By Maverick
March 24 2005

Headlines for all the wrong reasons in the world of Northampton Saints this week as a former player attempts to justify his existence. All very sad but the dignified response from the club has, for me at least, gone along way to putting the piece published on a South African web-site into perspective.

 

What the unfortunate furore has done is deflect attention away from another crunch game at Franklin’s Gardens. What we need now is focus, focus, FOCUS!

So this weekend Saints welcome Harlequins to FG. Four matches to go and the premiership season has reached the sharp end of the pointy stick. A win for Harlequins this weekend would almost certainly see them safe from the dreaded drop to Division One. Similarly, a Saints victory will leave the Tykes staring at the wrong end of the gun-barrel should they take nothing out of their Sunday game, at home to Leicester Tigers.

 

O.K, it’s a big game!

 

Looking back a few weeks I felt that Saints needed three wins out of the last six games to be safe. I’m not sure that even the most optimistic of us at that time would have placed their house on a Leicester, Gloucester double but those results must have sent confidence levels soaring in the ranks of the Green, Black and Gold.

 

The last time to two sides met things were so different to the picture we see before us today. Saints had just sent Bath for a cold shower and the season seemed full of opportunity on all fronts. Quins went on to get a whopping and Saints were top of the table and this could be the season, thank you very much. But it didn’t happen, did it? The defeat against Gloucester the following week precipitated a downward spiral that I hope none of us will ever have to experience again.

 

It is interesting to look at the starting XV Alan Solomons picked for that game six long months ago;

 

Reihana, Rudd, Tucker, Stcherbina, Cohen, Grayson, Robinson, Smith, Thompson, Kempson, Boome, Browne, Blowers, Krige, Seely.

 

Of the XV named in October, only Bruce, Rudd, Stitch, Browne, AB and Krige are still in the starting line-up. What a difference in such a relatively short time. Of course, four more of that team are on the replacements bench for Saturday but it strikes me that it shows the level of upheaval and chopping and changing this season.

 

On Wednesday, Budge Pountney gave us his squad for the weekend –

15 Bruce Reihana
14 John Rudd
13 Andy Vilk
12 Marc Stcherbina
11 Paul Diggin
10 Shane Drahm
9 Johnny Howard
1 Simon Emms
2 Dan Richmond
3 Robbie Morris
4 Matt Lord
5 Damien Browne
6 Andrew Blowers
7 Corne Krige (capt)
8 Mark Soden

Replacements – Steve Thompson, Tom Smith, Alex Codling, Darren Fox, Ben Jones, Paul Grayson, Mark Tucker

It’s generally a case of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”. Budge has shown faith in the players that have served him so well in the last two premiership matches with only injury forcing any major changes. In the backs, Saints current wunderkind and double match of the match winner Paul Diggin returns in place of the unfortunate Wylie Human. It’s another golden opportunity to shine for young Paul. Not being registered for the Heineken Cup means he can give it everything for 80 minutes aware that he’ll immediately get a week off. Expect Ben Cohen to return to the fray in a week’s time. Andy Vilk replaces Neil Starling (injured in the 7s World Cup). Vilk became a firm favourite in his few starts last campaign but has had few chances this season.

 

The pack is unchanged from that name against Gloucester although Matt Lord will be hoping that he doesn’t succumb to illness and can take the field this weekend. Budge’s policy of continuity leaves Saints’ two international forwards warming the bench. Steve Thompson returns from the Six Nations with a healthy line-out record on whilst international duty and will be desperate to get on the park at some stage. The appearance of Tom Smith is welcome news. After having left the field with a trapped nerve in the Calcutta Cup game, it was unclear whether he would feature at all this weekend.

 

At the time of writing there is no team news from Harlequins.

 

Our two recent victories have seen a marked increase in the optimism of the supporters. There has been talk of Saints sneaking into the Heineken Cup next year via the Wild Card play-offs. Steady on there, we’re not even safe yet! As it stands Saints sit eleventh in the ladder. After the season we’ve had, any improvement will be a bonus. Still, a handsome win on Saturday will give the boys another boost before they march back over the water to take on French minnows Toulouse in Europe’s premier club competition. It should also banish any lingering thoughts of the drop. With the popular Tony Spreadbury on the whistle we should see a good, flowing game of rugby.

 

It’s a game I expect Saints to win, perhaps with a bit to spare. Northampton by twelve.

 

COME ON YOU SAINTS!

Mav