Northampton Saints
News: AP: Bath Rugby vs Northampton Saints - Match Preview
By PelerinStJames
May 1 2014
Following on from Amlin Challenge Cup semi-final success against Harlequins last time out, it's another Friday night match under the floodlights for Northampton Saints as they travel West to face Bath Rugby at the Recreation Ground. Regular COYSDC contributor, PelerinStJames, looks ahead to the game...
BATH RUGBY vs NORTHAMPTON SAINTS
AP: Friday, 2nd May 2014 - 7.45pm (BT)
RECREATION GROUND, BATH
MATCH PREVIEW
Aquae Sulis v Northampton Saints
There can’t be many cities with such a proud history as the beautiful city of Bath, famed for its warm waters and Roman baths, its splendid Georgian architecture and, when I was a lad, it’s all conquering rugby team. A team that was not only the first English team to win the Heineken Cup, but also won 6 Premiership Titles, and 10 John Player/Pilkington Cups between 1988 and 1996. This was the team that dominated Rugby Special on Sunday afternoons, and somewhere I always hoped to visit and enjoy the rugby at the Rec.
Sadly, I have yet to make this trip, with both my visits to Bath coming in the heights of summer, where my time was taken up with, of all things, learning Latin. I so enjoyed my first summer school in 1990, I went back for more a year later – and still managed to fail my A-level. Consequently when I now think of Bath, the mystical memories of that legendary Bath XV of Stuart Barnes, Jerry Guscott and Tony Swift have long since been usurped in my mind by the living hell of spending 10 days solid translating Tacitus, Virgil and Ovid late into the night.
More than 20 years on, these memories have now faded, and after completely forgetting almost everything I might have ever known on the subject, I can hardly tell my ablative absolute from my perfect subjunctive, and so the desire to visit the Rec has returned. Not least because there has been a distinct resurgence this year from the men in Blue, Black and White. This game is a dress rehearsal for the Amlin Final, whilst the prospect of a further clash in the playoffs remains a distinct possibility.
The once great empire of Aquae Sulis is back on the march to glory, led by Emperor Brucus Craigus whose support has helped establish not just some fantastic training facilities but also a young squad packed full of talent that will provide the sternest of tests for this Northampton side. They are on the cusp of securing a play off place, and will looking to secure the victory which guarantees this at home to Saints, rather than face a nervy final round decider away to Quins at the Stoop. For Saints, the search is on for the 4 points that secures us a home semi-final, quite possibly against Bath. Victory this weekend, therefore, remains vital for both sides, as the run in begins in earnest right here.
The Bath backline comprises some of the finest young players in England and Matt Banahan. Credit where credit is due, keeping his place amongst the likes of Kyle Eastmond, Anthony Watson, Jonathon Joseph, and George Ford, whose skill and flair is neatly complemented by the wily old fox that is Peter Stringer, is indeed a wonder to behold.
This is certainly a midfield that does not lack for creativity, and one which the boys in Green, Black and Gold will have to carefully police…leave just the tiniest of gaps and Ford and/or Eastmond will be through it, releasing the paciest of pacy runners outside them.
Up front, and Bath also have a pretty decent pack coming together, although I have to admit I probably haven’t seen enough of Bath this season to know how strong this is, but I am fully expecting a full on contest in the set pieces and an epic battle at the breakdown.
For Saints, well, rotation has been the name of the game recently for Jim Mallinder. I would hope by now the returning internationals have been fully reintegrated into the Northampton ways, but do wonder what are best team actually is at the moment. It is relatively easy to pick our 15 best playerson paper, but there is a cohort of youngsters all putting their hands up and demanding selection ahead of more established names. On current form, you could easily select Stephenson over Burrell, Collins over North and the not so young but incredibly reliable Wilson over Foden or Pisi.
I don’t suspect we will see many changes, injuries permitting, but there are certainly going to be some very interesting battles for places in the coming few weeks. Up front, I expect McMillan to continue at hooker, with Ma’afu and Alex Waller either side. You can then take your pick of Day, Lawes, Manoa, Craig, Dickinson, Clark, Dowson, Wood and Nutley for your back 5, with almost every conceivable permutation looking good.
Personally, I would be expecting the teams to look like this
Saints: Foden, Elliott, Wilson, Burrell, North, Myler, Fotuali’I, Waller A, McMillan, Ma’afu, Day, Lawes, Wood, Dowson, Dickinson.
Bath: Abendanon, Watson, Joseph, Eastmond, Agulla, Ford, Stringer, Catt, Webber, Wilson, Attwood, Hooper, Fearns, Mercer, Houston.
And as for the result, well, it is certainly a very intriguing match.
Both teams have so much to play for; not just the need to guarantee their play off places ahead of next week’s final round, and it is a definite chance to gain the famed psychological advantage ahead of potentially 2 more far important matches in the next 5 weeks. But my feeling is that Bath will be all out to win this and take the pressure of themselves for next week. Should their forwards match the Saints in the set piece, then they certainly have the attacking advantage in the backs. That said, the Saints defence is one of the meanest around and so it should prove to be a fascinating battle in the midfield.
With the raucous Rec behind them, I can see Bath just about edging the game to secure their play off place, although it will be close and most probably rest on the accuracy of the kickers.
A Saints win for me would prove to be a most welcome bonus, and certainly not beyond their capabilities, especially if it is wet. Hopefully, it will be exactly what you would expect from the teams currently ranked 2 and 3 in the table, a hard fought but entertaining encounter, with no quarter given by either side, and it will be a Saintsman saying "veni, vidi, vici" in the post match press conference.
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Top of the League 2014-2015 Season
Great stuff PSJ
cum iter in sanctis!
David L
What if there were no hypothetical questions?
- Live wrong and preposterously
Saint 'til I die
I did my usual trick of publishing your excellent article and neglecting to take the time to thank you for another fantastic piece of work.
Many apologies - it's great read!
"It's not the despair, Saints, I can take the despair. It's the hope I can't stand."
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