GP - Northampton Saints vs. London Irish - Preview
By Maverick
October 17 2005
“These boots are made for walking, and walking they must do, one of these days these boots are gonna walk all over you.” Nancy Sinatra, of course. Marvellous. It seems rather apt for this weekend.
Saturday sees the most important date of the year in the calendar of Comeonyousaints.com – The Saints With Heart Walk. Now in its fourth year this venture, first conceived as a stroll from Franklins’ Gardens to Kislingbury and back, now has two distinct identities. The Long Walk will see around 30 hardy souls set off from Wolverton station at the crack of dawn to wend their way along the canal path towards Northampton. Just over half-way to their goal our Saintly Walkers will rendezvous with another 20 or so sturdily-shod superstars at Stoke Bruerne. Once all together, the massed ranks will then descend upon St James and should arrive to a tumultuous reception in the VIP car-park at Saints around 1.30pm. Full details of where the Walkers are walking can be found in the links at the bottom of this article.
As well as Comeonyousaints.com regulars walking the Walk, we welcome stout striders from other Premiership teams. Stopsy represents the mob from the other end of the Welford Road and we also say hi and thank you to Griff and Big Al from London Irish together with new friends of the Worcester persuasion. Our patron for the Walk is Maggie Barwell and she will once again being joining the throng on the tow-path. Thank you, Maggie, for your continued support for our efforts.
In the past three years, Comeonyousaints.com’s fund-raising has meant we have been able help the British Heart Foundation (BHF) to the tune of somewhere in excess of £30,000. Hopefully, this year we’ll see that figure stretch beyond the £50,000 mark. If it were achieved, this total would be a truly remarkable effort and you can help. Pre-match there will be the opportunity to buy this season’s must have fashion accessory, The Saints With Heart wristband. There will also be bucket-shakers dotted around the game pre-match – an ideal chance to empty that shrapnel jar sitting on the mantelpiece. In 2004, the guys and gals from the BHF were amazed by people’s generosity via the buckets. Let’s do the same again!
Of course, such an event requires a huge amount of organisation. If you get the chance, why not pop along to the BHF tent in the Village where you can meet people from the Heart Foundation and others who are doing their bit for the cause at FG.
Oh, and after all of that, as Walkers nurse weary limbs and sup a well-earned beverage of their choice, the Saints welcome London Irish in week five of the Guinness Premiership. Things seem to be shaping up nicely in the world of Green, Black and Gold. Two comfortable wins in the Powergen Cup have seen confidence levels rising amongst the Saintly faithful. The question is, can Saints maintain their momentum?
London Irish are something of a bogey side to Saints at home. Indeed, one has to travel back to the 2001/2 season before finding a home win. Last term, Irish took the spoils after the Mark Mapletoft show. At least MM is no longer around to be a thorn in the Saints’ side. On Thursday, Irish announced the following squad for Saturday’s game;
15 Michael Horak, 14 Scott Staniforth, 13 Rodd Penney, 12 Mike Catt, (captain), 11 Dominic Feau’nati, 10 Riki Flutey, 9 Ben Willis
1 Neal Hatley, 2 Adrian Flavin, 3 Richard Skuse, 4 Bob Casey, 5 Nick Kennedy, 6 Olivier Magne, 7 Declan Danaher, 8 Phil Murphy
Reps: Faan Rautenbach, Gavin Hickie, Kieran Roche, Juan Manuel Leguizamon, Delon Armitage, Paul Hodgson, Barry Everitt.
So, another big pack to front up against Saints’ supposed ineffectual eight. Casey and Kennedy are a formidable line-out unit but it’s the back-row that really looks really tasty. Declan Danaher has been quietly learning his trade since he joined Irish in 1999. He originally won honours in Ireland colours (U19) but has since pledged allegiance to the Red Rose and has represented England at U21 and A level. And then there’s Olivier Magne. Capped 83 times for France, what he doesn’t know about back-row play can be written on the head of a pin. Saints beware!
In the backs, Mike Catt, continues his renaissance in his new team colours and will boss the game if given the chance. The other name that stands out is fly-half Riki Flutey. Originally it was believed that Flutey would not be available for the Irish side before November but his early arrival and subsequent performances have certainly opened emerald eyes. He ran the show in the narrow defeat against Wasps not only a deadly kicking game but also the ability to read the plays and make the best of each attacking opportunity.
A little later on Thursday, Saints gave their response by announcing their XV;
15 BRUCE REIHANA (capt)
14 SEAN LAMONT
13 Jon Clarke
12 DAVID QUINLAN
11 BEN COHEN
10 CARLOS SPENCER
9 MARK ROBINSON
1 TOM SMITH
2 Dan Richmond
3 Chris Budgen
4 DAVID GERARD
5 Damien Browne
6 SAM HARDING
7 Darren Fox
8 SELBORNE BOOME
16 STEVE THOMPSON
17 Brett Sturgess
18 Matt Lord
19 Mark Soden
20 Johnny Howard
21 Rhodri Davies
22 John Rudd
Once again the backs are unchanged which is testament to Saints attacking play in the last two games. All change in the forwards though as both David Gerard and Sam Harding make their first starts in the colours.
Both players must have fallen in love with Northampton as soon as they took the field. Firstly Harding had only been on the pitch for about a minute when he was sent clean through against Worcester. Gerard too was made to feel immediately at home against the Dragons. A mighty cheer from the Gardens’ faithful as he came on to the pitch as a replacement and then another roar as he took the first line-out and safely clutched the pill from the early evening air.
Elsewhere in the forwards, Selborne Boome moves from lock to number 8. It’s not an entirely unfamiliar role for Basil but it’s still a big ask for the big South African as Saints try to counter the Irish pack. Dan Richmond deservedly keeps his place at hooker with Steve Thompson being held back at an impact substitute.
So, what to expect? Every home game must obviously be targeted as a win but there’s history in this fixture and that cannot be discounted. After the first home game against Newcastle a member of the coaching staff said that the team had turned up just expecting to win. I believe that such complacency will not be allowed to rear its head again. It’s a tough call though as Irish have finally discovered that there is a white line at the other end of field and have also found the ability to cross it.
This one may not be pretty but my glass remains fairly full on the back of continued progress and I’ll plump for a home win by about eight.
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