Northampton Saints
News : Swans, Ospreys and Meerkats- Ospreys 17 - Saints 29
By Dave Jackson
January 13 2014
After all the recent weeks of Premiership Rugby it was back to Europe and the HC. Not wanting to get drawn into the debate about the future I love the chance to get to play some of the teams we rarely see and visit some different places - yes I know Swansea is not exactly the South of France but it is in an area where children are born with rugby in their blood and the passion for the game is there for all to see.
Heineken Cup Pool 1 - Ospreys v Northampton Saints
Liberty Stadium, Swansea Sunday 12th January
KO 12:45 (pardon?)
So it was off to South Wales we set on the Saturday morning in bright sunshine, having lived in Cardiff for 8 years have friends so stayed at theirs and caught up on old times.
Sunday morning we left our friends (He is an Ospreys Fan and she supports Llanelli) with their 4 year old son wishing us good luck (they both want him to support their team!) and made the short drive down the M4 to Swansea. Found a place to park and walked to the Liberty Stadium - This was my first visit to the stadium having missed the Saints previous LV cup match held here. Had a quick look around the shop which is shared with Swansea City - as such has merchandise from both clubs so full of Swans and Ospreys and for some reason I could not work out lots of Meerkats, with the current politics in Welsh Rugby maybe ostriches would be more appropriate (a little more on that later). Easy entry to ground and managed to find our seats around the 5m line in what seemed to be a fairly empty stadium. Reading the match programme they seemed to have a report on Saints season from 2011/12 when we last played then (think they need a better proof reader.) - As a positive the pre-match music was out of my CD collection with music from Rush and Asia interspersed with ‘Men of Harlech’.
Shortly before kick off there was a walk round demonstration by the Ospreys supporters club about the future of Welsh Rugby. Again I don’t pretend to know the politics of it but this needs sorting as with two premierships football clubs now in South Wales if they don’t get the product right and the levels that feed into the product right then the round ball will take over and a huge chunk of rugby history could be lost. Anyway enough of that on with the game:
The match started with Saints kicking off to the opposite end to most of the Saints fans and started brightly with Saints soon winning a penalty from an Ospreys scrum offence. Mr Cool himself Steve Myler stepped up and Saints were off into the 3-0 lead. The stadium had filled a little but there were still more empty seats than full ones, the home fans were making some effort to fill the gaps with a band occasionally starting up and blasting out some traditional welsh rugby tunes. Despite the band Saints again attacked and Ospreys strayed offside. We did wonder if Saints may push the corners and seek the tries and the bonus point that might make a difference but as we say at Franklins Gardens the Ospreys are a good side and need treating with respect - so posts it was and 6-0 to Saints. The match restarted and after a scrappy phase of play Ospreys kicked long, not sure where the back three were but it was Courtney Lawes who took the ball deep in his own 22, I am sure he considered a kick but Tom Collins was racing back so he passed to Collins to clear. Most of the Ospreys fans were certain it was a forward pass and it would have been hard to disagree and could easily a been a scrum to Ospreys a few yards out, a let off for Saints but not long after Ospreys were on the scoreboard with a penalty. Saints soon replied in kind and the score stood at 9 - 3 to Saints
Not long after the Ospreys fans were again enraged by the actions of Dylan Hartley - must admit did not really see what happened and not had a chance to watch replay but he seem to come through a ruck a little carelessly. A talking to from our Frenchman in the middle and the game continued. Saints continued to dominate the scrum and the referee finally lost his patience with the Ospreys scrum and sent one of the Ospreys props to the sidelines for a rest. Another penalty kick and it was 12-3 to Saints. As the half draw towards its close Ospreys were attacking and making real ground, seemed to be a lot of attacking around the breakdown and taking the ball straight up the middle - something we don’t see as much of in the Premiership, this finally created the space for Tipuric to send Jeff Hassler over in the corner, but wait that pass was forward and the referee with the help of a quick referral to the TMO rule out the try. The natives not overly happy at this as while it was forward it was in almost the same spot as the one from Lawes that was not given. Half time whistle and Saints 12 - 3 up and whilst not dominating it was a reflection of the game so far.
It did feel that whoever got the first points and some pressure in the second half would 
prevail, and Ospreys started well winning a very kickable penalty that would have made it 12 - 6. They however declined the kick and took a quick tap - maybe the coach at half time had suggested this approach but it backfired and Saints turned the ball over, fed it out to George North who just had to stroll the 70 odd metres to the try line with half of Wales chasing him. Only one outcome really Try to Saints. Despite the conversion hitting the post a healthy 17 - 3 lead.
Despite Saints lead the momentum swung towards Ospreys with Adam Jones shoring up the scrum. A serious of penalties near the line resulted in Christian Day taking one for the team and a 10 minute rest. With Saints down to 14 men they somehow turned the ball over but rather than a clearing kick tried to run the ball and lost it. After more pressure the Ospreys scrum half scored a typical scrum half try from all of 70cm and it was game on at 17- 10. Saints had already swapped one prop so was now time for the usual ‘Swap the Wallers’ and once back to 15 men Saints again attacked. What has really impressed me this season is how after 
conceding Saints just seem to up the game and hit back at the opposition and this is what happened again. Some great off loading and team work saw a surge up the field which ended in George Pisi escaping a tackle that tried to take his head off to dot the ball down. Was odd to see Natoga who had done the high tackle coming off far worse needing treatment while the referee patiently stood watching. No sooner had he made it back to his feet the card was out and Ospreys would see out the match with only 14 players.
Despite only 9 minutes left Ospreys soon made it a nervous ending by working a try for Alun Wyn Jones (who like the game at Franklins Gardens showed what a great player he is). Saints however rather than sit back and defend a 5 point lead went on the attack again which ended with a try and quick conversion for Glenn Dickson who had come on for Stephen Myler. Despite the hunt for 4th try time was up and the match ended with a 29 - 17 win for Saints and 4 pool points. Whether this is enough to make a QF we will have to see but I truly hope this is not the last European away trip for Saints.
As a final note the crowd was given as 8,347, not exactly great attendance in a vast stadium and makes you wonder if it would have been better played at a packed ‘Gnoll’ which would have provided a much better atmosphere.
George North and Stephen Myler say -
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David L
What if there were no hypothetical questions?
- Live wrong and preposterously
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