Click! It all comes together....

By Kat Woodfine
November 20 2006

History was against Sarries on Saturday as they had not managed a win at Northampton in the last nine visits. Both teams were hit by international call-ups, but the Men-in-Stripes were boosted by the return to the squad of MTC and Seymour, plus Andy Farrell’s first premiership start away from VR.

A visit to Franklins Gardens was a reminder on what we are missing at Vicarage Road. A beautiful purpose built stadium, ample new parking, match-day bars for fans and a ‘village’ with some atmosphere. The start by the home side was as impressive as the facilities their supporters enjoy. Glenda started the game with a miss-kick, which went straight into touch and was in no-way reminiscent of the Godsend that Gaffney was waxing lyrical about after the Tigers game. Saints made the most of the resulting possession with Vaughn Going crossing the try line whilst the Saracens defence were caught sleeping. Carlos Spencer converted with ease to see the home-side 7-0 up within three minutes.

A spectacular display of Sarries indiscipline saw referee Sean Davey award a number of kickable penalties to the Saints. With ten minutes gone, the victory against Leicester was forgotten and my head was in my hands. I was convinced history would repeat itself and Northampton would be celebrating five points by the end of the afternoon. However each time Carlos Spencer stepped up to add another three points to the score sheet; he unbelievably (to the relief of the travelling fans) missed his mark. After 19 minutes, incredibly the score was still 7-0.

And then something amazing happened.

The Saints scrum was penalised and Jackson elevated himself back to his God-like status by making a fantastic kick deep into the Saints half. A solid lineout resulted in a battle of wills between the visitors attack and Northampton’s defence. Sarries drove into the Saints 22 but could not cross the line until a cheeky move from De Kock resulted in the Men in Blacks first points of the afternoon. Glenda easily converted to level the score. From that moment on Saracens never really looked back.

A dominant display by our forward pack in the Saints 22 resulted in the Northampton scrum being penalised a number of times. Each time Sarries inched the ball closer and closer to the try line. Jackson’s pass found Faz and he effortlessly ran through the Saints defence like a knife through butter to plant the ball under the posts. Jackson kicked for posts and the flags went up. Moments of confusion followed as the scoreboard struggled to keep up with the rate Sarries were scoring, had the conversion been awarded or not?

Five minutes later the scoreboard was up-to-date, recording 7-14 and Glenda was on fire again, kicking a penalty deep into Saints territory. The line-out resulted in a Saracens maul from which Hugh escaped and crossed the line again. Jackson made a customary conversion and the visitors were 21-7 up and controlling the game.

In true Sarries style we tried to throw the match away (we really did). Handling errors from Scabs and MTC either side of half time almost gave the Saints opportunity to get back into the game. Errors were penalised and this time it was Jonny Howard’s boot that was chosen to try and capitalise on the home-side’s error. Twice he was successful in slotting the ball through the posts, making the score 13-21.

Saints looked as if they were getting back into the game. Thomas redeemed himself by collecting a Saints kick into the Saracens half and running it back to within inches of the Northampton line. Shortly afterwards Sarries had a lineout deep in the Saints half. Byrne had been replaced by Cairns and the lineout was secure. The ball moved cleanly from De Kock to Glenda to Faz, who proved too strong for the Northampton defence. His break resulted in the fourth try for Sarries, Skirving’s first of the afternoon and a four-try bonus point. Jackson’s golden boot failed to miss and Sarries were back in control (13-28).

Ten minutes of play followed with both sides trying to move forward. Alan Gaffney made use of his bench by bringing on Alan Dickens, Rodd Penny and Paul Gustard for De Kock, TV and Cec. However, the substitutions did not look tactical or desperate, just an opportunity to stretch fresh legs. Flippant comments from around the terrace suggested Seymour had to go and answer a telephone call from Twickenham.

Skirving staked his claim on the Man of the Match award by touching down a second try on the 76th minute from another storming Faz move. With confidence the travelling fans watched Jackson step up to take the conversion, maintain his 100% kicking record and retain his place as top point scorer in the GP. 13-35 was the final score of the match and resulted in a well deserved five-point win from a dominant Saracens team.

Inevitably the media attention will focus on a fine performance by Andy Farrell, the pinnacle of which was his first premiership try. However (barring the first quarter-of-an-hour) the whole team performance was truly inspired.

Glenda and De Kock have gelled so well together they are looking like a strong candidate for the best half-back pairing in the Premiership. Seymour looked like a completely different player to the one out-foxed by Ryan Lamb against Gloucester. Gaffney obviously knew what he was doing when he rested him against Leicester, as he was all over Franklins Gardens looking more like the Cec I know and love. TV was hungry and strong leaving Saints players in his wake as he ploughed forward. The forward pack were totally dominant in the scrum, (although here’s hoping that Broster gets better quickly, because Cobus could probably do with a rest) and last but not least Skirvs deserved his MOTM award.

The win consolidated Sarries place in the top six of the GP table, equal with Sale moving us seven points clear of seventh place Quins. The GP appears it is splitting into two leagues, with Saracens competing with the big boys. Is it too soon to start dreaming of HC Rugby?

Northampton Saints: 15. Vaughan Going 14. Johnny Howard 13. Stephen Myler 12. Seamus Mallon 11. Paul Diggin 10. Carlos Spencer 9. Mark Robinson 1. Tom Smith 2. Steve Thompson 3. Chris Budgen 4. Damien Browne 5. David Gerard 6. Paul Tupai 7. Darren Fox 8. Mark Easter.
Replacements: 16. Dylan Hartley 17. Soane Tonga'uiha 18. Matt Lord 19. Daniel Browne 20. Ian Vass 21. Will Harries 22. Chris Wyles

Saracens: 15. Thomas Castaignede 14. Dan Scarbrough 13. Kevin Sorrell 12. Andy Farrell 11. Tevita Vaikona 10. Glen Jackson 9. Neil De Kock 1. Kevin Yates 2. Shane Byrne 3. Cobus Visagie 4. Tom Ryder 5. Kris Chesney 6. Hugh Vyvyan 7. David Seymour 8. Ben Skirving
Replacements: 16. Matt Cairns 17. Arron Liffchak 18. Iain Fullarton 19. Paul Gustard 20. Alan Dickens 21. Rodd Penney 22. Adam Powell

Scoring Sequence (Saints first) : 7 – 0 (Going try, Spencer conv), 7 – 7 (De Kock try, Jackson conv), 7 – 14 (Farrell try, Jackson conv), 7 – 21 (Vyvyan try, Jackson conv) HT 10 – 21 (Howard pen), 13 – 21 (Howard pen), 13 – 28 (Skirving try, Jackson conv), 13 – 35 Skirving try, Jackson conv)

(View some of my pics from the match at http://www.myspace.com/katwoodfine)