Rotherham v Northampton Saints ZP Preview

By Mark H
October 2 2003

Saints travel up to South Yorkshire on Saturday looking for back to back victories after the win over champions Wasps last weekend, with a first trip to Millmoor, the ground shared by Rotherham’s rugby and football clubs.

Forced to play their matches away from their spiritual home at Clifton Lane if they wanted to have any chance of gracing the Zurich Premiership again, Roth still didn’t find it easy to join the big boys. We all know the story of how they were denied once and were nearly denied again, but justice was finally done and they took their hard-earned place in the top 12. Or was justice done? It’s a little known fact that Roth’s salary cap is set at £1.2million, some £600,000 less than the rest of the Premiership, and as such, they haven’t been able to build as much as player-coach Mike Schmid would have wanted to.

They would have hoped, however, to get off to a better start than they have, and take advantage of international players being missing at the other clubs. Going into the Saints match with no points from their first three games would not have been on the menu, although tricky trips to Gloucester (8-22) and Leeds (13-23) have not helped their cause. Rather more worrying for them would have been the ease with which Harlequins tore them apart in scoring five tries in a 43-15 victory at Millmoor two weeks ago. As it is then, a long path upwards if they want to avoid an early return to the first division.

Millmoor in itself is nothing special as a football ground, being penned in on three sides by housing and on the fourth by a main road. On my previous visits their in a former incarnation I can honestly say that I didn’t expect rugby to be played there, but the seating areas at least have unobstructed views of the pitch, whilst the Tivoli End terrace behind the posts has a steep enough rake for a view above ground level. It does seem a shame though, especially with the crowd expected to be less than four thousand, that the game couldn’t be taking place at a packed Clifton Lane and the Roth fans could have more of an effect than they will in the vast expanses that will be Millmoor’s red seats.

Rotherham have yet to make their team public, but look certain to feature two ex-Saints in captain Chris Johnson and the subject of so much “should he be allowed to go” head scratching, Peter Jorgensen. After a slow start at FG Jorgy became a hero, helped by that crucial ability to be in the right place at the right time to score what usually were important tries - think Orrell, Biarritz, Bath and London Irish - and that was just last season. As much as we all wish him well, let’s hope that that ability is missing on Saturday.

They’ve also got another player who has shone against Saints on both occasions when I’ve seen him, in fly-half Phil Jones, so impressive in the sevens at Twickenham, but also the man who very nearly kicked us out of the cup at Orrell last December. Having already featured in England training squads as a first division player, he is obviously highly rated by those who matter.

Saints make three personnel changes in their XV, Mark Tucker coming in for John Leslie, Johnny Howard for Mark Robinson, and there’s the welcome (and overdue) return of Andrew Blowers, who no doubt will have a little frustration to run off, in place of Mark Soden. Missing from the starting line-up at least is our very own Yorkie Spaniard (or is that Spanish Tyke), in Oriol Ripol. It will be interesting, if he gets on, to see what sort of reception he gets from the home crowd. I’m sure that this is probably the match he was looking forward to most this season, and will be desperate to prove to Smudger why he thinks he should be in from the start. Saints team:-

15 NICK BEAL (c)
14 John Clarke
13 Chris Hyndman
12 Mark Tucker
11 BRUCE REIHANA
10 Shane Drahm
9 Johnny Howard
1 Brett Sturgess
2 Dan Richmond
3 ROBBIE MORRIS
4 Matt Lord
5 Rob Hunter
6 MARK CONNORS
7 Darren Fox
8 ANDREW BLOWERS (c)

Replacements from: Matt Miles, Chris Budgen, Jon Phillips, Grant Seely, Mark Soden, MARK ROBINSON, ORIOL RIPOL, JOHN LESLIE, James Brooks

As we don’t know which Saints team will appear from week to week at the moment, it’s hard to say what could happen. Will it be the team playing such expansive rugby at Sale, the fifteen strangers that were at Bath, or the young team finding their feet from the Wasps game? In the only two previous meetings in the league, Saints picked up bonus points in both, winning 32-19 at Clifton Lane, then 42-0 in front of the Sky cameras at FG, the win being topped off by Ben Cohen’s ninety-yard interception try. Given Rotherham’s form this season, and the fact that Saints are supposedly one of the favourites for the title, nothing less than 5 points will do. Will it?


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