National Division 1.  Round 11.  10th November  2007

 K.O. 3:00 pm

Report by Shendy

Apart from the Anglia highlights this was my first glimpse of the Saints this season, as their first visit to the South-West was inconsiderately scheduled while I was in SW France eating more duck than you would have thought possible. I made the easy trip down from Bristol with my friend Andy - instead of me being the solitary Saints shirt at a Bristol game, he was going to be the solo Bristol shirt at a Saints game. He claims that he wanted to see the Bristol old boys Saul Nelson and Danny Gray (supplemented by recent acquisitions Sean Marsden and Haydn Thomas), but I think he secretly just wanted to come and watch the Saints.

I was quite impressed with the ground, especially the immaculate pitch. Massive in-goal areas, too, which was nice to see in these days of football ground shares. I wasn't prepared for the quite dramatic bounce of the bridge over the dual-carriageway- after the game, with several hundred people crossing it, you could see the support wires moving. Quite disconcerting!

There were an awful lot of Saints in the East Terrace and there seemed to be a whole lot more at the southern end of the ground. The substantial travelling support guaranteed a good amount of noise whenever play came near. It took a while to work out that the main Exeter chant was "Chiefs, Chiefs, Chiefs" and not "Cheats, Cheats, Cheats". The alternative version could be useful if the every play Leicester.

I spent most of the warm-up working out who the new faces were, never having seen Ashton, Rae, Rudzki, Shields and Murray before.

Anyway, on to the game.

The Saints looked like they might just have had the best of the early exchanges, although Exeter did win a couple of penalties. However after a scrum, with the Saints looking to get the ball out to Chris Ashton on the wing, Exeter wing Drauniniu grabbed an interception and raced 50 metres for the opening score. Gray missed the conversion, so we were down 5-0 after only 8 minutes.

5 minutes later, Stephen Myler slotted a penalty from the Exeter 22 - it looked like referee Sean Davey upgraded it from a scrum for some unknown reason. Anyway, no-one around me (almost exclusively Gold, Black and Green) was going to argue as Northampton made it 5-3 after 13 minutes. There was some whistling from the locals, who were quite rightly reprimanded by the PA announcer.

Exeter put in a deep kick to Ashton who looked to get moving in a bit of space. Unfortunately he slipped over, much to the disappointment of the Saints contingent. However, the Saints were soon to take the lead 6-5 after Myler penalised an Exeter offside with a good penalty from the 10m line.

Danny Gray botched a chance to put the Chiefs back in front after he missed a relatively straightforward kick as the Saints were penalised for something or other.

At the restart, Dylan Hartley conceded a penalty for what appeared to be the heinous offence of being tackled without the ball.

Presumably I missed something significant, but I still have no idea why Dylan got a talking to from the ref. That's one of the problems of doing the match reports - I seem to miss quite a bit of the action because I'm making notes. Perhaps I should do what Smurf did when he used to write them - I sat next to him at London Irish once and didn't realise he was doing the report until it was published...

 By this time, it was becoming apparent that Exeter's game plan was pretty much exclusively based on the pick & drive, with the backs not really getting to see much of the ball unless they joined in.

Andy observed that Exeter's game plan 3 years ago was pretty much the same, and that they don't really seem to have moved on much in that time. Their fantastic playing surface should be tailor-made for an open running game, but that's not what they do.

I thought Robbie Kydd was done for the afternoon after 25 minutes as he took a fair old bang and spent a worrying amount of time down and not moving. It was with relief and not inconsiderable surprise that we saw him rejoin the game.

After half an hour, Exeter were awarded a kickable penalty, which Gray duly slotted - 8-5 to Exeter.

Dylan Hartley's lineout throwing was somewhat amiss today, contrasting with Exeter's - I don't recall them losing any lineouts. From what I could see, he was also being targeted by the Exeter players - the picture isn't as bad as it looks, but he was definitely receiving some attention during the game. I suspect his reputation as a bit of a hot-head precedes him and the opposition are seeking to exploit it.

