By Mark H
January 5 2004

Rugby supporters attending a game at Reading’s Madejski Stadium are met with a cacophony of noise at times; the drums, the air raid siren, the Fields of Athenry. The dominant sound however at half time in Sunday’s match was that of Saintly backsides getting kicked in the dressing room. Wayne Smith had to fire up the team to try and get them back into a game that Irish were not exactly dominating, but being good value for the kind of lead that the 2003/04 version of the gold, black and green army have found so difficult to overcome.

That the deficit was overcome was thanks to a virtuoso display at fly half from Paul Grayson, a dominant forty minutes after the adversity of the first forty, and an early try which if there is any justice at all will be replayed for years to come of how a team can use turnover ball, determined running, and audacious kicking to go the length of the field.

There was a change in the Saints starting lineup on arrival in Berkshire, with Tevita Taumoepeau (or as he ended up being nicknamed, Trev) coming in for his first Saints appearance in place of Robbie Morris. Why we do not know, but given that Trev is ineligible for Europe next week, it at least preserved one of our propping options for the next four weeks from being exposed to injury unnecessarily.

Unfortunately, it could do nothing about preserving other positions. By half time, Saints had lost Jon Phillips to a sixth minute calf injury that looks like it could keep him out of next week’s match against Borders, Chris Hyndman to a blood injury that never saw him return, and Rob Hunter to a serious looking neck injury sustained in the process of scoring Saints’ first try that led to him being taken away to the Royal Berkshire Hospital at the interval.

Fortunately though, and testament to the way that the band of brothers pulled together, their replacements had a big say in the rest of the afternoon. Matt Lord came on for JP, and Saints lost one lineout on our throw for the rest of the afternoon, whilst Mark Tucker came on for Chris Hyndman and gave everything to the cause - the only thing he didn’t provide was what would have been a very well deserved try.

Mark Mapletoft put a second minute penalty against the right hand upright from about fifty metres out (with the angle), and Grays put his tenth minute equivalent to the right of the posts, but it really seemed that for the first half hour Saints had got to the ground early enough but had not got off the bus mentally. Nowhere was that better illustrated than with the opening score on eighteen minutes. From a lineout ball won on their throw, the ball was fed along the Irish attacking line to the East Stand touchline. To my eyes (and a number of those around me), Geoff Appleford and Mapletoft crossed, but whilst we waited for a whistle, an inside ball found Paul Sackey in midfield and he jinked in to score the try, which Mapletoft duly converted.

Within three minutes the lead had stretched to ten, with Tucker being penalised for not rolling away, and Mapletoft kicking from approximately 27 metres out. Once again, Saints ten points behind early, but would it be a Lazarus-like comeback as in the games against Wasps and Leeds, or a collapse as at Bath or Quins? Well, thanks to a poor Mapletoft kick from hand, some light suddenly emerged from the black hole that has been Saints’ recent away performances. Bruce ran that kick back, with assistance from Tucks, and after a sustained spell of pressure, including nearly losing the ball in a ruck, and multi-phase recycling of 19 phases through 29 pairs of hands (has there been a greater example of recycling this or any other season?) that has been so absent, Rob Hunter crashed over the line from very close range for the score. Grays kicked the conversion, but of more pressing concern was the fact that Hunter had still not moved since scoring the try.

Unbelievably, referee Dave Pearson, to many the villain of the piece at Franklin’s Gardens (and not having the best of games here either - how many times did Mapletoft have to be playing at centre for us before being given offside?), signalled for the game to restart, with Saints only having 14 men on the field with replacement Mark Soden being refused entry to the game. It was only after a couple of phases of play, and with the ball being forced out for an Irish lineout, that the game was stopped. At this point, Hunter had still not moved, and it took another three minutes for him to be lifted onto a stretcher, with a neck brace on, and taken to the changing room. Now surely the first priority for any referee is the welfare of the players, and although word later crept out that there had been conflicting stories about Hunter’s condition, there was absolutely no excuse for the game being allowed to restart. If play had returned to that corner, what would have happened? He wasn’t exactly going to get up and run out of the way now, was he? In a season which has seen some frankly desperate refereeing, this was the biggest mistake of all that I have seen so far. Mr Pearson, I hope that you get what is coming to you when Uncle Ed watches the video of that.

With Saints coming into the game more now, they were denied a quick tap opportunity when a rampaging Wally was adjudged to have taken the penalty from the wrong blade of grass, but levelled up after 36 minutes when Irish were finally caught offside (and trust me, to some of us watching today it seemed like the first time since before the cup final), and Grays kicked the points.

As the revolving door that was the treatment room swung round again, with Tucks going off for blood and Air Shine coming on to play in the centre, Irish capitalised on the uncertainty in the line and scored again. A Mapletoft drop goal was missed, but Grays put the drop out straight into touch. From the resultant scrum, the ball was switched right, then shipped back left for Michael Horak to run the ball into the corner. Mapletoft slipped when taking the conversion and screwed it wide, but Saints still had time to press again. Just as at the Gardens, there was drama on half time, with the referee/egomaniac (delete where applicable) signalling for the interval then awarding a penalty against Grays for talking, and we then had the farce of the ball having to be put into touch so that the teams could retreat.

