadell's thoughts from the Chron 9th April
Posted by: shendy (IP Logged)
Date: 11/04/2009 11:07
Quote:Eif Jones
I think you have been kind to the coaching staff. Many of us could not understand why Digger was not a first choice in the GP team weeks before the coaches finally gave him game time. His performances in the Wanderers and the odd EDF/ECC game were more than enough for me.
One thing I have to mention here is something I recall from ages back, when Digger played one of his first games in a televised match against Sale. You opined immediately that he would never make it in the Premiership because he was too small.
Any comment on that prediction?
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