By From the Archives
October 31 2002

In the run up to the Gloucester v Saints game at Kingsholm on Saturday we look back to the last meeting between the two sides at the Gardens in April this year. The Saints were sublime racking up nearly sixty (yes 60) points. It might be a little closer this weekend....... Saints hit the heights to down Gloucester

By Rich not on the Spot
Date: 14/4/2002

This was a great, great win for the Saints, which more than avenges the opening day defeat at Kingsholm back in September, but one that leaves a question firmly in the mind. How on earth are this poor Gloucester side second in the Zurich Premiership?

As good as Saints were, they were not at the clinical excellence of the Newcastle game, indeed several scores went begging, Gloucester's naivety and petulance kept the visitors on the back foot all afternoon.

Things didn't start that well for Saints and a good drive by the Cherry and Whites saw the metronomic Mercier kick a drop goal to give the visitors a 0-3 lead on 5 minutes. However this signalled the start of the Gloucester missed tackle show as Beal, Jorgenson and Brooks made impressive breaks only to spill forward or lack the killer pass.

Saints pressure bore points on 8 minutes with a Grayson penalty and then again on 14 minutes to give the Saints the lead 6-3. On 17 minutes a great break from Jorgenson, led to a drive to the line in the right hand corner. The touch judge awarded Tom Smith a very dubious try which video pictures failed to shed any light on but Saints were away to an 11-3 lead after a rare Grayson missed conversion.

On 21 minutes Gloucester's hooker Azam took his now familiar trip to the sin bin. It was so dull really. James Brooks gave him the slightest of digs as the ball went out of play and Azam retaliated with a shove right in front of the referee. It wasn't dangerous but the referee awarded his stupidity with 10 in the cooler ably assisted by the crowds prompting.

Saints were dominating the game and as Woodman came on as front row cover due to Azam being in the sin bin they turned the screw. If Woodman is to convert to hooker then he needs to sort his throwing out because it became free ball for grand Slammer Brouzet. In stark contrast Thompson was on the button with all his throws.

Silly little mistakes held Saints back until the 31st minute when England hooker Steve Thompson emerged from a pile over the line. This well received score took Saints to 16-3 with Grayson missing a similar conversion attempt from the right touchline.

With the reintroduction of Azam, Gloucester rallied and two excellent penalties on 35 minutes and 38 minutes saw the West Countrymen creep back into the game at 16-9.

However the Saints pack had other ideas as they annihilated a Gloucester scrum in their 22, the front row handbags erupted. Clearly unsettled the vaunted Gloucester pack tried to turn the tables but Blowers cleared up at the base. Good quick ball to Grayson saw the most intelligent pass put Rennick in acres of space. He cantered over the line, Grayson converted and the Saints went into half time at 23-9.

It could however have been so much more. The half time stats told a tale of territorial and possession superiority and that Gloucester had missed 13 tackles. Every Saints player made telling breaks, even the man who makes others look good, John Leslie was able to shrug off weak tackling to power over the gain line. 40-9 at half time would have been a fairer reflection of the game.

After the break Gloucester introduced the Fijian Sewabu for Jake Boer. He had an immediate impact by scoring on 43 minutes; Mercier predictably converted to take the score to 23-16. Gloucester were back in the game only a goal behind.

What followed was the mark of everything that's good about Northampton under Wayne Smith. Good ball retention took play into the Gloucester half. As the move lost momentum Thompson picked up from the base of the ruck and barrelled through Gomersall and Puccirello, he slipped going into the 22 but recovered powerfully to recycle the ball. Quick hands put Kingsthorpe's finest through a hole in the Glos defence and he surged through more would be tacklers for a try made on the mini rugby pitches of Northampton Old Scouts. The score ticked over to a very healthy 30-16 and brought the bonus point for four tries.

More petulance from Gloucester's foreign contingent this time saw Italian prop Collazo in the bin for a trip on Dawson which halted one of his trade mark breaks. Saints continued to roll and rumble and it was left to increasingly popular Peter Jorgenson to waltz over the line. Grayson converted to make the score 37-16 and leave Gloucester with a mountain to climb.

Mindful of next week's cup game coach Smudger started to bring on the bench. On 53 minutes, Thompson after his best Saints game since becoming an international was replaced by Richmond and Moir came on for Brooks.

Far from stemming the tide Saints then engineered Pountney over from a well-worked line out. Phillips took the long ball and tapped down laterally to Brouzet changing the point of attack. Pountney came in on the loop around and crashed through the hole, this was a classic training ground move executed to perfection. Grayson again converted. 44-16.

Saints continued where they left off from the re-start and could also be accused of conspiring not to score as phase after phase laid siege to the Cherry and Whites line. Their defensive resolve was broken again by Beal on 64 minutes, Grayson chipped over and the half-century came up 51-16.

Replacements continued to stream on as John Leslie, Matt Dawson and Robbie Morris all went off to standing ovations. The saints then took the foot off the peddle and let Gloucester in for a soft try. Grayson made a hash of a pass, which gave Glos a five-metre line out. They did the simple stuff well for the unpopular Paramore to grab a consolation. Mercier missed for a change 51-21.

Gloucester continued to apply the pressure in the Saints 22 but the boys in Gold, Black and green decided to try out their cup final defence. Good driving and then a turned over scrum eventually led to the penalty which relieved Saints lines.

All that was left was the crowning glory of try number eight. Brouzet had just gone off to another ovation for youngster Arthur Brenton. So Phillips decided to show him ho it's done with a very popular try on 79 minutes, Grayson converted to make the final score 58-21. Despite several stoppages the referee committed rugby's form of euthanasia and blew up bang on 80 minutes.

Eight tries to two is a good score against any opposition. Against a team like Gloucester it is a fantastic score. However Saints still made far too many mistakes, in the form of handling errors. It made no difference today and perhaps is indicative of the pace and ambition at the club, if they continue to blow teams away like this then who cares. A game can still only be won with five league points.

It would be unfair not to mention the efforts of individual Gloucester players and the stand out man for them was Forrester. If they can sort out their discipline they have also have a match winner in Mercier.
Saints captain Budge Pountney highlighted the problem for Gloucester in his post match comment:
"There was a lot of stuff going on in there!"

It would appear that Saints had set out to niggle the volatile Gloucester pack and their lack of maturity had shown through, because niggled they most certainly were! One more All Black trick from the book of the Smudger!

The final word also goes to Budge Pountney who is becoming the master of understatement. In the post match interview his match reaction was:
"Fairly pleased with that performance. Not bad"

Heaven help the opposition on the day he's delighted!!!