Thoughts from the Chron

11th February 2010

With that game being on a Six Nations weekend and the Fezheads perhaps not losing that many to international duty it might not be quite the easy task it first looked late on Sunday afternoon when the final placings were confirmed. Watching ex-Saint Will Harries undo Saracens with two well taken tries in their own backyard you might have thought that Saracens had their minds on other things rather than the LV= Cup as the lowly Dragons edged them, even to an extent that the home crowd once again booed their own team. However a very valuable losing bonus point saw Sarries sneak through to set up that semi final clash. Certainly the smart money will be on the Saints to make the final seven days later but Sarries might just have half an eye on a smash and grab raid at the Gardens. However with a raft of Guinness Premiership games coming up before the semis, and talk in some quarters that cracks are starting to show in Sarries gameplan, perhaps by then the LV= Cup might be the last things on their mind or on the flipside their last realistic shot at silverware. Time will tell.
 
As for last Saturday’s game well as mentioned in last weeks column I was elsewhere but a friend kept me up to date via mobile phone. At a couple of minutes past three o’clock I got the brief message “Sixty seconds on the clock, 7-0 up”. Good I thought we’re on the way to a rout, job done, but it was another twenty minutes or so before the second try was confirmed and that was it as far as tries were concerned and just one more call at game end to confirm the final result. It was not the margin I’d initially expected. Perhaps though I’d been over optimistic at that first score but on reading the match reports and hearing from others that had been at the Gardens later that night it seems that sometimes the scoreboard might indeed lie and the victory was more comfortable than the numbers suggested. Jim Mallinder pointed out that yet again defence played a major part in proceedings and perhaps some of us overlook what a valuable asset that has been in recent weeks as the media more often than not highlight Saints attacking prowess. A quick look at the Guinness Premiership stats will tell you that up to now we have a slightly better than average defence (and I’m talking points conceded here not ability). If indeed we have upped defence a gear in the last few weeks, and with that game in Munster as the yardstick I would say there is some truth in that, then the foundations look even more solid. If you can keep the scoreboard ticking over at one end, and going back to the GP stats the Saints are runaway try scorers with 26, and shut up shop the other then you just might be on onto something. If only it was that simple eh?
 
NEWCASTLE
 
Certainly looking back at the last time this weekend’s visitors Newcastle came to the Gardens you would hope that our defence has come on leaps and bounds. The Saints ‘won’ the last seventy minutes of the game, indeed they even nilled the Phil Dowson skippered side for that period. The only problem was that in a little over the first ten minutes the Falcons had put enough points on the board to hold Saints at bay for the rest of the afternoon. Catching Saints cold three quickfire tries from Jon Golding, Danny Williams and Tom May, who also added two conversions put the visitors into an unassailable 19-0 lead that shell shocked Saints (try saying that after five pints) never managed to claw back.

This time round it would be nice to repay the compliment. Given that the defeat last season was the only loss at the Gardens in any competition since time immemorial (or so it seems) I am sure the result still rankles with those who took part, to be honest given the display so it should. Yes maybe it was a blip on the way to greater things but if it can be used as an added incentive then all well and good.
 
Newcastle arrive with a vastly changed side. Over the summer they lost a few more notable names including not only the aforementioned Phil Dowson to Saints but the influential Jonny Wilkinson now plying his trade down in sun kissed Toulon. Wilkinson was not part of that victorious side last season but his departure amongst others was seen by many as perhaps the beginning of the end for Newcastle as a Premiership side. In my pre season predictions I had them struggling alongside Worcester and Leeds with any one of the three making the drop, wrong again Gleadell.
 
They perhaps does not get the praise they should but Steve Bates and his coaches have yet again worked wonders with what at times has been limited resources and currently Newcastle hover around the last Heineken Cup qualification spot. Can they do again? Will Carl Hayman be the hugely (in more ways than one) influential lump he was last season?
 
Given the way the team performed in the fixture up at Newcastle earlier this season I would like to think we have his measure and this time round I am taking us to put last years result behind us and secure the win. I would like to think it will be us coming out all guns firing this time round and lord help the Falcons if it is down the slope.
 
SIX NATIONS
 
At last something promising from England. Though I am not quite sure whether anything from either England or Wales on Saturday would have unduly worried the likes of France as the old adage goes a win is a win is a win. For once under Martin Johnson’s regime it looked like some of the shackles had been removed from some players and watching the game at pitch level some even looked like they were enjoying the whole affair. Now what wonders that victory has done for England’s confidence we will have to wait for Sunday to see as they take on Italy on Valentines Day in Rome in the not too romantic setting of the Stadio Flaminio.
 
The big game of the weekend, in fact probably of the whole tournament on current form, is France taking on Ireland in Paris on Saturday afternoon. France are my dark horses for next years world cup and although last weekend Ireland were being talked about in the same context in the Irish press I have a feeling that age might be more a factor 18 months down the line with some of their squad. France on the other hand have a squad full of young pretenders and if they beat Ireland on Saturday, which I think they will, then they could be a good bet for the Grand Slam with seemingly just a Friday night game in Cardiff their only tangible obstacle.
 

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