By Mav
January 13 2005

Just bear with me for a minute whilst I collect my thoughts. Right then, here we are, Northampton Saints, on the brink of qualification for the quarter-finals of the Heineken Cup despite having gone through the club’s greatest upheaval of the professional era.

A five point success against Glasgow Warriors will see Saints secure a place in the last eight. Surely it can't be true? It is true, good people, it is...read on MacDuff...

In Heineken Cup terms, Saints truly nailed their colours to the mast on Sunday lunchtime. Trailing for most of the game up until the 78th minute, they stuck to their guns and had the collective will to overcome Llanelli Scarlets. Captain Fantastic, Captain Marvel, Captain Pugwash, call him what you will but Wally stole the show on Sunday with his bullocking run which led to the decisive score. Picking up a static ball from Bruce, just outside Swindon on the M4, the skipper waltzed up the pitch, made his way through Llanelli town centre and stunned the shoppers in the high street of Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch as he marched toward the Scarlet’s try line. He then promptly completely ignored the obvious overlap. "Give it", we all shouted as Ben lay waiting to the left. Nah, far too simple. Let's just go round the full-back and put it under the posts to make the conversion a certainty. Errr, have you heard about the state of the supporters' blood pressure, Wally? A famous victory then, which half opens the door to Euro glory.....

 

With one round to go, Group Three stands...

 

Toulouse 19pts

SAINTS 16

LLanelli 12

Glasgow 2

 

Toulouse entertain Llanelli on Friday night whilst we welcome our visitors, Glasgow Warriors. It couldn't be simpler. The Scarlets, still smarting from their "all performance, not the result" effort on Sunday, sneak a win in France. Saints get the five-pointer and top the group by one! According to one contributor on our message board there is, apparently, a scenario which can give us a home tie if other results go our way this weekend. Let’s not run before we can walk!  Forget the permutations, qualification is in our own hands. Saints need to recognize what they can achieve themselves on Piggy’s Patch, Friday evening. Beat Glasgow by any score and we are in with a shout of making the last eight. The four try bonus point makes all other results over the weekend academic. We would be through.

 

 

 

In the Celtic League, Glasgow sit mid-table. However, they have had a torrid time of it in the Heineken Cup this term with just two losing bonus points to show for their efforts to date. One of these points comes from the opening round in the mirror fixture to this week’s game. Saints travelled to Hughenden in October and ground out a 13-9 win in the mud, Ben Cohen scoring the only try. What can we expect come Friday night?

 

 

 

 

 

Well, the Warriors have had more than their fair share of injuries. Flanker Donnie MacFadyen has been ruled out with knee problems and is joined on the sidelines by the likes of Rory Kerr, Sam Pinder and Colin Gregor. Indeed, at the time of writing, Glasgow have only one fully fit scrum-half in the shape of Graeme Beveridge. Whilst it feels a little unseemly to take advantage of other's shortcomings, this is a game that Saints must take by the horns.

 

On Wednesday, Budge unveiled the following side.......

 

15. Bruce Reihana

14. John Rudd

13. Ben Cohen

12. Marc Schterbina

11. Mark Tucker

10. Paul Grayson

9.  Johnny Howard

 

1. Brett Sturgess
2. Steve Thompson (capt)
3. Robbie Morris
4. Grant Seely
5. Matt Lord
6. Andrew Blowers
7. Darren Fox
8. Mark Soden

Replacements: Dan Richmond, Tom Smith, Damien Browne, Corne Krige, Ben Jones, Shane Drahm, Andy Vilk

 

Three changes then from the side that started against Llanelli. Both Chris Budgen and Wylie Human no longer feature in the 22 being replaced by Brett Sturgess and Mark Tucker respectively. Budgen was yellow-carded last Sunday and it seems his indiscipline has cost him his place. Wylie looked great going forward but struggled against Scarlets when they lofted the ball behind him. However, for him not to feature anywhere in the 22 does seem a little harsh. Corne Krige drops to the bench after suffering a lacerated ear last week – Darren Fox makes his first start since suspension in the former South African captain’s place.

 

What will provoke most comment and intrigue are the playing positions occupied by Ben Cohen and Mark Tucker in the line-up. Ben, the natural winger, continues in his new role as Marc Schterbina’s centre partner whilst Tucks has been given the unfamiliar role of winger (although he has played there in the past). I wonder if this suggests a fluid back-line with players being encouraged to change position according to circumstances in the game. We’ll see.

 

 

 

On the replacements bench we see a welcome return to Tom Smith, back after finally overcoming his knee injury.

 

Coach Budge Pountney emphasised this week that the priority is the Zurich Premiership. Anything we achieve in the Heineken is a bonus. Quite right too. But it's not too much of a step to dream again, is it? Saints supporters have been through so much this season for all the wrong reasons. Let's just let our minds wander for a short while and look forward to a small piece of glory on Friday night. First the win, then let's secure our place in the last eight.

 

COME ON YOU SAINTS!!