Northampton Saints
News: AP: Leeds Carnegie vs Northampton Saints - Preview
By Saint Martin
March 10 2011
Northampton Saints travel north this weekend to take on Leeds Carnegie for a Aviva Premiership fixture which is vital for both sides. Saint Martin looks ahead to the game...
LEEDS CARNEGIE vs NORTHAMPTON SAINTS
Saturday, 12th March 2011 - 3pm
HEADINGLEY CARNEGIE
MATH PREVIEW
It's time to turn that corner!
This Saturday sees Northampton Saints visit Leeds Carnegie for the re-arranged Aviva Premiership Round 10 match.
The original match was due to be played on the weekend of the 4th December and Saints were in glorious form despatching of London Irish the previous week and were sitting comfortably at the top of the league with not a thought about our lost internationals away against the Southern Hemisphere heavyweights. Unfortunately that week most of the UK was transformed into a scene from Narnia and the game was called off resulting in my first visit to Headingley being abandoned with days to spare.
Since that weekend has much changed? Not arf!
2011 has simply been our Annus Horribilis so far, 6 straight defeats in the Premiership have seen the Saints slip plummet from 1st to 6th. Where do we go from here...well on last weekends showing possibly out of the Heineken cup places for next season as the Chiefs scalped us good and proper and sent us packing with our tail between our legs. That result means that the Chiefs, Quins and Wasps are breathing down our necks looking to gain from any more Saint losses, whilst the play off places are beginning to look beyond our grasp.
So where has it all gone wrong, Winter pitches? Rotation? Six Nations? Combination of all these and more......who knows! Whatever it may be I will try to remain positive amongst all the doom and gloom. So this Saturday afternoon you will find me standing on the Headingley Terrace for the very first time, my fingers will be crossed, I’ll be rubbing that rabbit foot as well as belting out the odd Wendy or two, hoping and praying to see the boys in GB&G turn the corner, else it will be an even longer journey home.
Anyway back to our opponents this weekend Leeds Carnegie. As Yorkshires only premiership rugby union side they have the difficult situation of competing with the areas more keenly supported sports teams such as Leeds United (regular crowds of 25,000 + and kicking off at the same time on Saturday on the other side of the city) plus Leeds Rhinos (with regular crowds of 14,000). In addition to this which I’m sure you will have noticed Leeds Carnegie are having a very poor season on the pitch which has resulted in the early departure of their Director of Rugby Andy Key. Many of you may remember Andy Key pipped big Jim to the Premiership Director of Rugby of the Year less than 12 months ago, how things change!
A fact of Rugby is that home advantage is exactly that, an advantage. You hope to pick up the bulk of your points at home and then increase this number with as many points that you can pinch away to propel yourself as far up the table as possible. Unfortunately Leeds have done neither, Home advantage had meant just 1 win against Gloucester on New Years Day plus 2 losing bonus points against Leicester and Sale until last weekend when London Irish became Leeds second W of the season.
Leeds overall league record now shows played 15 with just 2 wins and a lowly 13 points, this leaves them 7 adrift of the safety of 11th position, which could mean they drop back into the Championship if matters do not improve fast especially as games are rapidly running out.
This weekend sees the 6 Nations return with England entertaining Scotland on Sunday. I originally wrote this preview earlier this week and had genuine sorrow for Leeds as it appeared they would be without their 2 England internationals this weekend. However Hendre Fourie who had played against the Saints in the LV Cup earlier this year and was mightily impressive in the 40 minutes he rampaged around the Gardens has been released by MJ to terrorise the Saints. Former Saint Steve Thompson however will be warming the bench at Twickenham and Saintly folk will have to wait until possibly the last game of the season to say hello to an old favourite. Good and bad news for Saints on the England front…good news being that Phil Dowson has been released back to the Saints but bad news is that Courtney Lawes, now fit and recovered from his knee injury picked up against the Tigers in early January has been returned to the England squad. Courtney I suspect will probably be spending the majority of his time holding a tackle bag in Simon Shaw’s absence causing the conspiracy theorists amongst us to go into meltdown at that news!
Back to our opponents and what do Leeds have to offer I here you ask....well if they front up like they did in the LV at the Gardens and how they performed against London Irish last week then I will say it’s going to be a long afternoon for all those of a Saintly persuasion. I expect the Leeds team to see this game as a huge opportunity to pick up some crucial points especially against a Saints team who on recent viewing look as nervous as a long tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs.
I expect the Leeds Carnegie Team to look something like the list below based partially on last weeks team subject to injuries, rotation and Neil Backs insight. Overall a solid team based on a) youth taken from the excellent academy Leeds have which Saints have gained from in the past 2 seasons, b) experience in the form of some older pro’s who have done the rounds plus c) some decent Rugby League converts :-
15 Michael Stephenson, Full back who joined Leeds at the start of 2010 season having previously played for the Falcons and more notably Bath where his position was wing
14. Henry Fa'afili, Wing. Normally a Centre who has international honours with Samoa as well as international honours at Rugby League with New Zealand, joined Leeds in 2009
13. Luther Burrell, Centre. Been with Leeds since 2006/7 although has gained experience and developed during loan spells with Otley and Rotherham.
12. Scott Barrow, Centre who joined Leeds in 2008 from Glasgow, began his career in the 13 man code.
11. Pete Wackett, currently playing Wing after establishing himself in the first team from late 2010
10. Adrian Jarvis. Fly half. Only recently joined Leeds from Bristol and by all accounts was a major factor in the win against the Oirish.
