The stand in's and youngsters have been on a steep learning curve these last three weeks. Saints have shrugged off the home loss to Tigers, began to believe in themselves against Leeds and then on Saturday they earned a fantastic win and try bonus point against the Quins. Coach Wayne Smith hoped for 5 points from 3 games whilst the Autumn internationals and injuries depleted his squad, Saints gave their coach six and are 5th in the Zurich Premiership Table just 5 points away from that all important play off place.

Before the match there was a fitting minutes silence for Ron Jacobs, the missing captain from the Churches stand opening before the last home game, who sadly died a day later. Ron was a true Saints stalwart, he appeared for Saints 470 times, a club record, capped 27 times for England and was also a president of the RFU a few years back.(Thanks to the Quins site for including this information in their match report)

The crowd for the game was low for the modern era Saints at just 8296 and more than that there was a general air of apprehension and lack of belief on the terrace. Until a minute before kick off the rain had lashed down upon Northampton but at 11.59 it seemed to stop and the sun shone down on the Saints as they ran out of the players tunnel. Was this an omen of things to come? the pitch however was still soaking making appalling playing conditions, Saints chose to play downstream in the first half.

To the game...

Irish international Paul Burke started the match for Quins as poorly as he meant to carry on with a slip and fluffed kick straight into the arms of  the 'teak-hard' Andrew Blowers. Blowers received his gift in centre filed right on his own 10 metres line and wasted no time driving straight into the heart of the Quins defence. Quick ball and a chip through for Reihana saw Matt Moore hold back the former All Black. Referee Goodliffe could easily have sent Moore to the sin bin for this blatant infringement. Maybe the timing of the offence was all that saved the Quins winger. Larry banged over the resulting penalty and Saints were 3-0 up after just two minutes. Truly "Hats-on-wheels" stuff.

Unfortunately for Saints the wheels then got stuck in the Gardens mud as Quins dominated proceedings for the next quarter of an hour. Saints line out was misfiring badly and despite the best efforts of Budgen and Sturgess the more experienced Quins front row was dominating the scrums. On 14 minutes the Quins scored a typical forwards try. A good chip through from full back Williams left Saints scrum half Johnny Howard with little options but to put the ball in touch just 5 metres from his own goal line. Quins had no trouble securing their own ball and Diprose, joining a maul for the first time that afternoon was driven over for the try. Burke converted and the Gardens went quieter.

The revival, like most things good on Saturday was sparked by Bruce Reihana. The former All Black making his first home start for the Saints in his favoured position of wing, showed us all why he is rated so highly. He has great hands, good speed and lots of power. To add to that his technique going into contact is coaching manual perfect. Reihana gets a low body position as he hits his would be tackler and then drives up and through. At the same time he turns, protecting the ball and sets it up perfectly for his team mates. It was exactly this kind of play that allowed the Saints pack to continue his good work, Quins infringed and Grayson added another three points. 6-7 after 17 minutes.

Another poor kick by Burke down the throats of the impressive Saints back three saw Reihana once again counter with confidence. The recycling and driving from the Saints pack was once again highly effective and Quins committed multiple offences to give Grayson another kick at goal. It was clear that the Saints back row of Blowers, Soden and Fox now had the upper hand. This can partly be blamed on the anonymous glory boy Tony Diprose, his work rate in the loose effectively meant it was 3 against 2 in the back row. Business as usual for Larry and suddenly Saints led 9-7.

Saints started winning everything and it was no surprise when they took the restart and drove straight back into the Quins 22. The move broke down and they were forced into touch. But no matter as the home side just knicked opposition ball at the line out. More recycling and driving took the ball to the posts and then quick hands put Reihana over in the left hand corner for his maiden Saints try. Larry missed the conversion. 14-7 after 28 minutes.

The Saints pack seemed to inspire their colleagues in the backs as Larry, John Leslie, Chris Hyndman, Sleights, Beal and of course Reihana (have I mentioned him yet?) were playing well up to their full potential. It was Larry's turn for the next flash of brilliance with an awesome side step to flummox the opposition and a good inside ball that allowed Saints to drive to within 3 metres. From there they took a more traditional route with Brett Sturgess awarded his first try at the bottom of a pile of forwards. Grayson converted to make a half time score of 21-7.

Saints started where they left off in the second half. Soden impressively stole the ball for Saints and Grayson chipped through. Reihana raced onto the ball and cleverly crossed the ball inside to his centre forward, oops wrong game but it was a bit like that. Anyway Beal chipped the ball on again and slid over the line for his first score of the afternoon . Grayson converted and the score was 28-7. The mood was changing in the crowd as well. Apprehension was at first replaced by optimism and then by expectation as the Saints went hunting for the fourth try and bonus point.

To be fair to Quins the Saints were not having everything their own way. In fact the visitors continued to win the majority of the possession and as the game wore on their scrum and line out increased in dominance. However, in a match described by Harlequins boss, Mark Evans, as the worst performance of the season they seemed clue less with ball in hand.

Late on in the game Kelvin Todd and Matt Miles replaced Sturgess and Richmond in the front row. The Quins scrum was immediately put under pressure and the resulting kick down field was once again taken by Reihana. He fed Beal, who in turn passed to Leslie as the Saints ran back with intent, Miles then received the ball and drove well into the Quins 22 and made the ball available. Blowers took the ball further towards the goal line ably assisted by Vass, Budgen and then Miles again. Hunter failed to make ground from the next phase and Larry chipped the ball into touch 12 metres from the Quins line. No points but Saints were upping the pace.

From good line out possession another poor Quins kick went straight to Sleightholme, Beal continued the move and took Saints within 10 metres. Yet another rugby league style 'dab' from Larry saw Reihana pressure Williams who conceded an attacking throw just 5 metres from the Quins line. Blowers won the line out and Fox drove on. More recycling and driving play saw Fox involved again before Beal looped around the back of the ruck and went over for his second, Saints fourth and of course the all important 'Brucie' bonus (sorry I couldn't resist)

Blowers was replaced by hepher to a thunderous reception as Grayson banged over the extras giving him a personal tally of 20 points for the afternoon.

All that was left was for the charismatic Geoff Allen to announce that Chris Budgen was the Travis Perkins Man of the Match and well deserved it was too. that decision must have been very hard though as any number of Saints could have been chosen for various reasons. The old stagers of Beal, Sleightholme, Leslie and Grayson would all have been contenders as would the back row with Blowers nothing less than his usual self and his young understudies Fox and Soden fronting up well. Other youngsters such Howard and Sturgess played with full commitment and of course I may have mentioned Reihana once or twice. However my personal pick for MOTM would be Chris Hyndman. 'Handyman' showed he has progressed well since his Saints debut two seasons ago into an all round centre with good pace, good lines of attack and some strong committed tackling.

So, we have our stars back next week and after saturdays performance there was a hint that one or two could be rested for the away trip to Welford Road. The returning players will indeed add more balance to the side, win more set piece ball and are more used to the pressure but will they be able to bring the same attitude? If they do then the PCP home record is surely under threat.

Come on you Saints!