By Rich on the spot
November 10 2002

As most East Midlands derbies are, this was a dire game of rugby, compounded by the loss of players to international duty. Leicester Tigers were the ones doing simple things well. They simply put Saints under pressure and watched them self destruct. It could be a tough few weeks. The day started brightly. The Gardens were packed to the rafters for the first ever 12 600 sell out crowd. The former captains Gary Pearce, Vince Cannon, Don White and David Powell officially opened the new Churches stand. Ron Jacobs was unfortunately unable to attend due to ill health.

Then there was the traditional remembrance ceremony. Franklin’s Gardens is the only ground in the country with it’s own war memorial and Saints mark remembrance by laying a wreath, holding a minutes silence and reading out the remembrance poem. This was respectfully observed by every person in the ground except for the constant beeping of mobile phones and by Josh Kronfeld, Leicester’s former All Black flanker. This was a shame because performance wise he was the outstanding player of the day for either team.

To the game and it was Leicester who seized the early initiative with a Geordan Murphy penalty. Without the recognised kicking of Tim Stimpson, the Tigers were supposed to be weak in the goal-kicking department, no one seemed to have told Murphy; discarded by Ireland he was determined to show his quality. Indeed Paul Grayson was made to look second rate as he missed two penalties in the opening quarter. Tigers somehow only stayed 0-3 ahead as they squandered good attacking opportunities and Saints defence scrapped for their very lives.

In a dreadful start Saints finally decided to play some rugby when Jon Sleightholme, one of the few home heroes, scorched around Leicester danger man Steve Booth. It was too much to also beat Murphy but good support from the forwards saw quick ball unleash Oriol Ripol on the opposite wing. He did not have the pace to beat Ollie Smith and the move broke down.

When Grayson finally managed to land a kick and level the scores Leicester showed the qualities that made them 4-in-a-row champions. They simply upped a gear and brought the game back to the Saints. The inevitable infringement led to three more points for Murphy.

Murphy had a chance to extend this lead further in the first half but missed the kick to leave the half time score at 3-6. The score says a lot for the rugby being played. Both teams were capable of getting into good field positions but then the passing, ball protection and creative ability of either team meant attacks simply dissolved.

After the break Saints found themselves under more pressure. With Tigers deep in Saints territory, the home side was pinged for not rolling away. Obviously referee Pearson had brushed up on his laws at half time because this was one of many offences he ignored in the first half.

Tigers used their traditional tactic and kicked to the corner which to be fair to the Saints defence was handled very well. The lineout became a 5metre scrum that ended in a Tigers knock on. Infringements at the resulting scrum gave Saints a chance to clear their lines. This was the first point in the half where Northampton decided to press the self-destruct button. Instead of Grayson or Beal hammering the ball down field, Johnny Howard tapped and went in the style of Matt Dawson. The ball was knocked on and the Saints fans desperately screamed “not ten”. Pearson wasn’t influenced by the home crowds pleas and correctly awarded the tigers the scrum.

The Saints scrum was under all kinds of pressure from the older more experienced Leicester front row. Robbie Morris was eventually pinged for boring in on French international Tournaire. The passage of play ended in a Tigers penalty and Murphy stretched the lead to 3-9.

Saints fans were given a glimmer of hope as Bruce Reihana was clearly warming up on the touchline. He replaced a very disgruntled Nick Beal and from the start the former All Black was on a hiding to nothing. He received a tremendous reception from the home crowd who seemed to think they had signed Harry Potter. This however is rugby, not Quidditch and without a Nimbus 2000 Reihana really wasn’t going to magically change the game.

More Tigers pressure saw another attacking lineout deep in Saints territory. Clearly Wayne Smith had identified this attacking threat and had prepared for it. The Northampton forwards did not compete for the ball they lined up American football style, preparing to drive against the point of attack as if it was a line of scrimmage. This ploy successfully kept the line un-breached.

In contrast to Leicester the Saints set piece was woeful. Many lineouts went astray, Dan Richmond is clearly not back to his best following surgery and the scrum was under extreme pressure. Following more good work from Sleightholme, Wayne Smith decided it was time to plug the gaps replacing Howard, Soden and Budgen with Vass, Fox and Sturgess. With more than 20 minutes left to play Saints had already used 4 substitutes. Soon after that Hunter replaced Phillips.

They didn’t seem to have a great impact and Leicester once again brought play into the home 22. Murphy had a chance to stretch the Tigers lead further but his kick drifted right of the posts. Seely touched the ball down and it looked like a straight forward 22 re-start. But no! Seely had haplessly called a mark behind his own line and Saints were once again under pressure entirely of their own making. There was only one thing for it, tap and charge forward giving Grayson time to clear his lines. For once this seemed to go with out a hitch as Larry indeed took play up field and out of immediate danger. As the players got up from the ruck there was an ominous looking situation. Grant Seely was lying on top of mark Connors and neither player was moving. It turned out that Seely was protecting his injured colleague but the news was not good. Connors had dislocated his shoulder, Hunter had minutes earlier replaced Phillips and so Matt Miles had to replace Connors. What awful bad luck!

Saints continued to try to make a fist of things but with Tournaire retiring to be replaced by veteran international Garforth, nothing would get any easier. As they tried to run out of trouble, new boy Fox knocked on to hand possession back to the Tigers.

This time it was Leicester’s turn to make the mistake as somehow Oriol Ripol received the ball. Surely ‘raspberry’ the crowds favourite of only a few weeks ago would go the length of the field to snatch the game. Again no! Ollie Smith easily caught him and the chance was gone. This begs the question: “What has happened to Ripol’s pace?” the Spaniard simply does not seem to have the gas or the confidence that was so prominent against Newcastle and Bath.

Pearson brought the teams back for a Saints scrum. Poor Saints this was their line up for that scrum: Morris, Richmond, Sturgess, Hunter, Blowers, Miles, Fox, and Seely. Men against boys and most of the boys were playing out of position. They didn’t have a chance, the scrum wheeled and the put in was reversed. Then the scrum collapsed and Tigers were awarded the penalty. They did what they always do when they have a team on the rack. Kick to the corner. The catch and drive was held well by the Saints but they simply had nothing left for the second surge. Kronfeld deservedly went over for the score and Murphy converted.

That was pretty much that. Saints had nothing left. They had been ground down by an older wiser team. Saints supporters streamed out early, something I have little respect for, and the game just fizzled out towards the final whistle. Derbies always seem to be like this so why on earth do we get excited about them?

This is make or break time for the Saints. The internationals will not return for another three weeks so they will continue to be without Smith, Pountney, Dawson, Thompson, Cohen and Williams. Mattie Stewart received a bad rib injury playing for Scotland and his chances of playing again this year are poor. Ackerman and Jorgenson remain on the long-term injury list and finally Connors will be out for several weeks with a dislocated shoulder. That’s ten internationals unavailable to Saints for the away match at high flying Leeds and the home game to Harlequins. Neither of these teams are as affected as Saints at this time of year so the returning players may be left with a mountain to climb. Their first game back will be the return at Welford Road against Leicester. Now that would be the place to put the wheels back on the hats.

COME ON YOU SAINTS!