By Phil (Mav)
March 31 2007

Saints travel to San Sebastián this weekend to face Biarritz in their Heineken Cup Quarter-Final fixture. Can they bring home the spoils? comeonyousaints.com co-editor Phil Hollis has been taking the happy pills and argues they CAN win...

 

MATCH PREVIEW

 

BIARRITZ OLYMPIQUE –v- NORTHAMPTON SAINTS

 

HEINEKEN CUP 2006/7 QUARTER FINAL

 

ESTADIO ANOETA, SAN SEBASTIÁN

 

SUNDAY, 1^ST APRIL 2007 – 1pm (BST)

 

 

So, where to start?

 

After another defeat (away to Bristol) Saints sit bottom of the Guinness Premiership pile staring relegation in the face but have the diversion of a Heineken Cup quarter-final this weekend and a trip to Spain to face Biarritz. Fan-blinkin-tastic! For those that are lucky enough to be able to travel it’s going to be a lovely weekend in Biarritz and San Sebastián which will be spoiled by 80 minutes of rugby on Sunday afternoon. Or will it?

 

Right, let’s get the obvious stuff out of the way. Biarritz Olympique is the reigning French champion. They qualified for the quarter-finals of the 2006/7 Heineken Cup with a record-breaking 29 points out of a possible 30 in their 6 out of 6 victories in the pool matches, beating Saints home and away. They have moved this fixture away from their home of the Parc de Sports Aguilera because this means they can get another 20,000 fanatical supporters behind them in their temporary home just across the Spanish border at the Estadio Anoeta. They are the bookies 9/4 favourites for the competition (Saints vary from 50-1 out to 100-1) and we haven’t even looked at the players yet! We might as well stay at home…

 

Back in October, Saints made their first trip of the season to BO, round one of the group matches of this season’s HC, ultimately going down 22-10. Towards the end of Stockers’ match report of that game he says:

 

“Saints kept the momentum going and tried to at least get the losing bonus point but for all the effort and possession, no points resulted. This has become a common theme of recent performances and Paul Grayson and his coaching team need to address the current inability to transfer pressure in to points. There are still too many basic skills errors which are letting potential victories slip away and Saints left Biarritz with nothing to show for their efforts.”

 

In the return match at Franklin’s Gardens in January saints again came up short, losing 9-17. In the report of that game from the Official Site, Caroline Moore remarks:

 

“Unfortunately the handling in close quarters, while often accurate, was not always so and many of Saints’ spells of possession ended with turnovers.”

 

Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose…

 

Biarritz, as you would expect, are making all the right noises before this game. Talking to ERC Rugby, French scrum half Dimitri Yachvilli said:

 

“Obviously the statistics look to be in our favour going into this match. However, while we are very wary of falling into any trap of complacency, I would obviously rather have won two than lost two in the Pool stages but we are under no illusions. I know that Northampton beat Leicester a couple of weeks ago in the English league and that they have been getting games during the Six Nations.

 

“At the same time our players have been resting and, although the rest is great in the longer term, it is hard to get back into games straight away so they will be in more of a rhythm than we are at the moment.”

 

Hmmm, yes Saints have been getting games during the 6Ns and we may be in “more of a rhythm”. The only problem is that we have generally been playing and coming up short and have the rhythm of a team that has got used to losing.

 

So, what heart can I give to those who are preparing to hop on the plane to witness what in all likelihood will be Saints’ last match in European Rugby’s premier club competition for the foreseeable future?

 

Well for a start, we have absolutely nothing to lose. The pundits and the bookies have written this match off as so one-sided that the result is a forgone conclusion. According to them, we have as much chance of toppling the French giants as we are likely to see a supporter from another Guinness Premiership side enjoying one of Red Saints’ scribblings or our resident expert from The Valleys actually saying something positive about the Saints. It’s that cut-and-dried. And that’s why we can win on Sunday.

 

We’ve never been completely stuffed by Biarritz, that’s a positive. BO’s biggest win over Saints is only by 12 points (back in October). So, if Saints can keep it tight for 40 minutes and then, who knows?

 

The players know that this is something special. It is a match that many of the Saints squad will not experience again. Damien Browne, speaking to comeonyousaints.com last week, summed up what it means to the players:

 

“…it’s not every day you get the chance to play in a Heineken Cup quarter final.”

 

Too right, big man. You may have this one opportunity in your career to do something very special (I know Damo played against Toulouse in 2005 in the Q/F in Toulouse but you get my drift). Do yourself, the team, the town and the supporters, proud.

 

So, what team should Saints put out on Sunday? Well, if it's going to be a case of, "let's throw caution to the wind 'cos everyone expects us to get schtuffed", how about...

 

15 Digger
14 Monty
13 Bruce Bruce Bruce (El Capitan)
12 Kyddo
11 Kingsthorpe's Finest
10 Los

9 Sharky Robinson

1 Wee Tam
2 Hartley Hare
3 JB
4 DB1
5 Christian
6 Tops
7 Bluey
8 Labit

 

Doesn't look too shabby, does it? Plenty of pace in the backs with some experienced heads up front for what will undoubtedly be a titanic battle for superiority. Of course, I am just a humble scribe and don't get paid an awe-inspiring "hats-on-wheels" salary to coach our heroes. We shall see...

 

The beauty of sport is that every match is a one off. No one knows what will happen on Sunday afternoon. Sure, the pedant will point and shout, “Oi! ‘Ollis! Don’t you realise that BO has never lost a home HC quarter-final? And, whilst I’m ‘ollerin’ at ya, Saints have never won an away fixture at the same stage?” Of course, I know that (I looked it up), it’s just that we don’t yet know that it will be the case this weekend.

 

For seven days, the doom and gloom of our Premiership position can wait. We’ll start worrying about all that again next Tuesday.

 

Remember, France wasn’t given a prayer against New Zealand in the World Cup semi-final back in 1999 but stunned the rugby world. Saints have the players to carry out a similar feat against the Aristocrats of French club rugby. Of course, given our recent form it’s a huge, huge ask but, until the referee whistles for no-side, I’ll be cheering on my team to what would be the greatest sporting upset in club rugby in recent times.

 

I suggest you do the same.

 

 

BIARRITZ OLYMPIQUE: 1. Balan, 2. August (c.), 3. Avril, 4. Thion, 5. Couzinet, 6. Betsen, 7. Harinordoquy, 8. Lièvremont, 9. Yachvili, 10. Peyrelongue, 11. Gobelet, 12. Traille, 13. Gaïtan, 14. Bidabé, 15. Brusque

Replacements: 16. Noirot, 17. Lecouls, 18. Carizza, 19. Malonga, 20. Dupuy, 21. Bosch, 22. Bobo

 

NORTHAMPTON SAINTS: 15 Paul Diggin, 14 SEAN LAMONT, 13 BRUCE REIHANA (capt), 12 Robbie Kydd, 11 BEN COHEN, 10 CARLOS SPENCER, 9 MARK ROBINSON; 1 TOM SMITH, 2 Dylan Hartley, 3 John Brooks, 4 Matt Lord, 5 Christian Short, 6 PAUL TUPAI, 7 Ben Lewitt, 8 CHRISTIAN LABIT

Replacements: 16 MATIAS CORTESE, 17 SOANE TONGA’UHIA, 18 Mark Hopley, 19 DAVID GERARD, 20 Darren Fox, 21 Johnny Howard, 22 Stephen Myler

 

REFEREE: Mr Nigel Owens (Wales)