Northampton v Newcastle, 29/10/2010
By Leipziger
October 29 2010
After Friday night’s narrow loss to Saracens the Falcons face another title-chasing side this weekend when they travel to Northampton, who are fresh from a 10-37 victory at Wasps on Sunday.
The crushing victory at Adams Park saw tries from Chris Ashton, Stephen Myler, Soane Tonga’uiha (two) and Courtney Lawes, as Northampton went second in the table, the position in which they finished 2009/10, just a point behind London Irish.
Apart from Saracens twice last season, the Falcons are the only side to have won at Franklin’s Gardens in the Premiership since the Saints were promoted in 2008, with a glorious, if nervy later on, 13-19 win in February last year after the Falcons came storming out of the blocks. This was the fourth in a run of six successive league victories, and secured a first league double over Northampton since 1997/98.
Unfortunately the Saints turned that around last term, winning both meetings, although the Falcons played rather better in a 25-13 defeat at the Gardens than they had in a home defeat early in the season.
Northampton have started the Premiership season with five wins and a defeat, like Irish and Saracens, and only bonus points separate the top three. Starting with a win at home to Leicester, the Saints then went on to win at Harlequins and either side of a bonus point loss at Saracens also defeated Bath and Exeter before last week’s trouncing of Wasps.
In the Heineken Cup they have beaten Castres at home and Edinburgh away, both by four points, a lower margin than they might have hoped for, but with Cardiff Blues the other team in Pool 1, Jim Mallinder’s side will be confident of a quarter-final place.
Former Falcons Phil Dowson and Lee Dickson have both started every game for the Saints this season. Dickson endured a slow start to his career in the Midlands, but last season showed the sort of form that led to Northampton signing him from us, while former black captain Dowson was a try-scorer in the win over Bath and has played at both blindside and number eight this season.
A couple of other ex-Falcons, Andy Long and Mark Sorenson, have so far found it difficult to get into the starting lineup. Zorro, a huge fans’ favourite at Kingston Park, has only started one match so far but does have England international powerhouse Lawes among those competing for a spot in the second row, while Long is behind club captain and England hooker Dylan Hartley in the pecking order. Both have to be content with a place on the bench tomorrow.
Mallinder was appointed as Saints’ director of rugby in 2007 when they were relegated to what was then National Division One, and won promotion at the first time of asking as well as the National Trophy. The last two years have delivered the European Challenge Cup and LV=Cup, but now along with Paul Grayson and Dorian West the former England full-back will be determined to go at least one better in the race for the championship this season.
Northampton’s squad has been built on a combination of bringing players through their academy and supplementing them with players with the potential to be future superstars from other clubs, such as Dowson and Dickson and also Ben Foden from Sale, and the occasional experienced player, such as Gloucester’s Adam Eustace and Zorro.
Two of their longest serving players are Bruce Reihana, a former club captain who won only two All Black caps but will go down as a Franklin’s Gardens legend with 219 appearances and over 1,000 points so far, and prop Soane Tonga’uhia, a Tongan international of six caps who sparked a transfer tug of war between the Saints and Saracens this summer before deciding to stay in the Midlands. Another ever-present so far this season, Tonga’uhia has continued the rampaging form that attracted Brendan Venter and has already scored five tries in six Premiership rounds.
Their main danger in terms of try-scoring tends to come from Ashton, a former rugby league winger who made his England debut earlier this year and was last season’s Premiership player of the year. He has four tries so far in 2010/11 following 23 last year, 11 in 2008/09 and a massive 41 in 23 starts in his first season in union in 2007/08, when he helped Saints to promotion. Almost half of them might have been in the second tier, but whichever way you look at it, 79 tries in 79 starts (plus five replacement appearances in National One) at Northampton is a superb record. Just as well he won’t be playing tomorrow.
On the other wing, Paul Diggin is a stalwart of over 100 matches for his home-town club and has scored 47 tries in his career. Fly-half duties are shared between England’s Shane Geraghty, who moved to Northampton from London Irish last summer and was man of the match in his first game. He has recently forced his way back into the England reckoning, meaning there may be more opportunities for Stephen Myler, who wore the number ten shirt at Adams Park and will do so this weekend, although Geraghty is on the bench.
The centre pairing of Jon Clarke and James Downey has been selected in most matches this season and provide a powerful attacking force, although Joe Ansbro, an academy product like Clarke, provides competition and has a decent try-scoring record as well as having been called up to the Scotland squad for the Autumn friendlies. He will partner Diggin on the wings this weekend.
Saints will certainly miss hooker Hartley this weekend and throughout the next month, as he joins up with the national team. After receiving a 26-week ban for eye-gouging in April 2007, and further concerns over his temperament, the New Zealand-born former Worcester man is now a regular starter in Martin Johnson’s front row after making his first start for his adopted country in 2009 as well as club captain at Franklin’s Gardens. Another international front row, Euan Murray of Scotland, has found starts hard to come by this season however. Swaziland-born number eight Mark Easter, brother of Harlequins and England’s Nick, has also had to settle for coming off the bench so far but reached 100 appearances in a green, black and gold shirt against Exeter.
Jim Mallinder has faith that his squad players will keep up Northampton’s good start to the season tomorrow, as Dowson captains the hosts against his former side. Dickson again starts and England stand-by Tom Wood is in the back row:
15 Greig Tonks
14 Joe Ansbro
13 Jon Clarke
12 James Downey
11 Paul Diggin
10 Stephen Myler
9 Lee Dickson
1 Soane Tonga’uiha
2 Brett Sharman
3 Brian Mujati
4 Calum Clark
5 Christian Day
6 Phil Dowson (captain)
7 Tom Wood
8 Roger Wilson
Replacements
16 Andy Long
17 Regardt Dreyer
18 Tom Mercey
19 Mark Sorenson
20 Mark Easter
21 Ryan Powell
22 Shane Geraghty
23 Matt Cornwell
Filipo Levin in for the injured Glen Townson is the only change to the Falcons’ starting XV, though Grant Shiells, Ed Williamson and Jeremy Manning come onto the bench. Ally Hogg remains the only Falcon to start every match this season:
15 Alex Tait
14 Luke Fielden
13 Gcobani Bobo
12 Luke Eves
11 Charlie Amesbury
10 Jimmy Gopperth
9 Micky Young
1 Kieran Brookes
2 Rob Vickers (captain)
3 Tim Ryan
4 Filipo Levi
5 Tim Swinson
6 Mark Wilson
7 Redford Pennycook
8 Ally Hogg
Replacements
16 Joe Graham
17 Grant Shiells
18 James Hall
19 Brent Wilson
20 Ed Williamson
21 Chris Pilgrim
22 Jeremy Manning
23 Tom Catterick
For those of you not going, don’t forget the game is live on ESPN with a 2.30pm kick-off. Come on Falcons!
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