Gloucester v Northampton - Zurich Report

By Stockers
November 30 2003

The eagerly awaited return match between these two stalwarts of English rugby after the game at Franklins Gardens at the start of November which was memorable for all the wrong reasons saw the ZP become the main focus for rugby fans after the conclusion of events Down Under.

On a day when Dr Foster, had he been in Gloster that morning, would have been avoiding puddles big time, Saints fans travelled over or around the Cotswolds in driving wind and rain. Given that Kingsholm is only about 2 gnat's above the level of the River Severn, would we witness a game in a quagmire? But the sun shines on the righteous - and Shedheads - and it duly appeared next to the view of Gloucester Cathedral, shining straight into the Shed so that it's contents would be viewing the match squinting out of one eye.......................

There was also a stiff breeze blowing into the faces of those in the famous old barn and that may have been the reason for the odd tear in the eye when Gloucester took to the pitch for their warm up with their 3 World Cup winners amongst them. Volume turned up! Gomersall was to start with Vickery and Woodman keen to spend not too long on the bench.

Also returning from The Big Party was the referee, Sir Anthony Spreadbury, who it was hoped would be able to control proceedings better than his colleague did in the earlier game between these sides. And it seemed that Spreaders had left his whistle in Oz as the game kicked off and nothing more was heard from him for nearly five minutes! Sadly for Saints fans, the first blast of his whistle signalled a try to Glos.

It was "hats on wheels" from both sides with some good work punctuated by aimless grubber kicks which only succeeded in returning the ball to the opposing team. However, after Glos had won the ball back and with players looking over their shoulders to see if Spreaders had left the field, Junior Paramore took the ball down the blindside and delivered it out to Marcel Garvey on the right wing. He took his try superbly in front of The Shed to rapturous applause. Henry Paul added the conversion, 7 - 0 to Glos after 5 minutes.

Shane restarted straight into touch and at the resultant scrum at halfway the front rows went down and Saints were penalised. Shortly after, at another penalty stoppage, both hookers were spoken to by Spreaders. Another scrum shortly after saw the scrum collapse and this time Saints were given the penalty. This commentator cannot comment on the details of the front row struggle, due to being at one end of the pitch but the ref would spend a fair amount of time talking to both front rows during the game with neither side appearing to be blameless.

After 15 minutes came the moment which earned James Simpson "Sinbad" Daniel the "Daring Deed of the Day Award" or whatever it's called at Kingsholm.

Saints had worked their way out of defence and managed to get the ball to Sharky Robinson in space who sprinted up field with a try looking like a formality. Sinbad decided it wasn't going to be and chased and caught the Saints No 9 just 5 metres short of the line. Sharky managed to pop the ball up to James Brooks but he was tackled just short and the ball was knocked on out of his grasp as he fell over he line. Scrum to Glos.

Saint's tails were up however and they robbed the ball in the scrum but were too impatient in using the phases. The ball was whipped out to Drahm who tried a grubber through Glos's rushing defence only for the ball to go to McRae who cleared to touch on the Glos right.

From the resulting line out, Saints drove the maul and sent the ball out to the backs. Another grubber kick through this time resulted in what can best be described as chaos in the Glos defence in front of their posts, the ball being hacked through and Sharky winning the scramble to touch down for the try, although some reports credit the try to Rob Hunter. Either way, Shane kicked the conversion to make it 7-7.

Grubber kicks were certainly a feature of this match as both teams seem to have listened to a coaching guru's comment that the only way to break down a well organised defence is to try a low bouncing kick through. It is something of a gamble however and can just as easily see the defending side winning the ball and hareing off in counter attack mode as much as the attackers scoring a try.

Further Glos attacks in the second quarter led to a storming run by Sinbad who was tackled just short of the line, but Glos kept possession and from a subsequent scrum moved the ball left and right before Saints conceded a penalty for offside. Henry Paul slotted the ball between the posts for his 100th point of the season.

From the restart, Glos were penalised when Buxton failed to release after tackling Grant Seely and Shane kicked the 3 points from 45 metres to tie the scores at 10 - 10 after 29 minutes.

The restart by kick by Glos was secured by Andy Blowers and cleared to touch by Shane but a series of penalty offences by Saints put them under pressure in their own half. A rampaging attack by the Glos backs seemed to be heading for a try when McRae dropped the ball! A subsequent penalty from front row nonsense was tapped by Glos who set up another strong attack in numbers, with a clear overlap, when the man with the ball decided to pass to the fifth row back in The Shed!

From the lineout, which Saints managed to win for a change, Blowers broke away, leading to Glos being penalised, coming in from the wrong side. Shane put in a massive 50 metre kick to touch in front of The Shed but Saints subsequently lost the ball in midfield and, after some scrappy play by both sides, Saints won possession. With good recycling, the ball was shipped out to Reihana on the Saints left. Bruce made the initial breakthrough and passed inside to Sharky who galloped in to touch down the try near the posts. Shane made the score 10 - 17 to Saints and half time arrived.

