ECC 2008/9 Pool2 Round 2

Saturday 18th October 2008, Franklin's Gardens KO 7:30pm

Northampton Saints 51 v 7 Montpellier Herault

Watching rugby at the Saints has always been about rituals and tradition for me.  Rugby was played at 3 O'clock on a Saturday afternoon. It started with a cooked breakfast and a drive to the ground. A roll and a beer in the Sturtridge reading the matchday programme and then out to stand in the tin shack that they called the Gordon terrace. But things change. I no longer drive to the ground I walk (yesterday this was an 18 mile walk but enough of that elsewhere on the board), I start in the local pub and get to the ground much closer to kick off . I then sit in a sumptuous stand that rests behind the new Gordon terrace. Some changes creep up on us so gradually we hardly notice them, then there are others that sweep through our lives like a gusting wind.

I was reminded of this yesterday as we had a dramatic change to the usual routine. A few of us decided to go to the members bar pre match (they have seats !) and as we sat there we were able to take in a panoramic view of the ground. And what a ground it is now. We were waiting for a 7.45 kick off, the first time I believe Saints have ever played a competitive game at this time on a Saturday night. We were joined by several Montpelier supporters who, although they can probably boast an even better ground than us, were slowly walking around taking in the sights, taking pictures and savouring the atmosphere. And there was for me, a wholly different atmosphere about the place. Was it the evening kick off ? was it the continental feel you get from playing the French in European competition ? (how I love that) Maybe it was a bit of both. But what it drove home to me was that there is now a completely different feel about Northampton Saints. Jim and Doreen (and the Hood) have brought the wind of change. Firstly it was a light breeze clearing a few cobwebs, then it started to bluster creating a new found team spirit and togetherness, now it is approaching gale force and as Courtney Lawes, the nineteen year old man of the match said in his post match interview, Saints are becoming relentless. There's a storm brewing; hold onto your hats !

And it was with "Hats on Wheels" that Saints stormed into the lead within seconds of the kick off. Monty gathered Myler's kick off and a deft kick ahead rolled into touch; had it stayed in the try may have come even quicker ! As it was with Saints causing havoc at the front of the lineout, the ball fell into Scott Gray's grateful arms and he fell over the line to put Saints 5-0 up. Myler converted and the crowd were rocking.

On 3 minutes Montpelier are caught in possession after an impressive kick and chase and Myler slots the penalty. 10-nil.

After 5 minutes Montpelier finally get a phase of possession thanks to a free kick and show that they are very capable of playing good rugby with a try by the big lock, Portuguese international Uva, after several phases of possession. The Montpelier supporters show their pleasure from the Sturtridge pavilion having smuggled several large blue flags past the stewards. It is a flying start to a very dynamic game.

Decisions now start to go the way of the French team and they just fail to draw level as the usually reliable Todeschini misses a penalty on 11 mins.

We now have a game on as both sides have a share of possession and look for an opening. Ansbro makes a great break only for Tomas to tap tackle at the last and on 19 mins the referee speaks to the captains warning that "a lot of niggle" is creeping in after Downey had been seen sitting on the Montpelier second row! I must say at this stage, having now watched the game on TV, I think the referee did a lot better than I had thought at the time yesterday. Quite impressively he spoke fluent French and was making things very clear to both sides.

On 20 mins a penalty to Saints provided a chance to gain territory and their increasing dominance in the scrum starts to cause Montpelier problems resulting in another penalty making it 13-7 on 23 mins.

Then on 25 mins the breakthrough comes. Reihana makes a break and kicks through. A wicked bounce eludes him and Ashton but Saints re-gather and Ashton showing great awareness runs around the back of the ruck and puts in a fantastic long pass to Courtney Lawes. Lawes ships it on to Ansbro who crosses in the corner. Myler converts. 20-7.

With 28 mins gone it is now apparent even to Mr Jones that the Saints scrummage is dominant. Murray is making mincemeat out of Petite and in the time honoured fashion of many a French team, some  Montpelier players are starting to lose it. The hooker is warned in perfect French not to "use his hands" but his captain couldn't have been listening as shortly afterwards, as the Saints forwards piled through again, he repeatedly used Hartley's head as a punch bag and still appeared surprised to receive a red card on 31 mins. Full credit to Dylan for taking the punishment for the team and not retaliating.

The pressure is then relentless and ends with a penalty try as Sir's patience runs out at scrum time. A penalty on 37 mins takes the score to 30-7. In this pulsating game there is still time for a Montpelier interception and penalty before Ashton ends their attack with a superb tackle causing a knock on. Half time and Saints lead 30 points to 7.

In the second half, although down to 14 men the French come out more composed and start to play some rugby. They come close to scoring but Tom Smith out runs the winger to kick the ball dead !

The game continues end to end. Saints' execution is not as accurate as last week however and several chances to gain the bonus point go begging but many of these handling errors are a result of adventurous play and therefore get little criticism from this correspondent. Montpelier again go close as Ollie Smith scythes through, but Ashton saves the day with a "Cohenesque"  last ditch tackle.

Finally the deadlock is broken as out of nothing a smart handling move between the effervescent Foden and industrious Gray in midfield put Ashton in the inch of space he needs to burst through and secure the bonus point. Myler converts to make it 37-7 and Saints have completed the job. Coming up to 60 mins the substitutions commence as expected. Montpelier bring on 22 stone of lard, Saints bring on 20 stone of pure Muscle. Vive la difference !"  The lump of lard goes on to high tackle Paul Shields whereas the lump of muscle goes on to peel around the lineout and barge over like a one man buffalo stampede. With Everett's conversion this makes it 44-7

By now Shields is on for Hartley, Everett for Myler, Digger for Ansbro with Bruce moving to centre and Day returned from injury moving Lawes out to 6 replacing Hopley. I think we may be seeing Mr Laws at 6 in the premiership very soon. He had a stunning game for one so young.

On 73 mins Rufes, the Montpelier hooker decides to go tap dancing on Lobbes' testicles and Mr Jones sees red again as Lobbe clears the water from his eyes. There is still time for one final push by Saints, a yellow card for Caudullo for cynical play and the mandatory try by Paul Diggin. Everett converts to make the final score 51-7.

So two European games completed 107 points scored and 10 conceded. Ten points gained and top of the group. You can't say fairer than that. Add to this that Montpelier are currently sixth in the top14 and are a better team than Toulon (whatever the Sky "experts" tell you). For a period in the first half many of the Saints faithful realised they had a game on and were not certain of the outcome. The Saints were however relentless and the pressure exerted broke the French team who imploded as a result. With better execution the score would have been a lot higher. The scrum was immense but the lineout struggled. Once again Saints were very strong at the breakdown and the ambition with ball in hand is as impressive as it is entertaining.

Courtney Laws deserved his man of the match award , his catching from restarts and in the lineout was impressive, his ball carrying awesome and his support running was full of stamina and purpose. But special mention must also go to Tom Smith and Euan Murray in the scrums, Dylan Hartley for maintaining control and strong ball carrying, Myler for another 100% kicking record and control from ten ( 23 out of 24 kicks now this season I think), Foden for his bravery under the high ball and energetic running, Downey for his tackling and well pretty much all the team really. Another TEAM performance.  

Can they repeat this in the premiership ? Where the rugby can be more attritional and many coaches bring their teams out to negate your strengths rather than to outplay you it can be far harder to play expansive and adventurous rugby. We shall see. But the wind of change is sweeping through Franklins Gardens, it may well become a hurricane so batten down the hatches. Its gonna be a bumpy ride !.

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