Thoughts from the Chron

4^th March 2010

Fair play to the squad and the coaches in how they went about putting things right. I am sure there were a few harsh words said after the game at the Stoop and a lot of hard graft put in on the training paddock this week to prepare both physically and mentally for the Tigers visit.  On Saturday evening the team came out and indeed did the business to prove that the Quins reverse was just a blip and valuable lessons had been learnt.

TIGERS TEARS

As the teams ran out it certainly still looked a tall order though. Despite both sides losing players to international duty Tigers still had class throughout their ranks and no little amount of muscle either and not just up front.  The twin cooling towers of  Lote Tuquiri and Alesana Tuilagi on the wings confirmed what fire-power Tigers had to call upon whoever they might be missing.

Certainly that eventual victory looked anything but in the opening exchanges as Tigers harnessed that fire-power to gain the upper hand with Saints playing very little of the first quarter in the oppositions half. Despite a seventh minute Steve Myler penalty against the run of play after Paul Diggin was cynically taken out it was Leicester initially who had all guns blazing. Turning down a couple of early kickable penalties to put the ball into the corner Tigers opted for an attempted lineout drive try rather than take the three points on offer.  It may have been a notice of intent but in the end all in vain as Saints defence held firm.

Through some very fine counter rucking the lines were finally cleared, though just inch by inch at times it seemed, but territorial advantage finally edged the home side’s way.  As Saints started to find their feet the Tigers found them more than a handful to deal with. On the back foot they conceded penalty after penalty and finished the half a man down after skipper Craig Newby was sent to cool his heels after a wreckless ‘spear’ tackle. Newby’s coach Richard Cockerill described the tackle as “daft” but also suggested in the post match interviews that Saints were gifted that first half 12-3 lead.  We can all be one eyed at times but when all is said and done his team never really looked like making inroads on the scoreboard that Saints kept ticking over. And all this due to his teams indiscretions, the majority in an attempt to stem the ever growing Saints tide.  Even the twin cooling towers were making unforced errors by now and you  sensed a further score would see Saints home.

The second period started as the first had ended with Saints again making headway deep into Tigers territory. A break initiated by Man of the Match Phil Dowson saw Chris Ashton edged out by a matter of millimetres. However Saints retained the field position and from a five metre scrum it was again that man Dowson who peeled off the back then twisted through two Leicester defenders to score a well deserved try. There may have been more than half an hour left on the clock but the Saints with their tails up and the crowd in full song any attempt at a Tigers fightback was snuffed out to ensure that the East Midlands bragging rights reside in Northampton. For now… 

After all you do get a feeling we may well have not seen the last of each other as far as this season is concerned.

The win sees the Saints close the gap on the Tigers to a single point at the top of the Guinness Premiership and with the game in hand we would appear to be in the driving seat. There is still a long way though, especially when you consider that game in hand is down at the Rec against in form Bath but you would have to say that so far this season the lads have achieved more than anybody’s wildest dreams or expectations.

DOWN TO BUSINESS

As we now enter the business end of the season with the first final, the LV= Cup, just over two weeks away, perhaps we can start to set those dreams a little bit higher. There may be talk of fatigue becoming a factor from some ‘experts’ outside the club and as the season progresses each game might seem like its own cup final but I think we are in good shape as a club. Parallels might well be drawn in the coming weeks with what happened in 2000 when we were fighting on three fronts and were out on our feet in some respects but then still went on to win the biggest prize of the lot. Back then we were struck down by a series of injuries to key personnel, which of course you can never prepare for, but as for fatigue itself well a decade on it is a whole different ball game. Advancements in this area have come on leaps and bounds and I think this is where Nick Johnston and his conditioning team and the clubs physios might really come into their own in the  remaining dozen or so weeks left till the fat lady sings.

I think in these respects we are as well prepared as any club out there and I also think on the flip-side momentum might play a factor too. If we can continue the success we will be playing virtually every weekend, a quick glance at the fixture table tells you others will be taking enforced weekends off, sometime two in a row. These might be viewed as rest weekends, and I’m sure some of the players might look on them with envy as time goes on, but as things start coming at you thick and fast now then perhaps a disruption in your weekly rhythm is the last thing you need. In recent years we have seen Wasps use this very thing to an advantage in their hunt for silverware, so why not Saints?

SHARKS

So all in all we enter a period that is perhaps the biggest for the club since those heady days of 2000 starting up at Stockport on Sunday. Perhaps not quite what is envisaged as one of those week in week out cup finals for Saints but it certainly is for Sale.

The Sharks find themselves on a bit of a precipice at the moment. After last weeks round of games they are level on points with bottom club Leeds and on somewhat of a downward spiral. With the Harlequins games still fresh in our minds you cannot help but notice that Sale enter this game on the back of a bit of a lashing down at Gloucester too, shipping seven tries into the bargain. Therein lies the danger. Just like us last week against Tigers, and Quins the week before against us, the wounded animal came back to bite their next opponents, very hard.  Hopefully however those valuable lessons I talked about earlier have been well digested and we should travel north looking to put the Sharks to the sword. We may have to fight fire with fire at times as the home side try to prove something to themselves and their support but I think if we can rise above it all we will have too much for them and by Sunday evening I expect us to still be exerting huge pressure on Tigers at the top.  

MYSTIC MEG

Oh, and those lottery numbers 3, 5, 15, 27, 28, 36.

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