By Chris G
April 19 2003

The seasons heading for a climax with the Saints eyeing up a European position and the Falcons looking to preserve the staus of its very existence as the two clubs meet at Kingston Park on Sunday. PREVIEW

Thae Saints are asked to regroup once again for their fourth full blooded encounter in the space of 16 days when they travel north to Newcastle on Easter Sunday to take on the Falcons. Stakes are high for both side with the Saints still all out to secure European qualification while Newcastle struggle to stay in the top division and maybe even preservation of the very club itself as a force in England.

Its going to be a very tough one to call with the stakes so high and it could well come down on the day to who wants it more. If Saints can put in a performance like the second half on Wednesday against Bristol, Newcastle do not have the firepower to live with them, anything less though and the Falcons could edge it and move that little bit closer to survival.

NEWCASTLE

Rob Andrews team are struggling, as many people predicted after letting a lot of old heads go over the summer including ex-Saint Pat Lam, George Graham, Inga Tuigamala,  Doddie Weir and Gary Armstrong. 'Squeaky' thought they could rely on youth alone with Jonny Wilkinson pivotal to a side that contained up and coming youngsters like Noon, Stephenson, Walder and the mercurial Epi Taione. However their scrum suffered early on including a bit of a drubbing at the Gardens (see below). Injuries to key players such as Walder did not help and it wasn't long before Newcastle were paying a visit to the ZP basement.

Andrew has had to reach for the chequebook to bolster up his team and brought back the kind of experienced player he let go only months before in the likes of the abrasive Springbok lock Mark Andrews and New Zealander Mark Mayerhofler to steady the ship. They have had an upturn in fortunes and nearly pulled off a sensational win at Kingsholm last week but are still deeply entrenched in the dogfight at the wrong end of the table with the season running out fast. Sunday could be a defining game for them.

TEAM NEWS

Nick Beal returns from injury at fullback giving Bruce Reihana a chance to take his turn to rest on the bench.
Oriol Ripol retains the wing slot he filled on Wednes with Ben Cohen the born again lock starting in his more usual position opposite.
The experienced pairing of Long John Leslie and Peter Jorgensen start in midfield while England halfback pairing Paul Grayson, recovered from his virus, and Matt Dawson return to start at nine and ten.

Steve Thompson returns at hooker as Dan Richmond goes into hospital for another operation on a troublesome knee. Young Welsh hooker Matt Miles deputises on the bench. Robbie Morris and Tom Smith make up the front row. Returnees Matt Lord and Mark Connors start at lock with Steve Williams sitting this game out after receiving a head injury against Bristol.

Youngster Darren Fox, who got a brace in midweek lines up alongside the every dependable pairing of Budge Pountney and Andy Blowers in the back row.

In the replacements both Mark Tucker and James Brooks who were outstanding in the second half fightback against Bristol can count themselves unlucky not to start but its the quality of these youngsters that is starting to show some shape in the strength in depth at the club that bodes well for the future.

15 NICK BEAL
14 ORIOL RIPOL
13 PETER JORGENSEN
12 JOHN LESLIE
11 BEN COHEN
10 PAUL GRAYSON
9 MATT DAWSON
1 TOM SMITH
2 STEVE THOMPSON
3 ROBBIE MORRIS
4 Matt Lord
5 MARK CONNORS
6 Darren Fox
7 BUDGE POUNTNEY (capt)
8 ANDREW BLOWERS

Replacements from:
Matt Miles, MATT STEWART, Chris Budgen, Rob Hunter, Mark Soden, Grant Seely, James Brooks, BRUCE REIHANA and Mark Tucker.

Newcastle are having late, late fitness tests on Epi Taione and Mark Andrews so no team news has been released.
Keep watching the Message Board for updates.

HISTORY

Since, under Rob Andrew, Dean Ryan, Steve Bates and Sir John Hall, the old Gosforth club was transformed
into Newcastle Falcons there have been several 'interesting' games between the teams. The Saints
were the first opponents under the Andrew regime and the boys did us proud in the North East totally
destroying the home side by 52 points to 9. This game was in the second division when
the Saints won the division undefeated. The next year a rebult Newcastle followed us up.

The next season probably produced the best two games between the sides.

