By Casual Saint
January 23 2014

Aviva Premiership and Heineken Cup exertions take a back seat for the next couple of weeks for Northampton Saints as they embark on the final two pool matches of the 2013/14 LV= Cup. First up it's a trip to South Wales to take on Newport Gwent Dragons and COYSDC contributor, Casual Saint, takes a look ahead to the game...

NEWPORT GWENT DRAGONS vs. NORTHAMPTON SAINTS

LV= Cup: Saturday, 25th January 2014 - 2.30pm (Sky)

RODNEY PARADE, NEWPORT

MATCH PREVIEW

 And so the tournament merry-go-round/logically structured season (delete as appropriate) continues to spin and this week its back to the Anglo Welsh Cup. Opinions about this competition cover the whole spectrum, from an excellent opportunity to blood new players to a pale fallacy of a proper knockout cup, taking in a good little earner if you win it and stopping at a possible route into whatever European tournament is cobbled together for next season. For Saints it marks a chance to draw breath after a brutal series of high pressure games, in which they have only slipped up once. They have thrown their bodies on the line week after week and it is no surprise that they perhaps looked a little heavy legged last Friday. The epic 5 minutes of defence at the end of the game at Dublin would have deserved at least a month off on its own.

We have to cast our minds back to the season of mists and mellow fruitfulness to remember the last time Saints were in action in this competition. A 33 to 6 win at home against Gloucester followed by 17 to 39 victory on the road against London Irish sees Saints sitting pretty at the top of the table with 9 points. Newport have had a slightly more mixed time, going down 21–13 away to Scarlets before winning 20–8 against Wasps. All this leaves them in 2nd place in their pool with 4 points.

Newport have had an equally mixed time of it in the Rabo and in their Amlin Cup campaign. A record of 5 wins and 7 loses sees them sitting exactly mid table in the Rabo and they finished in 3rd place in their Amlin pool, rounding off with a 12–24 away win to Mogliano.

Discussing form is a tricky one in relation to the Anglo Welsh when there is a possibility that none of the regular starting 15 from either team will start the match. However Saints have only been defeated 3 times this season and whoever crosses the whitewash at Rodney Parade this weekend will be determined to maintain the winning culture.

This now brings us to the interesting task of trying to predict the team. There was a time not so long ago that an England call for a Saints player was a rare and wonderful thing. It is a sign of the squad’s development that no fewer than 9 players will be on England or Saxon duties this weekend. Throw in a couple of injuries and the need to rest key players and this weekend will be a real test of Saint’s strength in depth. As I start this task I will bare in mind the words which a wise man once spoke: “There are known knowns and there are known unknowns”.

Starting with the known knowns. I will base my selection on the team that was selected for the last Anglo Welsh Cup game and fill the gaps as best as possible.

Wilson (Autagavaia?)

Packman

Stephenson

Waldouck

Collins (Injured? Has to be Digger…!)

Dickson

Day

E Waller

McMillian (Haywood?)

Ma'afu (swop with Denman?)

Verbakel

Day (Cam Dolan?)

Nutley

Harrison

Van Velze

reps. William, Denma, Mercey (struggling here…), Woolford, Clark (Dowson?), Glynn, Olver, Skelcey

When it comes to predicting the Dragons team we really start to move into the realms of the unknown unknowns, however a useful starting point again will be their team for the last Anglo Welsh game:

Jones

Hewitt

Morgan

Smith

Pewther

Jones

Evans

Price

Gustafson

Buck

Hill

Sidoli

Talei

Benjamin

Jones

reps - Dee, Coundle, Way, Davies, Matthews, Jones, Jones, Harries.

I will invite those with a greater knowledge than I to comment on the potential availability of these players.

Finally to the result. The last time Saints played Newport they ran out 28 3 winners at the Gardens back in November 2010, in a game mostly notable for the complete demolition of the Newport scrum. However much water has passed under the bridge since then and with a front row and a 1/3rd unavailable I don’t think we can use this as a guide. Saints could just about wrap things up in the pool with a win this weekend so they have everything to play for. However travelling across the border, with a Wandies team and with yet more rain forecast this once is not going to be easy. As with last Friday, probably one for the purist as the cliché goes. We also have to consider that Newport have already turned over Wasps at home so I don’t expect them to let Saints have an easy time on their own patch, but I would hope Saints will win by 5.

I won’t have the privilege of watching the game on Saturday as I will be turning out for in an Old Fart’s game against Men’s Own … a game I confidently predict most certainly will not for the purists...

News: LV= Cup: Dragons vs Northampton Saints - Match Preview

Discussion started by ComeOnYouSaints.com , 23/01/2014 11:58

ComeOnYouSaints.com
23/01/2014 11:58

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Phil.
23/01/2014 12:02

Nice one, CS.

Many thanks!

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StBleach
23/01/2014 12:31

Previewing any LV game is tricky, imho, you nailed it.. Nice job.

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Sarge
23/01/2014 12:37

Saints last game against the Dragons wasn't in 2010. It was 18/11/12 at Rodney Parade, with the Saints coming away with the spoils by 30 points to 20.

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tws
23/01/2014 12:55

Well done CS.


Dragons have announced an extended squad of 27 . It's on their site . 3 out with Wales , 4 injured and a couple of regulars seem to be rested . They might turn out a pretty strong team , they might not.

As you say , the pitch will be very heavy. Could go either way.

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Casual Saint
23/01/2014 12:57

Cheers Sarge - my internet search let me down !

Once a scrum half .... always a scrum half

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Saint Dom in Hanoi
23/01/2014 16:35

Well anticipated - a difficult one to guess, though.

Woolford is injured, according to Jim.


*I could agree with you - but then we'd both be wrong...*

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Saint Maul
24/01/2014 07:43

Hopefully Jim goes with your Wandies team Casual Saint rather than risking injuries to or tiring players who will be crucial in the big games end of season such as Samu, Myler and Day.

The Welsh are always up for a game v the English so I'd have Dragons as slight favourites given it's a home game for them. So great exposure for some fringe players to put their hand up in a hostile environment.

Good luck lads. COYS! !!!

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