Thoughts From The Chron

29th April 2020

Heresy I know but much as we were proud of the long standing home run it might well be a case of a lost battle winning the war when the return between the two clubs is played out in three weeks time.

Had we edged it on Saturday it may well have been a case of subconsciously resting on laurels with that ‘we never lose at Fortress Franklins' mentality would still remaining. Indeed we supporters would still be shouting about it from the rooftops about a regular Guinness Premiership season completed with the Saints undefeated at home. However come the playoffs it may have proved our undoing next time round.

In a strange twist of fate I think the result if anything actually gives us an edge for that return game whether it be back at the Gardens, which is still the most probable outcome, or at Vicarage Road. Yes Sarries might be thinking ‘been there done that we can do it again', but a narrow win for Saints would have them coming back in some respects feeling they were robbed because no doubt about it they were the best side on Saturday. Had the result gone against the Watford club I am sure in the run up to the semi finals those that have been most vocal in the Sarries camp over this season would be using that fact to full effect claiming they were out for rightful revenge in an attempt to plant seeds of doubt in Saints minds.

Now however it is Saints that are out for that revenge. Slim though the margin of defeat was it will still be a massive psychological kick up the backside for the whole club. The boys will certainly be smarting at the loss and should be chomping at the bit to get their teeth back into Saracens on the 16th of May. Much as a home record does not win silverware alone it was still something to be proud of and something Saracens took away from us so what better way to put the record right than by vanquishing last weekends victors in the return? We owe them one.

The team will also know it is in their own hands as by their own admission they did not play up to their usual standards last weekend. As I said earlier there was no doubting Sarries were the best side on Saturday but I also doubt that the Saints will be so off the pace again this season.  Whilst it would be easy to follow the sheep and lay the door at one missed kick for all our ills perhaps in fairness we should delve a bit deeper. It was not the only wayward kick of the day but then we cannot just blame the respective boots of our fly halves when we saw our pack lose one against the head in front of our own posts to concede a try. Perhaps though we lost most on the restarts where we failed to gain anything near parity all afternoon be it on our or the oppositions kick.  This not only cut our supply of regular good ball but gave Saracens possession on umpteenth occasions to cause further damage.

Given that an outsider might think there is plenty to work on for the Saints but I do really think it was just a culmination of things and an off day. Yes we were out of sorts and not our usual selves in some respects but then the lads still got within a point of in my mind the best side that has visited the Gardens this season. Some of the team did look a little jaded and perhaps events of the last few weeks have caught up with a few and the two week break before the last regular game down at London Irish has perhaps come at the right time. So by the time of the visit to Reading to take on the Exiles I expect the squad to be back in fine fettle to come out all guns blazing ready to take on the world and eight days later watch out Sarries our boys have you in their sites with a big score to settle. Beware!

WORCESTER

Whilst we are tussling for position at the top end of the table spare a thought for old friends from Worcester who were relegated in their defeat at Leeds on Sunday. The Warriors have been plying their trade in the top division for a few seasons now are were almost part of the furniture but find themselves grinding it out in the Championship next season. They will probably be looking at Saints and to a lesser degree Quins as role models for an immediate return and to build on that going forward but I have a feeling it may need a new broom sweeping throughout the club for any long term change.

I look at ‘Wuss' and see a lot of parallels with Saints. From the passionate Chairman giving something back to the town to the growing loyal through thick and thin support to the ever improving facilities at Sixways, in some ways we are a lot alike.  On the downside however I also see a couple of Saints pre-Mallinder era similarities that contributed to our downfall too. From the coaching merry-go-round that saw no long term improvement to a raft of superstar names underpinned by players who perhaps balanced the salary cap but when push came to shove were not consistent Premiership performers, again the same traits.

In Chris Latham they have a player who if he was in say the Saints, Bath, Wasps or Tigers side would be the Premierships player of the season. At Worcester he is no less that player but has no one around him on his wavelength however hard he tries to pull those around him up by their bootstraps. Last season in our game at Sixways he was head and shoulders above any other back on the pitch, Warrior or Saint, but all his endeavour came to nothing.

It is a shame he is heading back home to Australia as he strikes me as the kind of guy with a wealth of knowledge and in experience in the game, and who has been forthright in the past about Worcester's failings, who could mould them into a force for the future. If the status quo remains then, although I am sure we'll see them back, they will always be a lower table club either treading water or flirting with relegation.

I wish them well, they were a breath of fresh air when they arrived and will be again. Here's hoping however that chairman Cecil Duckworth splashes out on that new broom.

EUROPE

We may have the Bank Holiday weekend off but it is all eyes to Europe again to a few clubs and provinces fighting it out for rugby's main prize outside of the international scene. Both semi finals are Franco/Irish affairs with first up on Saturday Toulouse taking on Leinster in ‘La Ville Rose'. Leinster sneaked past Clermont in the quarter finals but I cannot see any other result than a Toulouse win even though they might have to play fifteen rather than their usual ten minutes of sublime rugby. On Sunday Munster visit one of the venues of Saints greatest triumphs the Aoneta Stadium in San Sebastian to take on Biarritz. BOPB are not having the best of seasons and finished outside the top six in France's Top 14 but are, as always, an unpredictable proposition. Munster are well Munster and as they showed in the quarters against us can be discounted at your peril as there is still plenty of life in the old dog yet despite some of us predicting their imminent demise. I'd take Munster to grind this one out too to set up a final in Paris with Toulouse at the end of May. A veritable clash of THE European giants if there ever was one and a truly fitting occasion to mark the 15th year of the competition. It may be with a hint of what might have been but I'm looking forward to watching these two games this weekend but even more our involvement back in the competition next October. It cannot come soon enough.

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