Northampton Saints
AP: Northampton Saints vs London Welsh - Match Report
By St Dormouse
November 25 2012
Let me start by absolving myself of blame regarding spelling, facts, grammar and diction. Any mistakes are purely the fault of the Raunds Manor Class of 85, most of whom I haven’t seen in nearly ¼ of a century. As I awoke this morning slightly the worse for wear I confess to thinking that it may have been an error of judgement to volunteer for the match review, however aware of the disappointment and anger that would surely come my way I marched bravely to the computer and retrieved my notes from yesterday. The combination of writing to make an alcoholic doctor look like a calligraphist and rain splattered note paper don’t help. However here goes...More coffee please Mrs. D
Aviva Premiership - Round 9
Northampton Saints v London Welsh
Saturday 24th November - Franklin's Gardens
KO. 1pm
A modest crowd of just over 11 ½ thousand braved the elements to cheer on the lads, only a few more than some LV games. A combination of the weather, the kick off time, a relatively poor travelling support, the England match and I dare say a disappointing last few months of rugby. The food stands in the village were surprisingly empty, indeed the biggest queue in the village were for the limited edition (Yeah I bet!) hoodies. The ground is strangely subdued, the crowd possibly more nervous than exited. London Welsh seem to sneak on unnoticed, then on come the boys. But wait, what’s this. Could it be that the powers that be have taken notice of many debates on both forums regarding music? On they trot to Queens ‘We will rock you’. Slowly as the crowd realise they start to take up the famous hand clap. Not overly successful but if they persist with it I think it could catch on. Good to see them at least trying something to regain the atmosphere. A quick rendition of Oh Wendy and away we go. Welsh kick off and Pisi deals with it. First panic over. A bit of kicking results in a saint’s line out in the Welsh 22 but the customary indiscipline means Welsh gain 60 yards for no effort. Off the lineout a wonderful display of mauling pushes Saints back 20 yards and the only way to stop them is a collapse. Mr Rose has no option but a penalty try and a card for Van Veltze. Ross converts and after only 6 minutes Saints are 7 down with a man in the bin. The restart is chased well and a Welsh lineout was won by Saints. An infringement gives lamb the option and he slots a drop goal.
After the restart another welsh Maul and Saints penalized for side entry. Ross converts. Another good chase from the much welcomed Courtney gives Saints a lineout after the restart however Saints again penalized despite it being obvious to all that welsh are the wrongdoers and the crowd starts to remember why David Rose is not highly regarded in these parts.
However by now we have had a couple of scrums and it seems that the saints are dominant in this area. A penalty from a collapsed scrum results in a saints lineout in the Welsh 22 and a good rolling maul is collapsed. This time Franck Montanella is binned and the penalty kicked to the corner. The Maul is again collapsed as well as the following scrum. By this stage the fans are howling with rage and slow hand clapping demanding Rose shows a bit of consistency for once and are rewarded with a penalty try at last. 10 each with 25 minutes gone.
There follows a period of good saints scrumaging and indifferent kicking eventually leading to a high ball bravely taken by the very encouraging Elliot who is dangerously but in my opinion not maliciously taken out in the air and a yellow for Dan Caprice. Another good Saints scrum and an Elliot break. Lamb sends a delicious kick into the corner for Pisi to collect and flop over to score, a virtual copy of last week’s try against the Dragons. Lamb slots a difficult conversion and Saints look like they could take control. By now Welsh are doing the injury at every breakdown trick perfected over the years by London Irish and Bristol. The crowd is getting restless and eventually another Saints attack is snuffed out, the whistle goes and Saints go in 17-10 ahead.
It has to be said that up until now we have seen little in the way of flowing rugby. The weather is appalling and it’s getting colder. It stands as testimony to powers of Piggy that the pitch is playable at all considering half of Northamptonshire is under water.
The second half offers little comfort for the lovers of running rugby, but the thumping hit on I think it was baby tiny by Coutney from the restart reassures us that the Saints are at least trying to regain the passion and determination of old. Indeed, throughout the first up tackling is strong and Welsh look like they could attack all day and not get to the tryline. Mind you same could be said of the Saints. Poor kicking from both sides but a glimpse of Ken Pisi magic eventually leads to a Saints penalty in front of the sticks. Lamb converts and a more comfortable 10 point gap. Shortly afterwards Tom Arscott attempts one from the half way but is short. The drop out is run back patiently by Welsh but again the tackling is good although by now Courtney is limping. Another attack and Gordon Ross chips delicately to the corner flag and only the cross field dash from Elliot ensures the ball goes dead. Saints collapse the lineout and Ross takes the 3 points.
Cue the customary head in hands saints wobbly bit. Lamb straight to touch with the restart and the scrum on half way gives welsh another penalty which again Arscott drops short. The Welsh scrum has had some shredded wheat at half time and are starting to take control. We are also fluffing a few lineouts. Sorensen comes on for Courtney and PDJ for Mooj.
Another poor kick by Lamb puts the whole team offside but Saints win a penalty at the lineout and a better kick into the 22. A lovely drive to the line unfortunately lost 2 yards out but a penalty has been awarded and Lamb kicks to restore the 10 point gap. At last the glorious melodies of the Soggy Saints faithful ring out.
More kick tennis until unfortunately May drops in attempting to catch his own highball. It has been a feature today that neither side wants to run with the ball, Tom May seems to be kicking high a lot but doesn’t have the pace of Foden to chase. No criticism of May, he has stood in admirably in difficult circumstances but an attacking full back he aint!
A return for Myler with 12 minutes to go in place of May and another penalty from the scrum for Welsh and it’s now clear that David Rose is now guessing however Ross misses touch.
A glimpse of lamb running with ball in hand with a couple of side steps but unfortunately Saints reverts to type and kick the ball away. Waller on for a Tiny and Rhys Oakley on for GJ.
A final penalty for Ross ensures a jittery last few minutes with welsh perhaps believing they can get a draw and saints giving away penalties doesn’t help. Ross kicks into the 22 but Saints steal the ball. The ball is cleared and a scrum in the dying seconds ensures saints 4 points and Welsh a well deserved bonus point. The crowd are still not enthusiastic and even the 10 second countdown was half hearted and petered out at 4!!! There followed a disgraceful booing of Lamb when he was awarded man of the match which proves that some people will never be happy. Fancy booing your own player.
Final score 23-16
It wasn’t pretty, the conditions were terrible, the team is nervous and the atmosphere is non existent but I say well done to the boys on a hard fought win. Sale next week and another battling performance will see us in good spirits for the return of Foden and Hartley. We have 2 wins on the trot, something of a roll so let’s hope we can regain some of the Garden’s magic for the coming visits of Ulster and Quins.
I’m off for a lie down.
Nobby and Martin say...
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