Thoughts from the Chron

20th May 2010

Talking pre-season I thought perhaps we were still a good year to 18 months off being real contenders. I surmised building on the European Challenge Cup win of the year before maybe we would win around half our games in Europe, with a little luck make the semis of the LV= Cup and perhaps just make the top half of the Guinness Premiership. The team did all that and then some in being the only English side to make the quarter finals of the Heineken, securing runners up spot in the Premiership and winning the LV= in some style and being undefeated in the process. A big well done to all concerned, we are all proud of you.

Certainly after being somewhat in the doldrums for the last few years since his arrival Jim Mallinder and his coaches, indeed everyone at the club, has helped put the club back where a lot of felt it has always belonged, at the forefront of English rugby. In time I have no doubt that will be European rugby too. There is no doubting that not only are the good times back but the feelgood factor has returned too to Franklins Gardens.

For us Saints fans we know we can now go off and enjoy the summer knowing that for Big Jim and his crew there is absolutely no question of resting on laurels and I am sure already thoughts will be on next term and the aim to improve once more. The lads will be taking a well earned rest to recharge batteries and top up tans but I hope none of them dwell too much on Sundays defeat. Yes there were lessons to be learnt from the game and you probably learn more from defeat than you ever do victory but it is no use reflecting on what might have been rather using Sunday's feeling at the final whistle as an incentive to bigger and better things next season.

We will also be saying good bye to a handful of players too, all off to pastures new. Best of luck to all of them in their new endeavours but I make no excuse in singling out three of them for a special mention. Neil Best came to the Gardens with Keith Woods ‘he's a little bit mad isn't he?' endorsement ringing in everyone's ears and didn't we Saints supporters love him all the more for it. Besty was as hard and abrasive as they come with no quarter asked or given and a player who would gladly stick his head where others dare not place their boot. His play but probably more his never say die effort made him a Franklins favourite from the start. He moves on to Worcester where I am sure he will be taken to the hearts of the Sixways crowd in double quick time.

Juandre Kruger came to us as somewhat of an unknown. Sure we had all heard of the two players he understudied at the Blue Bulls, Bakkies Botha and Victor Matfield but little was known of the youngster when he arrived two years ago. He goes back as not on the standout lineout man at the club but in some outsiders view - and of course in ours - as the top in the country. Juandre has ambitions to play for South Africa and I would not bet against that becoming a reality before too long. The lineout was an area the club had struggled in for years but under Juandre's guidance it became as assured as it has been for the last decade or so and on opposition ball the South African was high in the number of steals. He will leave a hole that will be very hard to fill but good luck to him he looks to have a very successful career ahead of him and who knows in a few years time he might just feel like coming back.

Of the three though perhaps the hardest to say goodbye to is Ignacio Fernandez Lobbe. The word legend is one that's bandied around perhaps a bit too much nowadays but Nacho's whole hearted approach to the game and his larger than life character certainly makes him leave the Gardens as one in my eyes. Since the game went pro there never seems to be the characters around in rugby as there were in the amateur era but Nacho certainly bucks that trend. I am sure he will be sorely missed throughout the club.

Looking to the future though we still have strong foundations at the club and some of the remaining players have come on leaps and bounds this season. Perhaps none more so than three of our young England players Chris Ashton, Courtney Lawes and Dylan Hartley.

At the start of the season Chris was all but giving up the game to return to Rugby League. He ends the season not only as the top try scorer in the Guinness Premiership but has an England cap, the first hopefully of many, to boot. And this week he was also voted the Premiership player of the season. Like Juandre Kruger mentioned earlier Chris does have the world at his feet and will hopefully be part of the furniture at Northampton for many years to come.

Much the same could be said of Courtney Lawes. Perhaps to the outside world Courtney was known more for his crunching hits on YouTube than his all round playing prowess. He truly arrived on the scene this season in the Heineken Cup game against Munster at the Gardens where he was more than a match for the much vaunted Irish second row. That performance got him into the England squad and although he played only a bit part in proceedings his time will surely come as his game improves further.

The player who has impressed me the most though is Dylan. People, especially some aspects of the media, were keen to jump on the bandwagon labeling him as a loose cannon hothead. This season we have seen anything but. I think being made captain was a masterstroke and not only has he made the hooker's shirt for England his own too but he surely must be an international skipper of the future too. Well done.

So in these three alongside the likes of Phil Dowson, Ben Foden, Euan Murray, Brian Mujati, Soane Tonga'uiha, Roger Wilson, Lee Dickson, James Downey, Jon Clarke, Shane Geraghty and Steve Myler plus a raft of very able deputies and a healthy injection of new blood next season I think we have the squad to move forward once more. It may be a tall order to improve on this season but I think we may well just have the squad to do it. Those warm up games in August cannot come soon enough!

And finally while you've probably noticed I have avoided talking too much about Sunday's game I cannot let this seasons columns end without a mention of Tiny's wonder try. You hear time after time when a prop has fallen over the try line from two yards the embellished story of how they took the ball up on half way on the wing, outsprinted a couple of defenders then saw off the fullback before diving over the line. The difference in Soane's case is that it is 100% true and for those there and despite the final result it will live long in the memory. Well done to him and more of the same next season please, it really was something special.

And that's it from me for another season so it is just left to say enjoy the summer all and I think as Saints there may be even more enjoyable times on the horizon for all of us, I can't wait.

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