Northampton Saints - Thoughts from the Chron

By Chris Gleadell
December 15 2006

So the Saints aspirations to qualify for this seasons Heineken Cup quarter finals are still well on track with the ten try demolition of Overmach Parma at the Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi on Saturday. Barring the injury to young flyhalf Stephen Myler it was just about a perfect day for the Saints.

They rattled up 68 points but more importantly that extra bonus point that could be all so important come the final tallying up in the Heineken in the third week of January.

With Biarritz scraping a last gasp bonus point themselves at Borders winning the group is now a tall, though not totally unattainable, order so staying ahead of the pack for the two wild card best runners up spots is imperative.

In the return leg against the Italian side at the Gardens this weekend it is a case of carrying on in the same vein to keep the pressure on others in the competition. Given the manner of last weeks win that might be seen as a foregone conclusion but to give Overmach their due they never gave up the ghost and battled hard picking up a couple of late scores that put them in touch of a bonus point of their own. Their front row might be having the odd nightmare or two this about the journey to England after they struggled to contain Messrs. Smith, Thompson and Barnard on Saturday. However remembering that Parma qualified for the HC by beating the Dragons in Wales it goes to show that, as with any team at this level, they can be a danger on their day. That said I am backing the lads to do a professional job and come away with the spoils on Saturday to keep that quarter final place still in sight.

It was not just the team that had the best of last weekend, the supporters had a rare old time too. As always the Saints support headed in from the four corners some of us flying in direct to Parma whilst others made their way to the city from Brescia , Bergamo and Milan . No journey quite compared with the one made by a father and son who traveled overnight on Friday by coach, ferry and train via Paris arriving in Parma on the Saturday morning before heading back north on Saturday night via the French capital and picking up the Stade Francais v Sale game on Sunday on the way. That’s dedication for you.

As for Parma itself, it is a beautiful little city that basked mostly in autumnal sunshine all weekend (apologies to those who got soaked in the giant downpour late Saturday evening) and there was plenty to see and do away from the rugby. The people of Parma were as ever welcoming and the restaurants, wineries and bars did a roaring trade serving the specialities of the region, be it cheese, ham or the local vino to the visiting hordes. Sitting outside a café having an odd coffee or two in the centre of the city on Saturday morning watching the world go by just about every fifth or sixth person had Saints colours on and it clear why the Gazzetta di Parma was talking of ‘Invasione di tofisi inglesi’ (the English supporter invasion). Come game time as everyone descended on the stadium it was clear that this was going to be a home from home game as Saints supporters, estimated at around 1200, outnumbered the locals maybe two to one. The Italians were bemused that so many people chose to travel away to watch their team in what is to them a minor sport but as ever with these trips it is as much a social occasion than it is a sporting one and long may it continue.

THE FRENCH ARE REVOLTING!

It seems that clubs being at loggerheads with their union is not just an English trait, there are currently rumblings in France that could threaten the future of the Heineken Cup as we know it. With it being a IRB World Cup year in 2007 the French league will be kicking of late and with a twenty six game season leading to further play off games it is envisioned that in its current format the final of the Top14 may not take place until we are almost in July 2008. Maybe it is just sabre rattling but the President of the French clubs umbrella organization, Biarritz’s Serge Blanco, seems hell bent on bringing things to a head and knowing that the English clubs are in dispute on the future of the HC themselves he was traveling to the UK yesterday (Wednesday) to garner support.

Maybe it is time for a change in the format at least, but like most supporters I would hate to see our games against foreign opposition, especially the French, disappear. However with the English clubs agreement with the RFU ending in 2009 is it just me that thinks an Anglo/Franco (and maybe Italian) league might be on the distant horizon along the lines of the Magners Celtic League?

THE VARSITY MATCH

Now I know the annual Oxford v Cambridge Varsity match at Twickenham is one of last bastions of the old pre-professionalism days but even the politics of the game reared its head before this weeks encounter meaning that Saints David Akinluyi missed out on a chance to play in the game. Hats off to Cambridge for withdrawing David after Oxford complained on a technicality rather than labouring the point about certain players turning out for the opposition. In my mind though it stinks a bit when a part time student who has yet to make an appearance in the first team for his club cannot play yet a former world cup winner, who may very well have got his place at the university because of his playing prowess, can. However, even though David missed out, Cambridge stole the day running out 15-6 winners.
Justice prevails.