During the break, Marcel Garvey was replaced by Josh Frape and for Saints John Leslie gave way to John Sleightholme, with Bruce moving in to centre.

In the first major play after the break, Glos won an attacking line out. A clean take by Alex Brown led to good work up the blindside and only dogged Saints defence kept the Cherry and Whites from scoring.

Saints cleared upfield and won a line out, the execution of which summed up their day. Richmond delivered a mighty throw over the heads of the forwards to be collected in midfield by Tucker..........or at least that was the plan. As with much of Saints line out work, it failed and was knocked on by Beal.

At this stage, the Glos faithful could see that their two front row heroes were warming up and getting ready to take the field together and so, with Glos awarded a scrum 5 metres out from Saints line, Woodman and Vickery joined in the fun. I am sure the Glos fans expected to see the scrum disappearing over the Saints line and all the way up the Golden Valley by pass towards Cheltenham but no! The scrum wheeled 90 and Sir Anthony awarded the put in to Saints!

Sadly, Saints were pinged for delaying the put in to a moving scrum and Glos opted to take the scrum again. More front row nonsense saw Glos penalised for foul play and Saints won some breathing space.

Saints were holding on to their lead and defending well during the 3rd quarter with Fox catching McRae from behind when he seemed to be away towards the goal line but on 51 minutes the Glos backs scored the try which they had been threatening for some time.

Glos again worked the ball left and right, moving the Saints defence around the park and Sinbad took the ball at pace, found the gap and ran in the try from 22 metres out unopposed. Paul converted to make it 17 - 17.

Saints were still very much in this game and were keeping the ball well going through the phases. They kept the pressure on and mounted an attack in the Glos half. Sleights took the ball on and it moved through Bruce and Nick Beal to Foxy who decided to have a go at one of these new fagled grubber kicks when retaining possession would have perhaps made more sense. Move failed!

Chris Budgen replaced Robbie Morris who had probably his best game of the season at tight head and, shortly after, Andy Hazell took the field for Glos.

With 17 minutes left to play, the scores were tied at 17 - 17 but the moment that the whole of Gloucester had been waiting for arrived. Glos won a line out through Mark Cornwell and despite strong Saints defence worked it infield and then back out to the Glos right flank where the man in space was T Woodman esq. The returning World Cup winner shimmied and jinked, showed a surprising turn of speed for a prop and brushed aside three or four ineffective Saints tackles to thunder over the try line. Kingsholm erupted!!

Whilst AB summoned a council of war in the Saints goal area, Paul shaped up but missed the conversion to leave the score at 22 - 17 after 65 minutes. Shortly after Mark Soden replaced AB whilst Dan Richmond was subbed by Matt Miles, whose first touch was to throw in at a Saints line out. Like so many efforts during the day at this set piece, Saints lost it, the throw being judged not straight.

The Glos game plan now was to keep Saints penned in their own half and long touch finders were doing just that. Further pressure nearly led to another try for Sinbad but a last ditch Nick Beal tackle denied the Glos winger. Saints were penalised in the subsequent scrum and Glos opted to re-scrum, further pressure leading to a penalty to Glos which Paul kicked to make the score 25 - 17.

Saints upped their game and attacked in the Glos half, resulting in a penalty which Shane missed off the right hand post. Saints counter attacked again from the restart and at a line out Glos were penalised for pulling down. This time Shane kept the ball low in the cross wind and made the score 25 - 20 with a couple of minutes of normal time plus 5 minutes extra to play.

However, with 82 minutes palyed, Glos won a penalty which Paul converted to make the score 28 - 20 thus denying Saints a losing bonus point. With what little time there was left, Saints attacked but, yes, you've guessed it, another grubber kick gave the ball back to Glos. A late Saints flurry led to them being penalised and the Glos kick to touch was signalled by the full time whistle.

So, a disappointing day out for the Saints in a performance where too many mistakes as well as failures in the line out allowed Glos to play the game the way they wanted. Their backs looked strong through most of the match and only dogged Saiints defence kept them from scoring. The game will of course be remembered for Woodman's try which is already claimed to have started out somewhere in the Forest of Dean!

And talking of the Forest, it was worrying to hear on the Radio Gloucester commentary that the Cinderford v Cheltenham match was held up for nearly 30 minutes whilst the visiting team's flanker, Jamie Arthurs, was taken to hopital, the helicopter ambulance landing on the pitch. He is in Frenchay Hospital, Bristol with serious neck and back injuries. Best wishes to him and his family and losing a game of rugby by a few points doesn't seem too bad by comparison.

Well played Gloucester and thank you for a good, clean game of rugby, well controlled by Spreaders.

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