Also consideration of the first Newcastle try.  And broonie/rats words on the pack has anyone ever seen these two in the same room at the same time???

 

The game

 

First half was dreadfull, but the second half proves the "roller coaster" effect of being a Saints supporterto good effect. Connect

 

Well done Saints. A super last quarter. After 35 minutes we looked dead in the water. Cheesey

 

I really enjoyed that game - something I never thought I'd be typing after 40 minutes.  Hippo

 

Second half was great great great - AB was absolutely magnificent - Bealer employed his 105 mm gun - long range kick to devastating efect and then runs in the try of the season for us.
So many times we have suffered from the lads failing to realise that " its a game of two halfs " by winning ther first half and loosing the second - This time they got the right way round and more Old Pete

at half time i was optimistic, and said to my neighbour i thought we'd start winning the collisions on fitness after about 55 mins - which was roughly what happened. andrews is not fit, neither are their big young props (isaacson & peel) , and archer starts blowing at about 60 mins.theirhooker is a nonentity , too.  until then, we had no go- forward at all, but we had enough guts and defensive organisation to stick close until fitness told. broonie

 

Wasn’t it quiet

 

During the first half I mean.
There we were after the Wasps game saying that Smithy didn't need to play inspirational music as the Saints ran on 'cos we do that when we let rip with Oh Wendy. Hmmmmmm.
It seemed to me as though the usual cheer leaders were waiting to be impressed........and waiting.........and waiting. Understandable given our first half performance.
Not until we were hammering away at the Falcons line at the end of the first half did any real support start. Stockers.

 

I tried a few shouts of Come on You Saints but was well & truly drowned out in my corner by about 30 Falcons supporters in my corner of Church's Stand...... LOM

 

We started well in C bloc but most noise was restricted to polite enquiries concerning the refs eyesight , intelligence , parentage and how far he had evolved from the amoeba
I dont think that support is conditional - we have on several occasions kept the chants and wendy going when the lads were up against it .
But truly many of us were very worried and very depressed by the end of the first half.
You can encourage people who are doing something and having a go - but its a bit difficult to cheer people who are watching and waiting for the opposition to do something.
I also wonder if the Ingerlund experience had been too much for many and they had run out of " cheer factor "  Old Pete

 

Was very quiet in the Churches. But as already stated there was not much to cheer about other than the usual..Come on you Saints.. get your act together type stuff. Fat Alan

 

My thought certainly was that the energy had been expended in the bars, and no-one could really lift themselves for the game. It may also have been different if we'd been playing a team with a larger travelling support, but all credit to the Falcons fans for making themselves heard. Mark H

 

It was quiet because I had a sore throat. Swill

 

Strange subdued atmosphere....funnily enough having got really "wound up" watching the England game beforehand, I was really up for our match!...I think it made a big difference watching England's game away from FG..I don't think I would have had the same motivation had I been there since 12.30 or so!! BBF

 

Just before the post match First XV de-brief, Mr. Prawn Sandwhich was saying how quiet the place was during the first half and suggested that it was a hang over from the ups and downs from the England match! When someone heckled from the back that it was down to a bad first half I thought he got a bit shirty. Saint. Kenneth

 

I must admit I started the game feeling a bit gloomy, last weeks performance was still hanging over me like a dark cloud and I didn't see anything early on to make me feel any better despite shane early kick. The ref didn't help either, I thought they had to keep up with the game, not slow it don't to their pace! Then Saints exploded after Sharkey came on and the points rolled in. Even though we know about our roller coaster, it still never ceases to upset me1 James Simons-Boswell

 

 

The Ref

 

Lets hear it fot Geraint Ashton Jones, as well, two visits for him to contemplate.....
Specsavers in Abingdon Street on Monday,(two for the price of one, at the moment).........
Casualty later on Monday, to have his ever present whistle removed from a "special" place, where it was inserted so we could only hear it when he breaks wind.
Told you he was a pedant.
  Connect

 

On that subject Mr Ashton Jones, games will finish far more promptly if you decide not to whistle for every tiny little incident and players will infringe less if you're consistent rather than bewildering! Also I quite like to see games where quick taps and throw ins are encouraged rather than routinely waved back because you're not ready yet!  St. Rich Joe & Niamh’s Dad

Really, this man is not up to standard for aZP ref and should be made to walk the plank forthwith. A little less time looking for his whistle, and a little more time watching the match.
What a pr@t cost us at least 10 points today! St Marlowes

 

But what about these refs. Last week...Pearson!!! This week...constant whistle, wildly inconsistent, no idea on advantage, allowed Newcastle to go over the top in rucks and prevent Saints getting near the ball, runners in front of the ballcarrier, won't allow rucks to develop, frequently gave the putin to the wrong side,forward passes.Enough.
Never mind the World Cup will be over soon and we'll get Lander back!!!!! Cheesey

 

The only thing with a bit of spark was GA Jones' whistle. Hippo

 