My half time comment was to the effect that if Tucks was remaining off the field, then Smudger should switch Grays to full back, Bealer to the wing, Bruce to centre, and put Shane at fly half “because we need a bit of invention”. How long have I been watching Grays at 10? My head is hanging in shame…

Tucks returned from the blood bin so that made my theory null before it started, but Saints won another penalty for offside within the first sixty seconds, and Grays kicked from near the touchline to pull it back to 15-13. There then followed the most sublime move, so for those of you not there and without access to Rugby Club on Thursday, let me paint you a picture. Irish gained a lineout just inside Saints’ 22. For the first time in the afternoon, they didn’t win their throw, Mark Connors soaring Sergei Bubka-esque to tap the ball down to Sharky. A quick ball back to Grays was followed by a very clever chip over the advancing Irish wall, which bounced perfectly for Tucks to run onto. Galloping into open space, he made it to the Irish ten metre line before being tackled by Horak. Just as rapidly, the ball was moved back to Grays again who kicked cross field for Bruce to come off him wing and again take the ball off the bounce at pace running into the 22, outstripping the cover, and racing in for a quite magnificent score. With the large travelling army literally bouncing, Grays kicked the conversion to make it 20-15. Now if it could only stay like that, then I’d have maximum points in the prediction league…

There was never any chance of that happening. The irresistible force that is Saints in full flight was just beginning to find top gear. After two more replacements, Chris Budgen coming on for Tevita, and Dan Richmond coming on for a bloodied Mark Soden (Wally moved back to flanker), Irish were penalised again for not rolling away, and Grays extended the lead to eight on 53 minutes, further extending it to eleven six minutes later after Irish were penalised deep in their 22.

Naka Drotske, along with Mapletoft and Appleford one of Irish’s best performers, burst through a big hole in midfield to set up a scoring opportunity, but the golden line held out, and indeed turned over the ball from a lost lineout after Appleford had been forced into touch. Now it’s at this point that I have my main words of criticism for Saints. With an eleven point lead, and two tries already on the board, against a team that frankly were puffing hard but not looking like scoring two tries, why not go for corners and try to get maximum points? Missing out again on a bonus, just as against Wasps (3 tries) and Quins (3 tries) may prove absolutely criminal come the end of the season. I’m sure that none of us will want to go to the Causeway having to win against Wasps to have any hope of second place, but that’s what it may come down to. As it’s the top match of that weekend, Sky will no doubt cover Gloucester…

Irish were penalised for coming around on the wrong side, although the signal that Pearson gave looked like he was looking for the nearest hoe-down, and Grays kicked a 47 metre penalty to make the gap two converted tries. We thought that it was a poor option at the time, and ultimately were proved right as time ran down.

There then followed five minutes of enormous Irish pressure, with the ball seeming to be drawn to Mapletoft like a magnet, as he conducted, cajoled, and created space for his pack to try and rumble over. Twice Saints were penalised; twice the men who took those taps (Horak and that man Mapletoft) were held up short of the line. As the defence pressed, the ball went back towards the 22, before an Irish knock on led to a Saintly scrum, a deafening cheer, and for the first time in the afternoon, the silence of the drums. There would be no more dangers for this band of brothers; with a defensive effort reminiscent of those against Gloucester, the match had been won, and the push was now on for the fifth point.

Sharky led that charge, making one of his now trademark breaks through the midfield before picking the wrong option in a one on one with Horak and trying to run round him, rather than chipping over the top and getting the loose ball. Not to worry, he still had his score to come, although had to wait until the 83rd minute to get it.

Much was made on this day last season of Saints supporters streaming out of the ground before the end of the home defeat to Irish. Well, the boot was on the other foot this time around, as more than a few hundred of the 10,004 at the game had made for the car parks by the time Matt Lord stole the ball after a lineout, and charged clear from the 22 looking for all the world as if he was going to score a comeback try. No such luck! He was caught, but managed to offload to Sharky, who carried a couple of tacklers over the line and scored the try by going down on his back and placing the ball with outstretched arms over his head. Much can be made of the debate over the coming days as to whether to start Daws at nine for the Borders game. To me, you start with the man in form, and it’s the man in black rather than the white knight for me.

Grays converted, and as we waited for the final whistle, Pearson ran back to the centre. Surely there wasn’t enough time left to get that point? Well, no…but it wasn’t for the want of trying, with Saints rumbling the ball up the West Stand touchline, with contributions from all of the forwards, before Bealer gathered and was helped over the line with two locals in front of him. Cruelly, the ball was signalled as being held up, and the final whistle put paid to any ideas of forcing over from the five metre scrum.

36-15, a first away win since the sunny afternoon in Tiggerland, and third place by four points. Not ideal by any means, but a 26 point second half in an all too rare (for this season) coherent second half made for happy faces going back to the car parks. It will get better (it will have to over the next four weeks to have any chance of looking forward to Easter somewhere in Europe), but as a confidence boost, this was ideal.

The backs look well in place for next weekend, but it’s the pack that could be most interesting. I would guess that Robbie Morris or Chris Budgen will come back in for the ineligible Tevita, but it looks like Lordy and Connors in the second row, with a less that fully fit Hunter (if early prognoses are to be believed) on the bench, and Blowers, Fox, and one of Soden or Seely as the most likely option. Being daring, I would start Dan at hooker and Wally at flanker next Saturday, just to give a bit of extra oomph to the pack (as well as acknowledging that hooker is the strongest position in the pack at the moment).

But that is for another day. Whoever said “all I wanna do is have some fun, I’ve got a feeling I’m not the only one, all I wanna do is have some fun, I’ve got a feeling the party has just begun” was obviously a Saints supporter enjoying yet another memorable Madejski moment.