News: AP: Northampton Saints vs Saracens - Match Preview
bunch of fezheads... ;)
By James Bruce
February 10 2011
After the diversion that is the LV= Cup Northampton Saints return to Aviva Premiership action this Saturday as they entertain Saracens in a lunchtime kick-off at Franklin's Gardens. Regular COYSDC contributor James Bruce (Wee Jim) looks ahead to the game...
NORTHAMPTON SAINTS vs. SARACENS
Saturday, 12th February 2011 – 12.30pm
FRANKLIN’S GARDENS
MATCH PREVIEW
The International Baccalaureate that is the 6 Nations may rumble on but with the optional module of the LV= Cup out of the way, the weekend sees a return to the main lecture course of the Aviva Premiership. This week sees a visit to Franklins Gardens by our local classmates, Saracens. Twice last season they turned Saints over when it counted at the sharp end of the season and booked their spot in the Premiership final exams. It will be interesting to see if Saints have learned lessons from those two encounters which saw Saints drift defence exposed. Judging by the strong side fielded in what was essentially a dead rubber last weekend Saints have learnt from the salutary lesson handed out to them by Harlequins on New Year’s Day when a rusty Saints side got turned over at home in the opening assignment of the new term.
Saracens currently sit in second place in the league, one spot above Saints by virtue of number of wins and although Saints have two games in hand now may not the most ideal time to be facing one of the stronger sides in the Premiership who have maintained last season’s good form. The demands of International calls up sees Saints shorn of a number of key talents namely Hartley, Woods, Ashton, Foden and Ansbro. Add to that injuries to Lawes and Dickson and you and I might be anxious about putting a competitive XV and would feel Saints are underdogs. Luckily we are not DoRs then, eh? Saracens may not be affected with players on international duty save Kelly Brown but that’s no fault of theirs if the talents of Barritt and Saull are overlooked. Indeed as the potential of their younger players such as Farrell and Goode are recognised it could become a problem they need to address. They are however disrupted by long term injury to a key player (Hougaard), some flighty signings (Henson) and changes in the coaching staff (Venter) and we at Saints are only too aware the impact those factors can have on a team’s performance.
So maybe Saracens would lay claim to be underdogs? That might have some merit but for their recent results suggesting they have managed these issues well. Saracens certainly have the players to test Saints – they have a strong pack with the irrepressible Brits bolstered by Matt Stevens making his way back in professional rugby, some excellent back row forwards in Saull and Joubert and a lively set of backs that with the addition of Strettle are even quicker than last season. All of which one can conclude that there are no easy games in the premiership, no soft opposition and if you look for excuses before the whistle sounds you are already beaten. If both Saints and Saracens are serious about challenging for silverware and dominating the season’s competitions they have to manage the factors rather than excuse them.
In Jim Mallinder, we have a DoR who offers no excuses but will field a 22 he believes will deliver on the day. On that basis we aren’t underdogs and if you look at 22 that lined up against Leeds last weekend you can draw a number of conclusions;
1) We have strength in depth to cope with absences and the probable team is:
15 Greig Tonks
14 Paul Diggin
13 Jon Clarke
12 James Downey
11 Bruce Reihana
10 Steven Myler
9 Ryan Powell
1 Soane Tonga’uiha
2 Brett Sharman
3 Brian Mujati
4 Christian Day
5 Dan Vickerman
6 Phil Dowson (capt)
7 Mark Easter
8 Roger Wilson
Replacements
16 Andy Long
17 Ben Prescott
18 Tom Mercey
19 Adam Eustace
20 Ben Nutley
21 Stuart Commins
22 Shane Geraghty
23 Scott Armstrong
Some minor tweaks from the side that played last week to accommodate players returning from Saxons duty. It’s a tough call to leave Geraghty on the bench.
2) If Saints play like they did in the first half against Leeds they will be well beaten by a strong Saracens
3) If they play like they did in the second half they have a good chance of taking a win
4) If we get behind them and shout ourselves hoarse we make 3) more likely than 2)
In other words, COME ON YOU SAINTS!! And that concludes today’s lecture. The results of this weekend’s tutorial assignment will be posted up shortly after the conclusion of the examination. As a scholarly academic of unimpeachable character I am not allowed to suggest the final grades. I will however lodge a protest at the early start to this examination which interferes with the pre exam sherry. I blame the obsession with the fees this new-fangled International Baccalaureate generates.
Safe travelling to you all and to our visitors from Saracens and enjoy the game!
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Saint til I die
Many thanks.
Unfortunately neither Scarlets U7s or Sale reserves are much of a yardstick to judge our real progress by.
Should be another cracker though!
A cracking read, Jim.
Can't remember each side claiming to be the underdog before.
But I think we are.......it's on a Saturday- we prefer Sundays!! Check our results.
Very minor point, please have a quiet word with the 'friendly' stewards, we are not bad people, really!!
See you Saturday, it promises to be a cracker.
And the England game in the bar after, what more could we ask for.
The examiners will give you an A+, which we hope will encourage you to aim for an A++ next time...
we can only assume its all his own work .
Brroonie, would you have Calum in for Easter with the latter going to the bench? A bit hard for him after he played well last week. Or for the second half to replace Vickerman?
Yep I left Clarke out to keep Easter and Vickerman in ( and Eustace for that matter) giving Clarke and Sorensen a rest for later in the season. Not an easy choice which is why Im glad Im not a DoR.
Thanks for all the comments everyone though St Dom should know better - we academics are very wary of incentivised target setting as a method of performance managment!
also, if mark is off at the end of the season, it would be unlike JM to start him ahead of calum.
sarries like to push vyvyan to the back for the long throw; i'd expect to see vickerman shadow him if so. if brits plays i'd imagine we will challenge their throw quite hard.
The diplomatic service would be proud of such a balanced piece of prose ahead of what has in recent past been a tension filled occasion for one reason or another.
I am looking forward to Saturday's game like no other this season so far and am hoping that the end of term report doesn't include the words "could have done better"
and Saints playing for Engerlund in the bar afterwards! Brings back the old times with Cohen running down the wing (and everyone in the bar jumping up and down screaming)
Saints will put more pressure on his throw than side such as Wasps or Quins who are obviously far more worried about the sarries driving maul, so they dont jack up on the throw. We will.
Not sure that Brendan's absence has been as important a factor as everyone is making out - he's already been back since his 'departure'.
One thing's for sure - as usual, it will be a good game!