By Mark H
December 11 2003

Here we go Agen. The Heineken Cup returns once more to Franklin’s Gardens, Northampton and it’s the Saints who are under the most pressure after the narrow defeat at the hands of Llanelli at Stradey Park last Friday night. Overall in the Heineken Cup, Saints have lost three games at home - to Edinburgh, Leinster, and Montferrand - and won ten, but this one is possibly the most vital of any played in the group stages at the Gardens.

Agen picked up the maximum five points at home to the Borders last weekend, despite playing much of the game with 14 men after their fly-half Jerome Miquel sent off for, depending upon which report you read, a head butt or a rabbit punch. All of the reports are agreed on the fact that it was forty yards away from the ball at the time, but they are also all united in saying that the Agen pack were mighty indeed.

That in mind, Smudger named the following team on Wednesday afternoon:-

15 Nick Beal
14 Bruce Reihana
13 Chris Hyndman
12 Mark Tucker
11 Ben Cohen
10 Paul Grayson
9 Mark Robinson
1 Tom Smith
2 Steve Thompson
3 Robbie Morris
4 Rob Hunter
5 Mark Connors
6 Grant Seely
7 Darren Fox
8 Andrew Blowers

Replacements
16 Dan Richmond
17 Chris Budgen
18 Jon Golding
19 Mark Soden
20 Johnny Howard
21 Shane Drahm
22 TBC

Now, the interesting part of the whole line up to me is the replacements bench. I can’t remember the last time Saints had a whole front row waiting in reserve, and to me it sums up exactly where the Agen strength lies - give the international trio an hour, then bring on Budgen, Richmond and Golding with fresh bodies to hopefully push saints on towards the vital four points. Interesting as well is that the seventh replacement has yet to be named, and the only reason I can think for that is uncertainty over the weather conditions and whether a bit of extra grunt is needed in the pack, or whether extra pace, in the form of Sleights, Oriol, or Clarkey is preferred as the option. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if another forward came onto the bench, but that does mean that a very dangerous game will be played if injuries occur in the backs.

Larry comes in for Air Shane, who gets an opportunity to come out of the firing line, but also the opportunity to use his considerable skills later in the game when the opposition are tiring. Not a bad replacement though; Saints do seem to be truly blessed in this second half of the season with ample back up in certain positions, and truly cursed with players dropping like flies in others. Wally comes in for Dan Richmond, who’s done nothing wrong, but this gives “the world’s best hooker” a chance to once more prove it in front of his own fans. The other change to the fifteen is mark Connors returning for John Phillips, who limped off Stradey Park last Friday and doesn’t (as yet) make the squad.

So what do we know about Agen? Well, they seem to have featured in some of the more, erm, memorable I think the word is, moments against British teams in recent seasons. Famously, there was the Shield defeat to Ebbw Vale, where to get knocked out to concentrate on the French Championship they had to concede eight tries - and managed it with some “inventive” defence and free flowing passing. For that, they were banned from Europe, and last week’s game was their first match back (as well as their first match in the premier competition).

More recently, they had a pre-season friendly back in August against Sarries, and on the same weekend that Saints and Bedford traded blows, the game in the Stade Armandie lasted precisely fifty five minutes before Rod Kafer led his team off in protest at what he thought was weak refereeing in the face of, as one Sarries player said, the crossing of the line from tough rugby to pure violence.

And then there was last Saturday night. Agen provocateurs. Pattern?

Well, yes. It does reveal that they’re a tough uncompromising side who will not take a step backwards and will look to force the game. They’re going to try and get in faces. They’re going to try and force penalties. Basically, they’re going to try and win the game. Captain Jean-Jacques Crenca, recently seen by most observers to be the best loosehead prop at the World Cup, has demanded of his team better discipline this time around, and you can see his point. It is one thing to try and intimidate (in the trying to win a game of rugby sense) the opposition at home, with a partisan crowd behind you, than it is to intimidate the opposition away from home with a partisan crowd against you.

That said, Crenca leads a unit that for one of their tries last Saturday used the eleven man rolling maul to great effect. Crenca will be joined at tight head by either Argentinian international Omar Hasan or the now veteran Christian Califon - both extremely good scrummagers. It’s going to be a day for anyone who loves a good front row battle, so let’s hope that our boys are up for it. The rest of the pack, from the Sky footage of last weekend, look to have height and width, and it’s up to the whole Saints eight to give us something to remember. Think back to the Newcastle match - the bigger the player, the sooner they got tired, and Saints took full advantage that day.

They’ve got a few special players in the backs as well. Francois Gelez is actually their first choice fly half, but was left on the bench last week to come on as an impact player. Expect him to start this time around. Luc Lafforgue, their left winger, scored two of the four tries to beat Borders, and looks sharp and rangy, whilst full back Pepito Elhorga is the sort of player Saints would love to have as a long term replacement for Bealer - quick, good under the high ball, and can get over the gain line in Bealeresque fashion.

Two good teams. One big result. With Llanelli going up to Galashiels on Sunday afternoon, and looking to be favourites to win that one, it is vital that Saints win this one to avoid being at least six points behind the Welsh and the French before the four back to back January games - and how often do Saints win four games back to back in Europe?

It’s probably going to be a sell out, with 12,000 Saints fans in the Gardens. 12,000 fans who need to ensure that the hundred or so Agen supporters are only heard in the bar. The team will deliver, but it could be by less than five points.

And finally, and probably more important than anything else - get out of the bars early before the game, as the cheque from Saints With Heart 2 will be presented to the British Heart Foundation on the pitch. You’ve all worked hard enough to raise the money, you need to - must - see it handed over.

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