In January, undefeated in the league, and later to win the championship, Newcastle came to Gardens and sneaked
an an abrasive bad tempered game 21-17 in controversy as Saints had two perfectly legitimate tries disallowed.
In the Falcons ranks was a certain Patrick Lam who has ofcourse been a legendary Saint only to return to his former club.
Saints got revenge a month later in the Tetleys cup when they became the first side to beat Newcastle that season in a cruncher of a game at the Gardens. The sight of Tim Rodber stopping Inga the Winger in his tracks at full pelt will live with the spectators that were there that day. It was like a bufallo hitting a Volkswagen Beetle head on!

GAMES IN THE PAST

Saints v Falcons 1998

Saints v Falcons 1999

Saints v Falcons 2001

Saints v Falcons 2002

Saints v Falcons Cup Semi

LAST SEASON
Who could forget last season's matches against the Falcons? Firstly in December, on the day of Smudger's arrival the Saints turned their miserable form on it's head to take a full five points at Kingston Park. Then came the cup semi-final where  I have no adjectives to describe what was easily the best Saints performance since winning the European Cup. The Saints final league game was against Falcons and saw many farewells. Olivier Brouzet played his final game for Saints as did Joe Shaw (although we didn't know that at the time,) Pat Lam was retiring so it seemed fitting he should bow out in a match between the two clubs he had successfully captained. And last of all the old wooden main stand was seeing it's last game before being pulled down to make way for the Churches stand. Another victory for the Saints saw them into Europe for a fourth successive season.

EARLIER THIS SEASON
How Rich saw the start of the season at the Gardens.

Saints 31 - Falcons 13 Match Report

By Rich on the spot

Northampton Saints achieved a comfortable 31-13 win over the Newcastle Falcons but they could have won by a far greater margin with better options, handling and patience. Still there are many positives to comment on, with the shining star of the day being new signing Oriol Ripol.
 
The Church’s stand was christened with its share of the very healthy 10,213 crowd present at the new look Franklins Gardens. There was pre-match entertainment and a parade by local junior sides mini-rugby players but the holding up of black green and gold cards was to be honest a bit naff and looked a pale imitation of the sea of flags and scarves at Twickenham. In the village they were going for a face painting record and the kids enjoyed the bouncy castles and Bernie’s tuck shop. So a good atmosphere and the stage was set for Saints to rip into the young, inexperienced and under-strength Falcons.

There was also plenty on the pitch for the fans to get excited about with the home league debuts of Steve Williams, Mark Connors and Oriol ‘Raspberry/Golden Snitch’ Ripol. Ben Cohen had moved to outside centre giving John Leslie and Paul Grayson four strike runners to terrify the Falcons defence.

The match itself rarely matched expectation. This was not Hats on Wheels stuff! Newcastle without Lam, Tuigamala, Armstrong, Weir and Graham do indeed lack power and experience but they do defend tenaciously. Coach Wayne Smith felt that Saints had squandered at least 4 clear-cut try scoring opportunities and Captain John Leslie spoke of the ‘roasting’ that he and his teammates were expecting from the Smudger.

To the game and it took just 3 minutes for Paul ’Larry’ Grayson to get off the mark with his first penalty. That it took 31 minutes for him to get Saints to 9-0 speaks volumes about the match. From my South stand vantage point it was amusing to hear the terrace wits in C block sing ‘One 10 in England’.

Newcastle got three back on 33 minutes with the predictable Wilkinson penalty. There was more predictability as the shout rang out from the terrace ‘kick it it’s your only option’ and to be fair it was! Newcastle were awful in the first half, without wit, wisdom, pace or power. The Saints should and could have already wrapped up the try bonus at this stage of the match.

On 34minutes a Blowers break led to quick ball for Grayson, whose unexpected turn of pace made a fool of the Falcons defence. Close to the line he tried to force a pass and the chance was lost. However from the resulting scrum Blowers hurried Wilkinson’s clearance, which only found Sleightholme who set Beal away on the charge. Good recycling allowed the Saints to play with width with Connors and Seely taking the ball on in the wide positions. The ball again swept to the other side of the pitch and with the Falcons defence at sixes and sevens Beal fed Sleightholme for a popular score. Grayson missed the conversion but there was a feeling around the ground that the floodgates might open.

Then came THE Oriol Ripol run. He received quick ball along the line and was away, rounding former Gardens favourite Joe Shaw as if his feet were stuck in glue and then beating half the Falcons defence before being cut down just short. This is the player Saints have been missing down the years; he’s very fast with good balance and a great inside step. But if he had backed himself he’d have got in at the corner. Never mind though the Spanish International is fast becoming a cult hero in Northampton and the tries are just a matter of time.

