By Saint Tim
September 19 2010

Well here we go again, thank goodness as it seems like a long summer. First up it was our close rival from up the road. For me this brought much nervousness as they are perennially good and I had not managed to see any pre season games so had no idea how our boys would perform. Well I had no reason to be nervous.

Who was your MoTM as Saints beat Tigers on the opening day?

Saints came out of the traps in real “Hats on Wheels” style and within a few brief minutes Tiny had barrelled over for two tries.  Was I dreaming, had I really woken up that morning or was it all a dream?  I had to pinch myself and was extremely reassured when it did hurt.  So I wasn’t dreaming we were putting the Tigers to the sword.  Surely this couldn’t last!  Tigers would have their times so we the supporters needed to be on our mettle – and boy were we as the rafters at the gardens got another rattling.  But no on 24 minutes we got a penalty and we were 17 – 0 up.  Unfortunately a few minutes later the Tigers sliced open the defence putting a battering ram that is Tuilagi (cannot remember which one of them) over near the posts and it was games on.

Unfortunately Stephen Myler was beginning to have one of those days with the boot and it was fortunate that the same could also be said of the Tigers.  What could be very important points for both sides were being left out on the pitch.  The other aspects of Mylers games however seemed in good stead as he controlled the match nicely.  Just before half time Tigers lost Flood bringing on the experience if unspectacular Staunton as a replacement.  The score at half time was 17 – 7 and in truth it was not as much as Saints deserved for their superiority in the forwards deserved.

The second half yips continued for Stephen and eventually on 56 mins Jim put him out of his misery and brought on Shane.  Now we all know Shane can be inspirational, he can scare defences in the way that Carlos used to.  BUT like the king that brilliance can also lead to mistakes.  Shane is also not renowned as a kicker (I do not want to revisit the final games of last season as they have been done to death on the message board) but we now needed control and kicking to put this game to bed.  We knew Tigers would go for it until the end.

Fortunately Shane had his control head on and he continued to shepherd the resources around him.  Next up was a try and another one for the Props as Brian Mujati crashed over in the corner for a wingers try.  Three tries up and 20 minutes to go and the thought running through my mind was “Could we get a try bonus point against Leicester?”.   Unfortunately after another penalty that was the end of the scoring for Saints as the Tigers threw caution to the wind and scored two tries which were in reality little more than consolation BUT it ended closer than it should have been.  The final seven minutes were nerve wracking as Tigers tried valiantly to get that bonus point.  Eventually it was all over and Saints got the season off to a flyer.

So, who caught the eye?

This was a relatively unchanged side with only one new debutant in the starting line up which shows that Jim must have been pretty happy with the A team last season.  It was also great to see Christian Day back after a long lay-off with injury.  Pre the season we, the supporters were nervous about the second row with the first choices, of many, Jurandre Kruger and Nacho leaving and not being replaced with stellar names.  The formation showed that Jim has decided that Courtney is no longer a back row forward but is now in the engine room of the scrum. The balance of Day and Courtney in the second row looks good as does the mobility and fearlessness of the new back row forward Tom Wood who joined in a swap deal for Neil Best.  On the impressions of this first outing I think once again Jim has done a smart piece of business. Now I liked Besty but Tom is a younger, faster and more skilful player.  No wonder Courtney is now for the second row!

So who did you vote for?

In fourth place and the only person with the highest number on his back was Lee Dickson with just over 14% of the votes.  Reading the reports in the press (well on the web sites anyhow) it is obvious Lee is starting to be watched as a player potentially on the move to the Elite of the game.  Lee is an all action player who is getting better and better.  The way things are going he will be another we miss during the internationals.

In third place was that new man Tom Wood.  What a good start.  Tom got over 19% of the votes and I am sure this will not be his last appearance in the MoTM stats.

In Second place with 20% of the votes was the talismanic Soane ‘Tiny’ Tonga’uiha.  Now we all know the history of Tiny from last season but he seemed to put it all behind him with those first two tries.  Tiny is certainly a fans favourite.

The first winner this season was Christian Day with 24% of the votes.  Christian was everywhere.  Lineouts were secure and I for one am so please that I can continue to believe in the judgement of Jim.  Teaming up with Courtney also seemed to have balanced the scrum nicely and they had the ascendancy in the scrums.

Welcome back Christian!

Finally thanks to the 120 people who voted.

To see the full results and analysis please click through to the following page.

Saints V Tigers MoTM

Discussion started by ComeOnYouSaints.com , 19/09/2010 11:51

ComeOnYouSaints.com
19/09/2010 11:51

What do you think? You can have your say by posting below.
If you do not already have an account Click here to Register.

Reply Quote Report

St Marlowe
19/09/2010 12:05

Found a Picture from ClaireJ

David L

What if there were no hypothetical questions?

- Live wrong and preposterously

Reply Quote Report

Saint Tim
19/09/2010 12:07

Star man - and you got it so comments can be posted.



“Those who desire to give up freedom in order to gain security will not have, nor do they deserve, either one.”

Benjamin Franklin

Tetleys Block F E143

Reply Quote Report

ClaireJ
19/09/2010 15:17

Here's Christian at work against the Tigers...



Great to see him playing so well

ClaireJ
RedHatPhoto.com review of 2015 photos here...


Buy photos from RedHatPhoto



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2010:09:19:15:19:43 by ClaireJ.

Reply Quote Report

Saint Dom in Hanoi
19/09/2010 15:29

I wonder if Smyler does get the "yips" in a golfing sense, or whether he misses when he gets his tempo wrong. I notice that Tin Tin has started to take longer over his kicks, too, and missed the two conversions when his kick was nearly charged down...

Reply Quote Report

Goto: Forum List•Message List•Search• Log In

Sorry, only registered users may post in this forum.

We record all IP addresses on the Sportnetwork message boards which may be required by the authorities in case of defamatory or abusive comment. We seek to monitor the Message Boards at regular intervals. We do not associate Sportnetwork with any of the comments and do not take responsibility for any statements or opinions expressed on the Message Boards. If you have any cause for concern over any material posted here please let us know as soon as possible by e-mailing abuse@sportnetwork.net