By Chris Gleadell
March 9 2007

So perhaps last week’s loss to Gloucester was not quite what we wanted, however but for one missed tackle it might just have been another victory against a top four side. After the win at Tigers the previous week there were high hopes that we might be on a roll and while the detractors might point at the scoreboard as the be all and end all given the relative strengths of the Leicester and Gloucester sides, with Gloucester fielding almost their first choice side, you could argue that Saturdays display might just have been the better of the two.

And although at the end of the day it is points that make prizes, or even survival in our case, we still seem to making some steps forward.

For a team that had a habit of leaking tries we have started to learn how to shut up shop somewhat at the back and in the last 160 minutes of rugby, but for James Simpson-Daniels breakaway score, we have held two of the Guinness Premierships highest scoring teams at bay.

It may have applied to another sport but Brian Clough once said that defence is always your key, if you do not let the opposition score then its half the battle won, everything else is a bonus. Bearing that in mind it could be our defence that shapes the future of the club over the next few weeks rather than the free flowing attack we all predicted we would see this season.

No doubt once the tracks start to dry out we may see our attacking options expand but with every point now vital defending could at the end on May be our saviour.

Whilst the word from the club is that they are only concerned with Saints results and no one else you still cannot help but look over your shoulder at Worcester . As people have commented over the last few days if someone had offered you five points from the games against Tigers and Glaws you would have bitten their hand off. Given over the same period Wuss have taken just four points at home to Bath, a side that has not won away all season, it points to the fact that perhaps as a comparison between the two we are the form side. It is form that we have to take down to the Recreation Ground on Saturday where, given last weeks results, a win is not outside the realms of possibility.

Just like in this neck of the woods the weather has not been kind to Somerset over the few days and with further showers predicted for Friday Saints might just be playing in the same kind of conditions we have seen the previous two weekends. For once, given those two performances, that might just suit us rather than the home side. Whilst Bath this season have run both hot and cold at home a quagmire at the Rec could be a great leveller and the grit and determination shown by the lads over the last couple of weeks might just see them win the day.

CHILDISH BICKERING

I have said it before in this column that like a lot of people from the area I like to see all local teams do well, be they the Saints at rugby, the Cobblers at football or the County at cricket. It’s sad that a handful feel differently and chose to air their particular dislikes for other sports and clubs through this paper. The coverage of rugby in the Chron has improved greatly over this season but last weeks double spread ‘Talking Rugby’ piece was totally ruined by the insertion in one corner of some snippets from ‘FanZone’. Now under the trades description act this should really have been tagged ‘AbuseZone’ because all it consisted of was supporters, and I use that term loosely, from both Saints and the Cobblers slagging each other off about their respective clubs. If it wasn’t ‘this has always been a football town’ it was ‘well we have more supporters than you’. It adds nothing to peoples enjoyment of reading the paper and just adds to a perceived split between the two sets of fans which but for a very, very small minority does not exist. To be honest on reading it, it took me back 30 odd years to the playground with two kids bickering that my dads bigger than yours. Now I know someone will make a claim about free speech (even if such a thing existed in the UK ) but the paper could of course choose to not print these messages as on the face of it, it is fuelling a very small fire and giving a small minority a mouthpiece for their views which reflects on us all. Oh, and good luck to Cobblers at home to Bournemouth on Saturday.

'ORSES FOR COURSES...

A date for your diaries. The Saints Supporters Club are holding their 2nd Annual Race Night in the Sturtridge Pavillion on Friday 13th April, starting at 19:30
£2 in advance, £3 on the door. Most of the squad, less those not playing that weekend, are rumoured to be in attendance.
To book tickets give Barry Forrestall a call on 0795 1743744.

As Barry says “Make a night of it, get some friends together, organise yourselves a table picnic and, maybe, go home with more than you came out with!”
Some have some horses left for sponsorship, at £5 per horse. Winning owner gets £20!
Tickets are strictly limited, so get yours ASAP to avoid ‘massive disappointment.’

And last weeks column.

A NEW DAWN?

Harold Wilson once coined the phrase “a week is a long time in politics”. Forty years on from that statement if the former Prime Minister substituted the word politics for rugby he might well have been talking about goings on at Franklins Gardens over the last seven days.