As the first half drew to a close, Exeter demonstrated more of the pick and drive style that must make the wing a very lonely place. The Saints however looked to put more pace on the ball, and a break from Clarke was fed out to Spencer, who ran into Chiefs territory and kicked deep into the Exeter half.

A hurried clearance gave the Saints a 5m lineout - which we lost. After a few more picks & drives from Exeter, the Saints nicked the ball and broke down the right where Hartley flipped the ball to Ashton on the 10m line. He broke clear and was tackled just short of the try line - fortunately his momentum enabled him to roll over and touch down for the try.

Myler missed the conversion, but the Saints were 11-8 up at half time.   

It seems that the way to beat Exeter is to run them ragged. There's no point in trying to play pick and drive with them as that's what they do all day - put width and pace on the game and they start to struggle.

The Saints started the second half well - Hartley nicked the ball from another Exeter ruck, which led to a Saints penalty for not rolling away. Saints kicked to touch, won quick ball from the lineout and Robbie Kydd broke through and scored under the posts. Myler converted, and we were 18-8 up only 3 minutes into the second half.

The Saints were definitely exerting more control in the second half, with Bruce Reihana taking a quick penalty to keep Exeter on their toes, and the third quarter of the game being played pretty much exclusively in the Exeter half. What looked like a high tackle from one of the Fatialofas gave the Saints another penalty after 48 minutes, but Myler bounced it off the post.

The scrums were a bit of a mess with many re-sets and Mr Davey opting for the unorthodox crouch-touch-touch-touch-pause-engage method. The Saints wasted a couple of decent attacking opportunities with another lineout loss and a knock-on.

Eventually, Exeter actually gave the ball to their backs, and made some reasonable yards from it. I don't know why they didn't think of doing that earlier.

To be fair to them, they did have a lot more of the ball and put us under some pressure entering the final quarter of the match. Easter's sin-binning didn't help, and the home team spent some time camped on our try-line.

The Saints defence held out although Exeter did cross the line, only to be held up. A penalty was eventually conceded, which Exeter opted to kick. At 18-11, this brought them within 7 points entering the last 10 minutes or so. I do miss the game-time clock!                                           

The Saints came back with some pace, only to lose an attacking scrum when Exeter picked up the ball from the No.8's feet. Chris Ashton kicked cleverly, winning a 5m scrum, and Mark Robinson picked up and nipped over for a crucial try by the posts. Myler converted to make it 25-11 with 38 minutes on the clock.

The Saints almost scored a bonus-point winning fourth try as Fox broke clear almost straight from the re-start, but he didn't see Ashton in support.

As it was, the game ended 25-11 - Northampton's 11^th win on the trot, and the first dropped bonus point.

We still have yet to give up a bonus point, although Exeter did come close today. A fourth try at the end would have given a score line that flattered the Saints. Although they were never really in danger, it might have got a bit interesting if Exeter had scored the try to make it 18-15 with Easter still in the bin.

The Chiefs seem to have a fairly limited game plan, but they do have backs that can move the ball, and they made yardage when they remembered to use them. They should have the confidence to do so more often.

As it is, one of the major potential banana skins of the season has been successfully negotiated. We are now 11 points clear, but have another big game against Nottingham coming up next week.

Exeter Chiefs - Marsden; Luff, M Fatialofa, J Fatialofa, Drauniniu; Gray, Stuart-Smith; Parkes (Dunlea 47mins), Blythe (Nelson 64mins), Andress (Blythe 71mins), Hanks, Stevenson (Bentley 75mins), Johnson (Willis 64mins), Miller, Baxter (capt).

Northampton Saints - Spencer; Ashton, Clarke, Kydd, Reihana (capt); Myler, Robinson; Smith (Tonga'uiha 51mins), Hartley, Stewart (Murray 51mins), Lord (Short 61mins), Rae, Tupai, Fox, Easter (Rudzki 74mins).

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