THOUGHTS FROM THE CHRON

So, in the EDF Cup the Saints go marching in to a semi final spot at the Ricoh Stadium in March. However I thought we had all but blown it in the opening ten minutes. With qualification looking a tall order anyway Llanelli caught us cold and scored two quick tries in the opening few minutes from Stoddart and King  and we all but looked out of the hunt from that moment. I even turned to a friend in C Block and commented ‘well that’s that then’. But it was a case of me of little faith as the lads regrouped and then courtesy of two Chris Ashton tries and a certain try saving tackle from Stephen Myler saw the Saints draw level as the teams went in at halftime at 13 apiece.

The tempo was raised by both sides in the second half and the Scarlets came back into it for a time but finally, slowly but surely, Saints gained the upperhand and ground out not only the win but the four try bonus point, with further scores from Bruce, Bruce, Bruce Reihana and Sean (in the singular) Lamont, that meant Sarries could not pip us to top spot in our EDF group whatever they managed to do at Bristol.

Despite the early stutter certainly the best team won on the day and big credit must go to the whole team not just for the win but for not going into a state of panic and staying cool calm and collected as they fought their way back into the tie. There is a levelheadedness about the squad we have not seen too much of in recent years and whilst everyone appears to play their part it appears that the calming influence on the pitch of old heads, especially Nacho Lobbe, that seems to be the key.

You only have to look back to a certain cup final against London Irish to see how we handled pressure in the past. This team in temperament, despite what the media and some personnel from other clubs might say, is light years ahead in that respect and long may it continue.

Saturdays win sees us join Cardiff Blues, the Ospreys and Gloucester in that double header up in Coventry on March 28th. We have been drawn against the Blues in the second game kicking off at 5:15 following on from Glos and the other Welsh sides encounter. With the clubs only being allocated 6,000 tickets each, which is far less than either Saints or Gloucester ’s season ticket holding there is bound to be an initial scramble for seats. On the face of it not everyone will be happy but with with Ticketmaster seemingly having tickets in abundance, a lot of Saints supporters are buying from them already, and the two Welsh sides unlikely to sell their full compliment, I think by hook or by crook everyone might just be accommodated. You might not all get to sit you want but I’ll be surprised if anyone misses the game, even though your ticket might take a little hunting down.

That is all for the future though, this week the Saints have a weekend off but all eyes are on the following Sundays visit to Bristol for the Guinness Premiership clash. More on that next week but I am sure that it has not gone unnoticed that even at this early stage victory would give us a healthy points cushion over the bottom place trapdoor, while defeat might drag us down into a dogfight. It’s good to back in the top flight, life is anything but dull.

SCARLET’S SUPPORTERS

There might not have been as many of them as usual but the Llanelli supporters who made their way to the Gardens on Saturday certainly made themselves heard at times and the ones I spoke to in The Foundary on Saturday night said that apart from the result they had had a great day out. They certainly added to the occasion.

Those who travelled were quick to heap praise on our set up on their return home and a thread on the Scarlet Fever supporter’s site in following days made good reading from our point of view. Here are a couple of the messages that makes you think we must be doing something right.

“I just have to commend the Northampton supporters yesterday on giving us a great welcome. They have a great club. The stadium was excellent- great service behind the bar plenty of food outlets. The whole club had a great feel to it. It was a proper rugby club and they enjoyed our singing. Although we lost it was nice to shake hands with some genuine rugby supporters.”

“Good folk one and all. Definitely go back, would like actually to be drawn with them again in some competition, good club, good supporters.”

“Always enjoy visiting the Gardens, win or lose. Proper rugby club, proper supporters and a brilliant venue for rugby. Their supporters were top class on Saturday. Hope we get to go back again soon.”

And so do we mate, so do we…

INTERNATIONALS

This weekend while the Saints take a breather it is the first round of Autumn internationals. Sean Lamont and Euan Murray start for Scotland against the All Blacks while the resurgent Scott Gray has secured a place on the bench.

However I think most eyes will be on Twickenham where Saints hooker Dylan Hartley has a fair chance of making his England debut from the bench against the Pacific Islands . Dylan has come a long way from that cheeky faced kid that joined us from Worcester ’s academy. Whilst not the ideal situation at the time, I think his lengthy ban at the end of our last GP campaign has been somewhat the making of him. He may have been talked of as an England possible at the time but the timeout looks like it gave him time to take a step back, take a deep breath and re-assess all aspects of his game and I think maybe Dorian West among others played a major part in this.

Because of that ban he is still portrayed by some as the pantomime villain but you only have to look at the Montpellier game where he did not retaliate to a flurry of punches from Julien Tomas to see he is a changed man. The old Dylan no doubt would have given as good as he got and got a card, probably red too, for his efforts, the new version literally took it on the chin, shook it off and got on with his job.

I am sure there will be comparisons made with former Saint Steve Thompson and Dylan finds himself at the same stage of his career as ‘Wally’ did a few years ago. If like him he takes this early opportunity with both hands he is well capable of nailing down that England shirt for years to come. Good luck to him.

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