The first hint that there might be a slight change of tack and openess came last Wednesday with three items of news released by the club. The first was to put to bed various rumours circulating about Steve Thompson’s neck injury. The news was not particularly good and Wally will be out of action not only for Saints but for England through the World Cup period later this year. He has an operation this week and here’s hoping for a full recovery.

The second release concerned the ongoing rumours of Carlos Spencer’s move to Agen. As with all rumours it gathered pace with all those ‘in the know’ claiming that the signing of Barry Everitt the week before saw the imminent departure of Carlos to the Stade Armandie to play in same side as his good friend Kees Meeuws. Seems they were wrong as on the Tuesday Carlos himself squashed the rumours via his own website. Normally the club would keep quiet on such things, maybe it is thought in some quarters that saying nothing doesn’t give the rumour oxygen however it was good for once to see the club coming out to put an end to this talk too. It may not be considered the done thing nowadays but it puts supporter’s minds at rest, lets hope we see more of it in the future.

The third release was a very open statement, written after the Quin’s loss, from Coach Paul Grayson about how the club currently stood and what the lads were doing to try and remedy the situation. With his heart on his sleeve Grase not only said how much the team was hurting as they felt they had let everyone down but that he being the guy that is ultimately responsible for our current position he felt the pressure even harder.

He mentioned that unfounded rumours and speculation about the squad, especially about splits in the camp, had not helped them one bit and it was also hard to take the criticism albeit mostly constructive from the support.

To be honest, and despite the one off mini rant of my own last week in this column about how the club was going, I applaud him for putting his head over the parapet and clearing the air in this manner. An acknowledgement that yes we are maybe not getting things right but we are doing the damnedest to put those things back on the right track assures supporters that behind closed doors there is an appreciation of the current dilemma and no one is resting till that is remedied. I think in the past silence on such matters gave some supporters the impression, even though obviously this was not the case, that the club either consisted of ostriches with their head in the sand or a group of Nero’s happy fiddling while Rome burned. This new openness puts us all firmly in the picture. Well done Paul.

Of course the proof of the pudding was in the eating. Strong words from Grase but were they just words or would we see the fruits of their labour on the Welford Road pitch on Saturday. Almost prophetically he started his last paragraph by stating “What better challenge than the team at the top of the league (Tigers) on their home turf.” But even the most optimistic of us did not see us coming away with anything but a long shot losing bonus point at the most. How wrong we were.

The team though played like men possessed and though the plaudits went to young Stephen Myler after his assured game at flyhalf each and every man played their part in our third win at Welford Road in the league in a little over four years. The one point victory of course meant that defeat was always just one kick away but what was most pleasing for me was the way we ground out those last few minutes kept our heads and ran down the clock. There certainly seemed a lot more direction, application and for want of a better word cussedness about the display than we have seen in recent weeks and long may it continue. It was good to see the players with smiles back on their faces. It seemed like a long time coming but it looks like not only have they restored some belief in the support but also done their own confidence as a unit the power of good.

So is this a new dawn, well time will tell but I certainly feel a lot better about the club as a whole than I did last week and that was not just down to the victory. Now it is a case of carrying things forward starting with Gloucester at the Gardens on Saturday.

It is certainly not a time to rest on laurels but with hopefully a fit again Carlos returning to the fold this week and the possibility that new short term signing Christian Labit might debut if we can carry on in the same vein as last week there is no reason why we cannot get something out of this game too to increase the breathing space between us and Worcester at the foot of the Guinness Premiership.

Its not an easy task though, Glos are riding high and have dangermen throughout their ranks but I think if we the support play our part too, we need to up the tempo seen against Quins, I think we might just pull this one off.

We might not be out of the woods yet but I’m starting to think we might be heading the right way.

THE SSC

The Saints Supporters Club will be running coaches to Bath , on Saturday 10th March, they will be leaving Franklin ’s Gardens at 9am.

The prices are:

Adults: £14

Children/Students/OAPs: £8

The SSC will also be running coaches to Bristol , on Sunday 25th March, they will be leaving Franklin ’s Gardens at 10am.

The prices are:

Adults: £14

Children/Students/OAPs: £9

To book places on the Supporters Club coaches, please call 01604 751742. With your name, telephone number and the number of seats.