9. Scott Mathie. Scrum Half. South African born with spells at the Sharks and the Blue Bulls before joining Leeds in 2008
1. Mike MacDonald, Loose head. USA international is one of the longest serving members of the Leeds squad with over 4 seasons and 100 appearances ago
2 Phil Nilsen, Hooker who was a product of the Leeds academy, interestingly started in the back row and moved to the front row...takes all sorts!
3 Phil Swainston, Tight head, only 21 years of age and another product of the Leeds Academy, international recognition at U18 and U20s for England.
4. Daniel Browne, Second row. Better known in the back row he joined Leeds at the start of the season after 3 years with Bath, having joined them from the Saints at the end of our relegation season....make up your own mind on that.
5 Marco Wentzel. Lock, experienced Club captain, named in last years’ Premiership Team of the year and has a premiership winners medal with Leicester from 2008/9
6 Kearnan Myall, Back row. Highly rated product again from the Leeds Academy. Represented England Saxons and believed to have been targeted by Saints but will be at Sale from next season.
7. Hendre Fourie, Back row. This guy is the gem in this team. If you have not seen him play before try to do so. He is a ferocious tackler and can carry as well as any back row in the country. I would have liked to see him more in an England shirt replacing Haskell. But what do I know.
8 Alfie To'oala Vaeluaga, No 8 Samoan who grew up in New Zealand has played competitive rugby in England with Rotherham, Orrell, Plymouth and Bristol before joining Leeds.
Saints meanwhile will shape up something like this I hope, yes a few changes and even though Dowson is available I would put him on the bench. We need to shake things up so here is my Saintly XV (I’ll get my tin hat in readiness for the flak)
15. Tonks Sorry Bruce, Bruce, Bruce but last week was not good enough.
14. Elliott If we can get him back from the U20s, else Armstrong
13. Clarke Would have played Ansbro but he will be away with Scotland
12. Geraghty Bite the bullet Jim, we need something different, but he has to lose the beard!
11. Diggin
10. Myler Lets get him and Geraghty on the pitch at the same time. It doesn’t have to be one or the other.
9. Commins Better than Powell, and if Dickson is still not available.
1. Tonga’uhia
2. Sharman
3. Mercey Sorry Mooj….you’re brilliant but you need a break before you break.
4. Day Top tackler, line out leader…..needs to play if fit.
5. Vickerman For his aggression and as Lawes is now unavailable
6. Easter Typical, best player on the pitch last week and now he’s leaving, still, play him.
7. Nutley We need a 7 to make things happen in defence.
8. Wilson Mr Dependable, back after his RFU holiday.
This leaves a bench containing Downey, Bruce, Clark and Dowson to come on in the later stages if necessary with hopefully some fire in their bellies.
No ifs or buts as for me this is a must win game, my heart says Saints by 3 ……..and initially straight after last weekends results my head said it would be Leeds by 6 based simply on the facts that although Leeds are struggling they are at home, they won last week and Saints are on the worst run in the league since our relegation season of 2007/8.
But here’s goes…my bold prediction, Saints rediscover their mojo and win by 10 (Nurse, my medication, quick!!)
Safe journey to all travellers and thanks for reading………..COYS!
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Many thanks for taking the time to produce such a detailed article.
I like the team, not sure if its all that balanced, but its certainly a bit of a departure. My only concern is our ‘D’ without Bruce and Downey (who it has to be said put in some pretty terrible tackles at Exeter last weekend, particularly against the big man).
My primary concern would be somebody running through Geraghty at centre and into Tonks, who needs to commit more when on the back foot, at full back. My fear may very well be misplaced as I feel like I haven’t actually seen SG play for months (and by that I don’t mean 5 mins at the end of an already lost match).
I think its brave to drop Dowson, but he hasn’t looked good in himself for weeks. Who to Captain though? No Bruce, or Dowson… Maybe Diggin or Easter?! I have no idea.
I think we’ll see the beard disappear this weekend be it before or after Shane G. starts at i/c, or f/h.
You can't always get what you want, But if you try sometimes well you might find, You get what you need.
Richards/Jagger
Decent preview but i'd have to say a Leeds win by 5 points :p
The first Leeds Tykes child mascot...#leedswasps0203season. #cheersbentos
We need at least parity up front so the fittest forwards take teh pitch and then some extra creativity in teh backs. Geraghty must figure somewhere. Elliot ? Armstrong ? We need someone fully fot and fast and raring to go. A winger is as good as any.
Saint til I die
Quote:St Martin
long tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs.
class!Top of the League 2014-2015 Season
Digger for captain.
Good to see my team selection has caused some healthy debate.
See you on saturday if you're going...you'll recognise me, I'm the one in the Saints shirt
"A witty saying proves nothing."
- Voltaire (1694-1778)
No offence, but I hope it's Leeds by at least one
Suffering on the Leeds and Yorkshire roller-coaster since 2001
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Please sponsor me for Saints with Heart [www.justgiving.com]
Although I think at 1645 on sat you will be drowning your sorrows with a nice pint of Tetleys!!
See you next season, we WILL see you next season!
Zandra YaPoI
YaPoI - Yorkshire and Proud of It
'proficiscor in una'
Rugby Times has Leeds winning by 4. Do Rugby Times ever get it right? I would simply settle for a win by 1, and a bonus point for your goodselves!
Enjoy the match!
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