Still, Commander Geraint Ashton-Jones better not come back here again until he has undergone some professional training. I know we are supposed to support the man in the middle, but that does not mean that swift action should not follow incompetence! St Marlowes

Just for the record - Mr Jones went quickly throgh from " Disgrace "
to " Tart " on the Dorcan 8 Tartometer - he then proceeded to score four Tarts in fairly rapid succession towards the latter quarter of the second half.  This prompted young Smurf to come up with the suggestion that four Tarts merited a bonus whereby we could then choose our own ref.  Frankly I tend to agree with Broonie - also Admiral the loid Jones was not just controversial he was attrocious , pedantic and and not up to it. Old Pete

 

Yes, but apart from that, he was fine. Craig in Wootton

 

 

The first Newcastle try.

 

For those of you who didn't have a clear view;
What happened was, the Newcastle wing Stephenson got round Air Brucie, who was struggling a bit with his hamstring, and ran into our 22. Bealer was closing him down and he went to kick, but in the process of kicking was tackled and lost the ball forward without actually having put boot, leg or anything else on it. Noon picked the ball up and grounded it over the line.  Try was given and the crowd in our corner howled its derision at the match officials.  Just one of a few strange decisions by our referee today. Steve393

 

The virtually unanimous view from D block was that it was a knock forward by Stephenson - glad our eyes wern't deceiving us, unlike the whistle happy ref. Its been a long time since I've witnessed such a disjointed first half with such limited opportunity for flowing rugby because of such pedantic refereeing.  Biggysaint

 

Totally agree with your observations. Stephenson went for the kick, from hand, missed it and the ball bounced forwards into the greatful hands of Jamie Noon. Should have been a scrum for the Saints for the Stephenson knock-on. Saint. Kenneth

 

Certainly looked like a knock on from C Block, as did the try scored against us by Wasps, which when shown on television clearly wasn’t. Amazing how many of these awful decisions actually turn out to be correct. With everyone posting on Thursday after the rugby club saying sorry I was wrong and the ref had a much better game than I thought. Ajack

 

Well, as I first thought. Conclusive proof from the Sky cameras that Stephenson kicked the ball on inside the line for Noon to score. Brilliant piece of play. Mark H

 

He actually did get boot to ball then? My mistake, and well done the officials.  Steve393

 

Just got the instep to it and rolled it on. Mark H

 

There was never any doubt in my mind that Stephenson had nudged the ball on with his foot while inside the field of play. Split second but the TJ signalled OK.  But I agree with Mav. Considering he was going backwards at a rate of knots without actually knowing where touch was, to get a kick in was good play; for it to fall perfectly for Noon to evade the covering Brucie was jammy enough for several Victoria sponges. Oddshapedballs

 

Did Saints bore falcons out of the game?

 

It all started so well, 3-0 up and looking good and then the wheels fell off the hats and Falcons were a good 30 points better than Saints.
After that I witnessed the most boring half of rugby in my 20+ years of attending FG and could not believe it when Howard's late try brought the scores back to just 8-10. Perhaps the only functional part of the Saints game was the thankful return of the defence.
The start of the 2nd half wasn't a huge improvement but slowly and surely the Saints crept back into it through Drahms boot. The Falcons still looked deadly and I thought it was only a matter of time until our bubble burst, then on came walder and Taione and I feared the worst.
Just to prove my points from last week Saints then go and score three tries to earn a bonus and shut Newcastle out until the endless injury time. St. Rich Joe & Niamh’s Dad

 

No but they did a good job on my hubby who fell asleep!! He hadn't been drinking as the crush in the Rodber was such that we managed one before the Saints kick off. No, it all down to one of the most gruelling halves of rugby I have ever watched!
I timed the refs penalties and we had five in the first four minutes! He gave us a new definition of pinickerty!  Claire Jones

 

Post match briefing

 

Yes they knew that they did not have a productive half, but there was a plan, and the players stuck to it. The plan? Our lightwieght pack is smaller, but more skilful than many; the boys would wear Archer, Hurter and co down. As Rats said, the eyes were a bit hollow at half time, Smudger was very supportive, told the team that they were trusted and doing the right thing. Told them (quite passionately) that they needed to do a few things, and hey presto! they did them, and the ball started to appear from the platform in sufficient quantity and quality for the threquarters and backs to do something with it. The Newcastle pack was "fatigued" as Smugder put it, and started to disappear. The rest, we all saw.
As motivators and psychologists, Smudger and the team appear to be top of the tree. Knee jerk reactions are not in the kitbag. The team is incredibly well bonded, so much so that it won't be just on form that the WC returnees will have to fight for their places. (but I expect they have a plan for that).  St Marlowes

 

Broonie words please

 

........Oh great one, who was winning the front row battles on Satdee?
It seemed as though Mr Budgen was doing not too badly and Falcons tight head was having a few warnings but hey, what do I know! ….Stockers

