MoTM: Saints in the sun at MK Gardens against Ulster.
By Saint Tim
April 16 2011
What an occasion – a home quarter final and as far as my addled brain can recall the last time we had a home quarter final was back in April 2000 and we all know what happened that year. I know that it was the day of the London marathon as two buddies were running and so it was a quick trip to the Cutty Sark to watch them run by followed by a dash back to watch Paul Grayson kick us to victory over Wasps. That day was at the Gardens. This years’ “home” match was at the MK Gardens due to capacity requirements that are now imposed by ERC.
Who was your MoTM in the sun as Saints beat Ulster?
So it was a short journey for me this week and to a stadium I have only ever seen less than half full. I am not going to go into the short comings of the stadium as they have been done to death on the message board – but I did think they tried very hard to accommodate a rugby crowd. And what a crowd it was in the beautiful sunshine. I must say the Ulster supporters were a credit to their club and country. I am sure that despite the difficulty of getting a drink at time that there were still many sore heads the next day.
To the game though and Saints came out of the blocks like Linford Christie and within a couple of minutes were ahead due to a Soane Tonga’uiha try. I think in many ways this score was too early and Saints seemed to relax too much. As it was Ulster stormed back and they always looked dangerous with ball in hand. Trimble in particular caught my eye but they were not rolling over. In the next twenty minutes or so Ulster scored 13 unanswered points and so it was just coming up to half time that we were mightily relieve when Myler slotted over a penalty to take us in only three points behind.
I am not sure who said what in the confines of the changing room during the interval but whatever it was we came out like a different team. We were so much more focussed and aggressive both with and without the ball. Yes Ulster still posed problems with the ball in hand but progressively their set piece was un picked by the Saints forwards. The play of the day and possibly one of the tries of the season came as Foden caught a long clearance in touch deep in our own territory. A quick line out to Myler and surprise surprise instead of pinging the ball back down field as had happened so often that day he decided it was time to run. A quick pass back to Foden who set off down the touch line like a hare with Ashton in support. Ulster closed on Fodes so he passed inside to Flash who took it on until he was closed down and had to pass back to Foden. He was eventually snagged well into the Ulster twenty two but Digger was on hand to clear out leaving the ball free for JC to pick up. A little forward jink and draw the defender and pass inside to Lee Dickson who went over to put Saints into the lead. Cue scenes of ecstasy form the Green Black and Gold. Ulster then had their best chance only to knock on when the way through seemed to open up. After that we played a controlled territory game. Yes it wasn’t pretty but it was damned effective and forced Ulster to try and make the running. That they couldn’t shows something about the belief in our players.
So we make a step forward from last season to the Semi final. Unlike the quarter final which is played at home – the semi final is played at a neutral venue. So in a couple of weeks time we will be off to the MK Gardens for the game against Perpignan. I for one think we still owe them something after the game down in the south of France last year. All I can say is “Bring them on!”
So, who caught the eye?
There were three players this week. In third place with 11% of the votes was Lee Dickson. He showed no fear despite being up against a world cup winning scrummy in Ruan Piennar. What a match up that was. Lee fizzed the ball out all day, he drove the forwards on and was there on hand to go over for the vital try. What a game Lee.
In second place with 29% was Courtney Lawes. Courtney, now back to full fitness, is getting back into the groove. He harried and tackled and generally made a complete nuisance of himself. I know he was the tubby Barnes MoTM and he was very close here as well but he was not our pick.
In first and our pick was Brian Mujati with 31% of the votes. Brian was a real menace in the scrum and gave another noted South African front rower a torrid time. Brian also took the ball in open play and always went forwards. He is still improving and is still quite young. It is frightening to think what he may be like next season. Well done Brian on your third win of the season.
My thanks to the 127 people who voted.
Round Up
There are now four players with three wins each and six on two wins. With at least five games left to play it is still anyones to head up the leaderboard at the end of the season.
Full Result
Previous Winners
Vote History
Who wins?
Leaderboard
Players Used
So far this season we have used 36 different players. I do notice however that after 29 games we still have four players who have missed three or fewer starts. There are six players who have played twenty three matches or more and nine with twenty or more under their belt. This isn’t really rotation and could mean a very tired squad reaching the business end of the season. This is one worried supporter for our boys.
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"Your days are numbered. Use them to throw open the windows of your soul to the sun. If you do not, the sun will soon set, and you with it."
-- Marcus Aurelius, Roman Emperor 161-180 A.D.