The last score of the half was another Johnny Wilkinson Penalty the half time score a hugely disappointing 14-6.

Into the second half and Larry got the scoreboard ticking over again with a penalty on 43 minutes.

One of the positives of the game for Saints was their defence. Referee Lander decided on a mystery free kick at the scrum, Newcastle carried the ball into the Saints 22 through the dangerous Taione, however Saints tackled hard to force the turnover. Tom Smith made the scrum half pass of the afternoon and Larry set the backs away on the counter. Quick hands saw Sleightholme put in a good kick for Beal and Cohen to chase and all the pressure was back on the Falcons.

On 49 minutes Saints added their second try but what hard work it was. Several times the move seemed doomed as the Saints produced poor passes but eventually Cohen made a powerful drive for the line, John Leslie, Matt Dawson and others joined in to give him a hand and Saints drove over for the score. Leslie and Cohen are probably still debating who scored the try.

After that the game turned into a substitution and turnover fest with both sides emptying their benches and squandering decent possession.

The most decisive turnover, form Dan Richmond’s excellent floor work, produced points for Grayson. Saints quickly moved the ball, working the blindside. They then put width on the move with Seely hauled down just short of the line. More quick ball saw Falcons run out of defenders and Larry dotted down for a deserved try. He converted his own try to make the score 31-6.

Saints tried hard to get the fourth try and the bonus but it wasn’t to be. Raspberry Ripol again came close skinning Joe Shaw for a second time. However the last score of the match belonged to Newcastle as they worked Grimes over for a good try. That will probably be the icing on the cake as far as Smudger’s post match lambasting is concerned.

There is a bit of a downbeat feeling after this match with most Saints fans viewing it as a bonus point lost rather than 4 points gained. A performance like that against a team that can match Saints forward power will end in a loss.

The experiment of Ben Cohen at outside centre looks to have failed. From the South stand it was clear to see where he was going wrong. His positioning and the timing of his runs were awful. He did not handle well and was guilty of knock ons in crucial positions. He tried once to often to chip and chase and when running the ball he was hesitant allowing the defence to organise against him. At other times he offloaded way too early before drawing the tackle and creating space for the wingman. Time will tell if this is just a lack of confidence and inexperience rather than lack of skill but the message board suggestion of a run out at 13 for the wanderers seems like a good idea.

The lineout continues to cause concern. The SKY match facts shows Saints losing set piece possession on 5 occasions. It wasn’t consistently bad but the old problems were there for everyone to see.

On the positive side for Saints: Andy Blowers had his usual awesome impact, knocking Johnny ‘best player in the World’ Wilkinson off his usual balance. Seely and Pountney also contributed in a strong back row display. Connors had a strong if uneventful debut. The whole team is playing with greater pace with Sleightholme and Ripol adding much in that department. Perhaps the biggest positive of them all is that the Saints know that it just wasn’t good enough.

THE STATS

Summary of meetings between the teams in the Premiership

Played 13  
Newcastle  Won 4  30.8%
Saints Won 9  69.2%
Drawn 0  0% 
Biggest Win for Newcastle 37 - 12 08 Oct 1997
Biggest Win for Saints 57 - 16 27 Mar 1999
Newcastle top try scorer vs  Saints Inga Tuigamala 4 tries 
Newcastle top points scorer vs  Saints Jonny Wilkinson 59 points
Saints top try scorer vs Newcastle Ben Cohen 6 tries 
Saints top points scorer vs Newcastle Paul Grayson 107 points

07 Sep 2002 Northampton Saints vs Newcastle   31 - 13 Franklin's Gardens
12 May 2002 Northampton Saints vs Newcastle   24 - 19 Franklin's Gardens
02 Dec 2001 Northampton Saints vs Newcastle   28 - 13 Kingston Park
18 Nov 2000 Northampton Saints vs Newcastle  26 - 18 Franklin's Gardens
20 Aug 2000 Northampton Saints vs Newcastle  21 - 27 Kingston Park
21 May 2000 Northampton Saints vs Newcastle  32 - 23 Kingston Park
26 Dec 1999 Northampton Saints vs Newcastle   37 - 5 Franklin's Gardens
27 Mar 1999 Northampton Saints vs Newcastle   57 - 16 Franklin's Gardens 
15 Nov 1998 Northampton Saints vs Newcastle   35 - 45 Kingston Park
31 Jan 1998 Northampton Saints vs Newcastle17 - 21 Franklin's Gardens