Well done Saints, 5 points well earned but as my school reports used to say EVERY year, "could do so much better with a little more application"

 

Well done to Seely though – how many games?

 

Initial enthusiasm

 

i know one report stated that beal carried 3 defenders over the line to score the try!!! and he did!! David Tavener

 

Well done boys St Tim

 

Just arrived back. Well done the lads. Still many improvements to be made,  . Chris Hoddle

 

A definite improvement by Saints on their previous 2 matches, especially defensively where the organisation was better....relief to have AB lurking around that 12 channel! BBF

 

MOTM

 

for the man of the match. Suggestions:
Lordy - working hard as ever
Blowers - great to see him back
Howard - first choice no 9, surely?
Hyndman - cracking try
Reihana - great all round play
Drahm - Paul who?   Smurf

 

lordy - streamline new haircut, oh and dogged all over the field and winning both ours and stealing their lineout.  Conners - first time in a long time have i been happy that we can cope with blowers out of his best position.  Blowers - showed what we have been missing and certainly showed roths how to tackle hard.  Drahm - jinxing lil ****** ain't he? reliable with the bot not to mention audacious (spelling) long range kick just went wide  Riehana - invented the new way to beat the defensive line....if you can't get past it take it with you. made hard yards and telling tackles.
hyndman/tucker/howard/clarke - pick one. they all did what was required when had to. TAV

 

ok i know i already picked 6 but another one is brett sturgess....without a doubt the pick of the front row today. at times i felt like i was watching a mixture of wally and pagel rolled into one when he had the ball out in the open. watching the defenders bounce off him as he charged up the field on a few occasions was mouthwatering to say the least!! TAV

 

Without wishing to take away from my match report:-
Lordy (head and shoulders above the rest)  Sturgess  Richmond  Fox  Howard  then I'm torn between Hyndman and Reihana.  Mark H

 

Foxy must be in there somewhere.    Wookie is getting back to his best    Brett Sturgess is getting there in a hurry.   Bruiser Reihana is now simply awesome - an overused expression but well deserved in this case.   JP for the worst haircut ever and Rob Hunter for a poor imitation.  I also think Mark Tucker deserves a mention.  Andy B - just to see those legs pumping in full flight again was worth the trip.

It's hard to pick out 6 when the opposition made them all look pretty useful but on balance I think Foxy's return to prominence wins it for me. WMS

 

Surprised nobody else has mentioned Bealer who was absolutely outstanding. Roth has all sorts of trouble trying to stop him.
Others would be AB, Bruce, Handyman, Lordy & Rob Hunter. Gregor

 

Opposition

 

Roth were full of grit and endeavour but there was no guile WMS

 

Much as I'd hate to see it, Roth are doomed already - the quality (although not the spirit - they've got bagfuls of that) is just not there. Mark H

 

relly showed how much Roth have to do to get anywhere near staying up. I should think with a full team we will top 50 points at home Chris Hoddle

 

Rotherham were dreadful, which does not augur (spell?) well for their season. The only hope of them staying up was presumably to rack up a few wins against the "weakened " teams.
Northants Wasp

 

Listening to Radio Nuthampton made me think it was more Roth not being up to the Premiership. They seemed to waste several good chances and froze on occasions when the defence opened. St BART

 

Unfortuinately Roth were so much off the pace that the second half was not a real contest. Shame.  Laurie

 

relatively rare away trip for me and I came away satisfied with a more than adequate performance against opposition which though spirited, lacked pace and nous at this level. tedge

 

However as everyone is saying, Rotherham were poor opposition & could easily be doomed by Christmas.... BBF

 

So how good were we?

 

Bumped into the artist formerly known as shaddo for the second week running in the Charles Bradlaugh (I suspect he lives there,) he said that the Saints looked like a real team today but admitted that Roth were not that good. So what's everyone else's perspective? RICH

 

For the saints, I do wish Johnny Howard wouldn't keep doing the pass behind his back trick. It never works and always runs the risk of giving a breakaway score. Northants wasp

 

I thought we looked more solid in defence than of late, Blower's contribution as notable as ever. There were a few "mad" moments which might have been punished by others, some of the passing was a bit airy fairy; Howard in particular will have to curb his flamboyance if he is to develop into an unchallenged first choice at 9.  Tedge

 

I don't even think Saints played that well. Mark H

 

Good report, Mark. We had the same feeling, almost as if we had lost which is bizarre……

It was great to have AB back. I wasn't sure that Johnny Howard played that well. Oriol looked up for it and it is a shame he didn't go for it when in the clear on the left late in the second half. Bruce still looks absolute class and I was amazed he didn't score. Laurie

 

It left me feeling the same. Could have done so much better, too many little mistakes early on especially and once we had the bonus there was a period when we seemed to have 15 individuals going for glory rather than a team. Fortunately we "regrouped" for the final try.
Our defence was working so much better.  Stockers

 

Defence

 

It was with real interest that I noted the comments about our defence, that we mark from outside to in and Shine (who in every other department has been a star and a real Saintsman) was the problem against Wasps.
This to me, with my limited knowledge of girls play (more a donkeys man myself) does seem a very dangerous style as one missed tackle and the opposition are clean through the middle with no/ very little cover. I can see the advantage of not giving a winger room, but can also see a huge risk. Ajack

 

ajack, i'm a bit puzzled, too, but i think wayne only actually said we "numbered up " from the outside in, and in practice we certainly do seem to drift, rather than doing the LI thing where the winger tries to literally come inside and take the 13 man and ball.
i think the implication of numbering up from outside would be that you mustn't take the wrong guy so as to leave an overload wide? so maybe 10 must cover his man and trust the inside cover to take anyone inside [with or without the ball ] , as if he gets drawn in, 12 will have 2 guys to mark as a result ? broonie

 

Shine Draaaaahm

 

I realy think we've found the guy to take on Grays' mantle in the coming years...his place kicking was supurb again ( the 60 yard shot had the length and was only a lil wayward), and i cant believe Bris wasted him at 15. Maybe a diff west country club would have finnished bottom last year if he had been played more at out half? Alan T

 

Yes he is developing into a fine player. i hope he was taken off to give him a rest. Archie was certainly no competition. Chris H

 

I didn't go to Rotherham, but he has been mightily impressive so far all season - exspecially his kick off )) ady_32

 

And finally - 200 up for Grant

 

I've always rated him as a player, and it says much about the quality of back row players we've had over the years that Grant's not been a more permenant fixture in the team alan t

 

Three cheers for Grant – Hippo, Hippo, Hippo!