Thoughts from The Chron 17th April
By Chris Gleadell April 17 2008
At Twickenham on Saturday it was a case of Mission Accomplished Part Two as Saints secured the double in the 24-13 EDF Trophy win over Exeter Chiefs. The game was not a classic but given the route to the final it was a job well done for all concerned.
At Twickenham on Saturday it was a case of Mission Accomplished Part Two as Saints secured the double in the 24-13 EDF Trophy win over Exeter Chiefs. The game was not a classic but given the route to the final it was a job well done for all concerned.
THOUGHTS FROM THE CHRON
At Twickenham on Saturday it was a case of Mission Accomplished Part Two as Saints secured the double in the 24-13 EDF Trophy win over Exeter Chiefs. The game was not a classic but given the route to the final it was a job well done for all concerned. In these one off winner takes all games you are never quite sure of the result, form or league position counts for nothing, this seasons FA Cup in football is testament to that, and Saturday was no exception.
For a start a different Exeter turned up. Rather than the stifled team we saw in the two Division One encounters who looked afraid to do anything outside of keeping it tight in their forwards on Saturday we saw a Chiefs side who were willing to throw it about a bit and bring their backs in at every opportunity if the game demanded. Yes even their wingers saw the ball this time round with Josh Drauniniu being a constant threat. Had they tried this in the league games they may well have pushed us closer than anyone.
But over the 80 minutes Saints held out and probably cooler heads more than anything won the day as a series of second half penalties by skipper Bruce Reihana, after first half tries from Joe Ansbro and Paul Diggin laid the foundations, saw them home with a couple of scores to spare at the final whistle.
Hats (or should that be tribal headdresses?) off to Exeter though.. They are probably a much better side than some of us have given them credit for. If they can play the expanded game we saw on Saturday week in week out next season there is no reason why they cannot give relegated Leeds Carnegie a real run for their money and join us in the Guinness Premiership in the 09/10 season.
That aside the plaudits must go to our lads though. There were a few playing on Saturday who knew they will not be at the club next season yet they stuck to the task and reveled in the result all the same. They will be moving on to pastures new and the best of luck to them. To those remaining the hard work will be getting so much harder come September but let us hope it is on the road to more of that silverware.
The Saints supporters also came out in their many thousands on Saturday and did the club proud. I guess at the end of day there may well have been around 18,000 there as people purchased tickets from various outlets, the biggest attendance of any set of supporters on the day and that includes our nearest and dearest from Leicester ‘competing' in the main event. We might have been spread out into a few largish gatherings and quite a few small pockets dotted around but we made ourselves heard throughout the game. Indeed in the game afterwards between Tigers and Ospreys when quite a few of us had headed off to celebrate elsewhere you could clearly hear ‘Oh When The Saints' ringing round the stadium on the television coverage from those hardy souls who had remained. Well done to all and lets hope it is not too long before we get the opportunity for a repeat performance on one of the big stages again.
POSIONED CHALICE?
Keith Barwell once commented a few years ago that his good friends at the RFU (Nigel and Rupert I think he called them) only strength was that they COULD run a booze up in a brewery. Outside of that their organisational skills were lacking to say the least.
Times may have changed and some kind of peace may have broken out (though do not hold your breath) between the clubs and the national union but it seems that for those in the corridors of English rugby power in this country executing a plan with skill or even on time is still not their forte.
The current state of play surrounding the future of coaching and management of the England side is on the face of it an absolute shambles.. One minute Rob Andrew is all ready to make an announcement the next minute it is delayed a further week as you sense that behind the scenes yet more horse trading is being done. Meanwhile the incumbent coach Brian Ashton is left hanging in limbo. If I were Ashton I would have thrown the towel in a long time ago if treated like this as it increasingly looks like he will be the scapegoat for a whole range of perceived failings, many of which cannot be laid wholly at his door.
As I write this on Wednesday yet another announcement is expected with the media having Martin Johnson nailed on as the new head honcho of the England set up. It is not quite clear what Johnson's role will be, if indeed these rumours are true, and whether Ashton is still included in the plan but I think it is a very big gamble if proved to be correct.
There is no question that ‘Johnno' was the most successful captain England ever had but there is no guarantee that can be translated into coaching or management especially of a national side when he has absolutely zero experience in the capacity at any level.
Of course he could be a great success, I truly hope he is, and he may return the country to former glories but it is an awfully big risk given that lack of experience and that should the wheels come off by the end of the 2009 Six Nations the next World Cup will be looming large on the horizon with two years already wasted. Not only will Johnson's reputation be shot be also any other coaches he appoints as part of his team as we go through yet another rebuild.
To me it looks like Rob Andrew, who will no doubt keep his role whatever happens, wants to keep the job in house rather than look outside to what might be a far more sensible and less of a risk appointment. You only have to look to what ‘outsider' Warren Gatland has done for Wales in such a short period and be open to influences that are not purely English. It may not suit all the blazers at HQ but in South Africa Jake White, who has been there and done it as a national coach winning the last Rugby World Cup, is left twiddling his thumbs. He has even expressed the view that he is interested in the job. Surely then it makes better sense to appoint a man of his standing and experience with maybe Johnson learning the ropes alongside him to take over long term than taking a shot on an unproven rookie.
