So is there any point in even putting petrol in the car and struggling up the M1 against the Bank Holiday traffic? You bet there is, because even though the Saints may boast a pretty formidable home record, there are a few pointers that suggest we can be the only winners. 

Now everyone knows, of course, that we beat the Saints at Franklins Gardens in the semi-final of the Tetley’s Bitter Cup in 1998 when it was THE trophy- probably more important than the Heineken Cup or even the RWC at that time. More of that anon.Saints began their revenge mission at Vicarage Road a couple of years later, when after a pulsating match Sarries were denied at the death when an attempted drop goal from Matt Leek was ruled wide. Sarries fans will swear to this day that the kick was good, but I have to admit that I was on my feet cheering even though my reaction was that it had probably just missed, and I was sitting behind the posts. It would have been a bit easier if he’d converted a penalty kick from the same spot moments earlier, only for Saints to fail to get the ball off the field (fancy that!) and give us another chance. That day most of us had our first sighting of Steve Walshe refereeing. Initial impressions were very good as he very soon had Matt Dawson marching back 10 yards for dissent, but little did we know that he was going to end up with an even worse reputation than Mr Gobby himself! 

My other abiding memory of that day was the journey to the ground. In those days I was the pragmatic if less-than-proud owner of a diesel powered Austin Maestro. I’m not saying it was slow, but instead of a speedometer it had a calendar! My humiliation was finally completed when driving around the M25 on the Saturday lunchtime I was overtaken by a fully laden hearse. You may have seen me driving around in a balaclava after that. 

Back to the rugger, and two years on Saints again ended our cup hopes at Vicarage Road with a 28-30 win. Although the margin was only 2 points, in reality we were always behind in the game and the fact that the match reports say we were over-reliant on Jannie de Beer tells you all you need to know about our attacking prowess.So the theme that runs through this is that all the meaningful knock-out cup games between Saints and Sarries have been won by the AWAY side. I’m conveniently not including the 2001 The Play-off game at Northampton  in this analysis, because for one thing half the team were about to depart…….. 

And if you want another good omen, in 1998 our only defeat at Vicarage Road came about because of a Leicester kick in the last minute of the game, and of course going back a couple of weeks the same thing ended our unbeaten home run that stretched way back to the days when we thought that Credit Crunch was a breakfast cereal!. 

The Road to Northampton

Why can’t the ECC have neutral grounds for semi-finals like all other tournaments of note? It would avoid the situation where teams with the easiest groups are almost guaranteed a full-house of points and thus home quarters and semis, but in fairness our hosts probably had just about the toughest looking pool of the lot.As well as Bristol, they also had to contend with two French teams. Their campaign began with a very difficult looking game at Toulon, who next season will have a bigger cast than Ben-Hur if all the players they are reported to be signing along with Ches turn up. Almost unbelievably Sonny-Bill and the boys were whipped 56-3, and before long Montpellier and Bristol had also shipped well over 50 points to the SaintsTheir only lost bonus point was away at Montpellier which ultimately gave them second seeding and a home tie against Connacht. Saints didn’t have it all their own way for the first three-quarters of the match, but a late flourish gave them a comfortable 42-13 win. The match was ‘refereed’ by Romaine Poite, who will not be getting many Christmas cards from Ireland this year judging by the match reports. He has the whistle again on Friday night; let’s just hope he doesn’t become Nigel Owens The Second. 

A resurgent Bayonne seemed to be our biggest threat, but although we never looked in  danger of losing a pool game we only picked up two bonus points and were never in the hunt for a top seeding. A home tie against the Falcons didn’t look too daunting until they began a remarkable run of wins that saw them topple Sale, Quins and Leicester in quick succession. Thankfully they were heading back to normality by the time they reached VR and we run out comfortable winners after a very good performance. 

Saints and Sinners

After suffering with an under-strength pack for a couple of seasons, Saints have recruited well to put this right. Star billing probably goes to Lions prop Euan Murray, and in this week when the focus is on the Lions going off to our Fatherland it is fitting that Tom Smith has announced his retirement. He and our very own Paul Wallace turned the tables on the much-vaunted South African front row in 1997 and helped create the platform for what was the last Lions series success. 

Ignacio Fernandez-Lobbe and Juandre Kruger form an abrasive second row, whilst Neil Best has added the ball-winning ability to their back-row missing since the days when Budge Pountney was a poacher rather than a gamekeeper. 

In the backs Bruce Reihana has rediscovered the form of his early seasons with Saints, and what a year Ben Fogle has had. Not only has he won his first England cap, he’s also rowed across the Atlantic and trekked to the South Pole. Whatever next? A trip to the Moon or maybe even Mars? Both these two are well up all the appropriate Opta stats tables, whereas the only table where we feature is ‘Bad Passes’. Glenda is on top, and Justin has made an extraordinary effort to be in third place after only a handful of games. Of course Glenda is once again the leading points scorer in the league for the umpteenth time, but we almost take that for granted….

 That glorious day in 1998

Our Cup semi-final place was earned the hard way, with a nail-biting home win over Leicester and a rollercoaster performance at Richmond where we just held on to stave off a late rally from the home team. Although Saints were only mid-table compared to our second place, their home form was pretty solid in those days too and the tie looked too close to call. 

Sarries made a very bright start, and before long Ryan Constable scored a superb try to give us a lead. However Saints came back strongly and with the game evenly poised just before half-time came the defining moment. Northampton had a series of scrums on the Saracens line with a try looking inevitable, and I offer you no prizes for guessing the song being chanted by the home fans in full cry. This was at the time when their South African prop Gary Pagel, the Cobus of his day, was probably the most feared prop in the league and they certainly threw everything into it. Somehow Sarries held on by their fingertips, and after numerous re-sets the penalty went our way and the half-time whistle blew. It was like Ali v Foreman, when Big George realised that he had delivered all of his best punches and Ali was still standing waiting to pounce. 

And sure enough in the second half Matt Singer floated like a butterfly down the wing and stung Saints with two tries to seal the win 25-10. The Sarries lap of honour after the game lasted almost half an hour as handshakes were exchanged between players and overjoyed fans. 

Poor old Matt never even got on the field in the final, which to me (and I’m sure him) was the one disappointment of our finest hour.

So come on lads, 11 years is long enough to wait for a semi-final win - You CAN do it. We’ll be right behind you!

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