 

thought we were copping it a bit in the first half, stockers. at one stage we tried to turn them and couldn't move them an inch, which was embarrassing as our scrum wheeled on its own, while they stayed absolutely straight. ref just reset the scrum, but should have penalised us as we were clearly pulling on brett's side.
as it went on we became more competitive as they started to puff. the lads are a good fit wee bunch of battlers .not surprising when you look at some of the puddings we've played against recently that we should struggle a little until they start to blow.  broonie

 

That was exactly what Rats said at the debrief!!! St Marlowes

 

Booing

 

I'm glad I waited 24 hours as there has been some interesting comments made re. the ref and players gestures.....even so I would like to raise the issue of booing. We booed the ref. We see things which he doesn't. We booed their first and we booed their last try. The same last week. I've done it myself but feel a little bad about it to be honest. It doesn't quite go along with our respectful silence for kicks. We usually shut up by the time the kick is taken. Are we too partisan or is this normal and am I naive ??? I'm sure you'll let me know. Saint andrew

 

When watching a game as a Rugby supporter, I have never booed a penalty, even however strongly I have disagreed with the referee's descision.  Moaned about it later, however. Connect.

 

I try not to even boo the ref (no matter how much i think he deserves it), but i will join in the odd rendition of My Eyes Are Dim.... alan T

 

blimey ! i give the ref both barrels every home game …  …….. i would absolutely never dream of making any noise while the other side kicked, however.. broonie

But the point is the opposition often think we are booing them as young Mr Vyvyan did on Saturday.  Chris the Saint

I like the crowd making a noise, even booing if it is appropriate, don't like it dead quiet like it was at times in the first half Satdee. But I hope we can preserve quiet at kicks; shows respect. Howlin

 

 

MOTM

 

Blowers - back to top form
Beal - two cracking tries, lots of good kicks
Drahm - Does this man ever stop?
Hunter - seems to be learning from Lordy
Bruce - power and pace, as ever
Bludgeon - cos we're sponsoring him   Smurfomatic

 

Definately not the referee.  Bleach

 

fox - back to his playing best, not the preseason fox we saw
drahm - denied by a post at the end to get 100%
beal - should have been motm but seemed to pick up after the tannoy said drahm was instead
St. Rich Joe & Niamh’s Dadmond - good performance from this man
sharky - improved the service in the second half and bossed the forwards
blowers - almost back to his best but if this is almost, imagine what his best is like  David Tavener

 

Fox
Bealer
Lordy
Sharky
that'll do, good win but not a good game, especially first half. Still a bonus point when playing badly is nowt to be schniffed at.... Maverick

 

Beal - For the tries and a massive clearance
Drahm - No need to explain
Brucie - Can he run through walls?
The Fantastic Mr. Fox - Really put it about a bit
Blowers - More like normal service
Buzzhard - surely the reason the lineout improved so much   St. Rich Joe & Niamh’s Dad

 

Foxxy..........superb committment, never gave up.
Blowers......as ever, gave 100%, no wonder someone wanted his shirt.
Drahm........just get better with each game.
Bealer........will someone tell him to act his age, and behave like a veteran.
Brucie........Just constantly aware of play around him.
Budgen.....Quietly gets on with the task in hand. Connect

 

foxy.
by a mile. broonie

 

Ditto broonie.  The boy has such pace now. Watching him hunt down backs is a pure joy and he is really starting to put his nose in those places only fools and Budge normally go. I nominated him at Roth and aain today I felt it was no contest. His power on the ball was superb. I thought Backy was awesome for England but what a replacement we have coming through.  WMS

 

My nominations ae much like those above
Bealer - was a close contender for the spirit of the Saints epitomised - two tries - long range boomers and an attitude that said - no way are we going to loose.
AB - second half in particular hit then hard - made ground - a constant spoiler of opposition moves.
Then Foxy - agree with Broonie
Bruce - this man sees more of the game than we do - the most aware player ive seen since Alan Bateman. What a pity he slipped.
Shane - its becoming so regular that we are beginning to expect it every time - this man was the buy of any club in the close season.
Alswo the whole team should get a special award for suffering that idiot , martinet - GA Jones.
I didnt realise until now that a team could several times turn the ball over and then have the put in for a scrum awarded against them. Old Pete

 

 

The Jones' House vote goes to Foxy - agree with broonie by a country mile!
Can I just have one cross moment - why were 4 our forwards including Mister Conners strowling around the park whilst the game continued - I was heard to yell at them to get a move on! We'd only been playing about 20 minutes - I'd love to see that on Prozone!  Claire Jones

 

Foxy had he best half I've ever seen - he was like a whirling force 9 dervish who kept his cool. Hippo

 

Foxy for sure....Mrs BBF said yesterday that he's like a "weeble wobble" in that no sooner has he tackled someone than he's back on his feet either trying to rip the ball out or another target for a big hit!!

BBF