At Twickenham on Saturday it was a case of Mission Accomplished Part Two as Saints secured the double in the 24-13 EDF Trophy win over Exeter Chiefs. The game was not a classic but given the route to the final it was a job well done for all concerned. In these one off winner takes all games you are never quite sure of the result, form or league position counts for nothing, this seasons FA Cup in football is testament to that, and Saturday was no exception.
For a start a different Exeter turned up. Rather than the stifled team we saw in the two Division One encounters who looked afraid to do anything outside of keeping it tight in their forwards on Saturday we saw a Chiefs side who were willing to throw it about a bit and bring their backs in at every opportunity if the game demanded. Yes even their wingers saw the ball this time round with Josh Drauniniu being a constant threat. Had they tried this in the league games they may well have pushed us closer than anyone.
But over the 80 minutes Saints held out and probably cooler heads more than anything won the day as a series of second half penalties by skipper Bruce Reihana, after first half tries from Joe Ansbro and Paul Diggin laid the foundations, saw them home with a couple of scores to spare at the final whistle.
Hats (or should that be tribal headdresses?) off to Exeter though.. They are probably a much better side than some of us have given them credit for. If they can play the expanded game we saw on Saturday week in week out next season there is no reason why they cannot give relegated Leeds Carnegie a real run for their money and join us in the Guinness Premiership in the 09/10 season.
That aside the plaudits must go to our lads though. There were a few playing on Saturday who knew they will not be at the club next season yet they stuck to the task and reveled in the result all the same. They will be moving on to pastures new and the best of luck to them. To those remaining the hard work will be getting so much harder come September but let us hope it is on the road to more of that silverware.
The Saints supporters also came out in their many thousands on Saturday and did the club proud. I guess at the end of day there may well have been around 18,000 there as people purchased tickets from various outlets, the biggest attendance of any set of supporters on the day and that includes our nearest and dearest from Leicester ‘competing' in the main event. We might have been spread out into a few largish gatherings and quite a few small pockets dotted around but we made ourselves heard throughout the game. Indeed in the game afterwards between Tigers and Ospreys when quite a few of us had headed off to celebrate elsewhere you could clearly hear ‘Oh When The Saints' ringing round the stadium on the television coverage from those hardy souls who had remained. Well done to all and lets hope it is not too long before we get the opportunity for a repeat performance on one of the big stages again.
POSIONED CHALICE?
Keith Barwell once commented a few years ago that his good friends at the RFU (Nigel and Rupert I think he called them) only strength was that they COULD run a booze up in a brewery. Outside of that their organisational skills were lacking to say the least.
Times may have changed and some kind of peace may have broken out (though do not hold your breath) between the clubs and the national union but it seems that for those in the corridors of English rugby power in this country executing a plan with skill or even on time is still not their forte.
The current state of play surrounding the future of coaching and management of the England side is on the face of it an absolute shambles.. One minute Rob Andrew is all ready to make an announcement the next minute it is delayed a further week as you sense that behind the scenes yet more horse trading is being done. Meanwhile the incumbent coach Brian Ashton is left hanging in limbo. If I were Ashton I would have thrown the towel in a long time ago if treated like this as it increasingly looks like he will be the scapegoat for a whole range of perceived failings, many of which cannot be laid wholly at his door.
As I write this on Wednesday yet another announcement is expected with the media having Martin Johnson nailed on as the new head honcho of the England set up. It is not quite clear what Johnson's role will be, if indeed these rumours are true, and whether Ashton is still included in the plan but I think it is a very big gamble if proved to be correct.
There is no question that ‘Johnno' was the most successful captain England ever had but there is no guarantee that can be translated into coaching or management especially of a national side when he has absolutely zero experience in the capacity at any level.
Of course he could be a great success, I truly hope he is, and he may return the country to former glories but it is an awfully big risk given that lack of experience and that should the wheels come off by the end of the 2009 Six Nations the next World Cup will be looming large on the horizon with two years already wasted. Not only will Johnson's reputation be shot be also any other coaches he appoints as part of his team as we go through yet another rebuild.
To me it looks like Rob Andrew, who will no doubt keep his role whatever happens, wants to keep the job in house rather than look outside to what might be a far more sensible and less of a risk appointment. You only have to look to what ‘outsider' Warren Gatland has done for Wales in such a short period and be open to influences that are not purely English. It may not suit all the blazers at HQ but in South Africa Jake White, who has been there and done it as a national coach winning the last Rugby World Cup, is left twiddling his thumbs. He has even expressed the view that he is interested in the job. Surely then it makes better sense to appoint a man of his standing and experience with maybe Johnson learning the ropes alongside him to take over long term than taking a shot on an unproven rookie.
But then sense and the RFU have never really been good bedfellows.
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Re: Thoughts from The Chron 18th April
Posted by: Beef (IP Logged)
Date: 2008:04:18:20:49:50
Good stuff as usual, Chris
Terrace 'B' next to Mav, Shaddo, AB, Jeremy and Spud.
Terrace 'B' next to Mav, Shaddo, AB, Jeremy and Spud.
Re: Thoughts from The Chron 18th April
Posted by: St.Rich Joe, Niamh and Sam's Dad (IP Logged)
Date: 2008:04:19:06:50:46
Bit late reading this but agree with Beef (OMG!) excellent stuff
please sponsor family Lindsley for Saints with Heart 7
please sponsor family Lindsley for Saints with Heart 7
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