By Mark H
October 30 2003

Gloucester. Aarrgghhh! So many bad memories of last season; Gomersall’s 45 metre drop goal in the rain at Castle Grim; the second minute pushover try at FG in front of the Sky cameras; the second half cup final capitulation. With the Sky cameras finally deigning to show the gold black and green, is there any wonder that this is the biggest match of the season so far?

It couldn’t come at a better time either, Saints coming off the comeback wins against Newcastle and Leicester, whilst Gloucester seem to be struggling to get results away from Fortress Kingsholm. They did win on their last away trip though, 16-0 at Harlequins where, ironically, Saints travel to next week. Like so many other sides in the Premiership though, Glaws are a team that have lost a great number of players from last season, either to the World Cup or other clubs. Unlike most other clubs, Glaws retain their cutting edge through the players that weren’t selected.

Any side with one of James Simpson-Daniel, Marcel Garvey or Henry Paul would have a player who can turn a match on their own. All three should be wearing a cherry and white shirt on Saturday, and will provide the Saints back line with a severe test; it should be a novel experience in a Saints-Glaws game for the big battle to be out in the backs rather than up front!

That’s not to say that the Gloucester pack is weak; weakened perhaps by the loss of Trevor Woodman and Phil Vickery to England’s World Cup bid, and Olivier Azam to a return home, but not weak. They will still be able to field a back row of Jake Boer, Andy Hazell and the always impressive James Forrester. Indeed, the most impressive performance I’ve seen from Forrester was at FG, in England A’s 78-6 annihilation of their Scottish counterparts. Let’s hope he doesn’t reproduce the form he was in that night.

They’ve still got valuable experience in the second row in Mark Cornwell, and their ex-Bristol man (told you last week that everyone’s got at least one) Alex Brown, both of whom are more than capable of disrupting any lineout. Adam Eustace was mentioned in early summer with a possible move elsewhere , but remains at the club where he made such a big impression last year.

Andy Deacon is still propping after what seems like a thousand years in the Gloucester front row, and will provide another stern test for Brett Sturgess (but what a rock to continue to build his reputation on), Chris Fortey or Steve Brotherstone will hook, and in last week’s game with Leeds, Paul Johnstone started at loosehead before being replaced by Adrian Olver.

It is those backs though that are starting to change the public perception of Gloucester Rugby Club front a team with grunt to one that’s got more than a bit of flair in it. Andy Gomersall is missing, of course, keeping Daws’ number nine shirt warm for the more important games to come, so Alex Page will probably be in his place. Outside him is a very familiar face, especially if your name is either Martin Johnson or Ronan O’Gara. Duncan MacRae has returned to the Premiership from the Waratahs, and will be looking to make a name for himself at Kingsholm through the quality of rugby he plays rather than any previous differences of opinion he may have had. It’s certainly an interesting signing; Ludovic Mercier was such an important player in the Glaws team that they are big boots to fill, but being a typical Aussie he will certainly have the confidence to do it.

Take your pick on the wings - neither James Simpson-Daniel or Marcel Garvey have apparently set the world on fire yet this season, but Sinbad has four tries to his name already (only bettered by Ugo Monye at Quins), and Garvey is still only in his second season of top flight rugby. On their day, they’re destructive, and one of the key priorities for Saints this week will surely be to find a way to stop the ball getting to them. A big test of the “inside-out” defensive line? I personally would have taken Simpson-Daniel to the World Cup, in place of the 34 second man, but that may have been wishful thinking, hoping to weaken one of our major rivals. One thing is for sure, whoever is on the right wing for Saints will really have to be on their guard.

Jon Goodridge has come through the Gloucester academy, and having missed a lot of last season with a shoulder injury, is now going hell-bent on making the full back spot his own before the return of Thinus Delport from the RWC. He’s got three tries this season, two of which were scored in the Sky match against Saracens, and looked in that game keen to join the line and take advantage of any gaps. Robert Todd is the most under-rated of the back line, and is very similar to John Leslie in the amount of work that he does. Like Big JL, he also didn’t survive the first half of last week’s game, going off at half time with a shoulder injury. It remains to be seen if he has recovered in time for this weekend.

Finally, and left deliberately until the end, Henry Paul. Love him or loathe him, you can’t doubt that as a rugby player, union or league, he has the full range of skills; good hands, sharp brain, more than useful boot. Friends who support Bradford Bulls have said to me that they’d have him back like a shot. He is still learning the game, and one should question the wisdom of being thrust, as he was eighteen months ago, into the England team, a mere four months after becoming a union player. He will still make mistakes - witness him failing to touch the ball down last season at the Gardens and conceding a five metre scrum as a result - but then more experienced players do that. Perhaps the success of Jason Robinson has highlighted his failures more, but he is still a good player, and should not be underestimated. Reports this season suggest that he has found his position at inside centre, and he will be yet another man that Saints should look to keep quiet for as long as possible.

Gloucester’s shape has changed so much this season that after their forwards going on a try-fest last season, they’ve only accounted for 3 out of their 15 tries to date, and two of them came from James Forrester. Five of the back line have got tries though, so they’re not just relying on one man to produce for them.

Saints last beat Gloucester way back on 13th April 2002, 58-21 in an eight try blitz at the Gardens. Not sure that we’re going to get eight tries on Saturday, but this is the fifteen who’ll be trying to do it:-

15 Nick Beal
14 Jon Sleightholme
13 Chris Hyndman
12 John Leslie
11 Bruce Reihana
10 Shane Drahm
9 Mark Robinson
1 Brett Sturgess
2 Dan Richmond
3 Chris Budgen
4 Matt Lord
5 Rob Hunter
6 Mark Connors
7 Darren Fox
8 Andrew Blowers

Chris Hyndman is the only change to the starting line up from last week, so John Leslie has recovered from his bruised hip, as both sides look to go clear in second place and put pressure on Bath. With this week’s games providing the last full weekend before the World Cup players start returning, both sides will be wanting at least four of the points to try and get themselves into position before sides start resuming their normal shapes.

And of course, the Sky team have finally found the dusty old map underneath Stuart Barnes’ wine cooler, and therefore make their first appearance at FG. Watching the video back after the game, look for the number of references the Lardster makes to:-

a) the cup final
b) the pushover try from last season
c) Gloucester missing out at Twickenham
d) Bath

Referee for Saturday is Dave Pearson (okay stop booing at the back. And the middle and front, come to think of it.) Hopes are high (who am I kidding?) that he will have a good game - certainly watching the Falcons-Bath game last Saturday he looked more sympathetic than he did in our game against Irish, and coincidentally it was his first game this season that he’s kept his cards in his pocket (10 yellows and 1 red in 7 games so far). Messrs Fox, Budgen and Morris have been despatched by him already this season, so there is obviously something in Saints’ forward play that he doesn’t like. Let’s hope he finds nothing to object to.

Prediction time. Much as I’d love another 58-21, it ain’t happening. Saints by two - hopefully.