Northampton v Borders - Heineken Cup Preview.
By Mark H
January 9 2004
So to the four weeks that will decide the fate of Saints’ European travels for 2003/04, and what should, in theory, be the most straightforward of all of the six pool games. The Borders visit the Gardens on Saturday with a played two, lost two record so far in this season’s competition.
Whilst Saints record is only marginally better, it’s the manner of those two Border defeats that will have disturbed their Kiwi coach Tony Gilbert.
First up, the team travelled down to Agen for their first European Cup game in six seasons, and came away on the end of a 27-8 defeat, made worse by the fact that they played against 14 men for over half the game. On the following Sunday, Borders capitulated to a 41-10 defeat at home to Llanelli in front of the Sky cameras. If there is to be a target for what the Saints need to be doing over these back to back games, there it is. Both the French and Welsh clubs picked up the maximum five points, and if Saints are to progress to an Easter quarter final, then five points must be the absolute minimum target from the games at FG this Saturday, and Netherdale next Friday night.
Indeed, by the end of next weekend, Saints could (and hopefully will) be top of the pool with the trip to Agen to come. Certainly the best results from the other clashes in the pool - Agen’s trip to Stradey and Llanelli’s return to the Stade Armandie - for the Saints would be a win each with as few tries and no bonus points for either team. If one side were to win both of those games, then the gold, black and green army would have no option but to complete what many observers feel may be mission impossible by going down to Agen and winning, followed by repeating the feat in the last pool game against Llanelli. Five wins and it’s progress , four and it’s on bonus points, and possibly even tries and points difference - and that’s just to win the group. From being fairly confident before this year’s tournament started that two sides would emerge from pool 4, I can now only see one team going through, unless one of the three major protagonists offers too many bargains in the January sales.
So who does Gilbert, assistant coach to the All Blacks alongside Wayne Smith a few years ago, bring down to see us? Well, there is a strong Saintly influence in the side, but two of those who used to wear the colours with pride disappeared over the Christmas period for pastures new. The loss of Gregor Townsend (and of course, his erstwhile invisible friend) to the Natal Sharks came as a shock to many, but having been ignored for Matt Williams’ first Scottish training squad, he considered that his future lay outside the Celtic League. It will be very interesting to see how he gets on in a few weeks time.
The other Saintly connections are Kelvin Todd, Andy Rennick, and one of the European Cup winning side in Craig Moir. All will be wanting to prove Wayne Smith wrong in releasing them, as well as trying to secure the first points for their side in this season’s competition. Indeed, add to these three experience in Gary Armstrong, George Graham, Kevin Utterson and Doddie Weir, blistering pace from Nikki Walker and Tanner Vili, and the most impressive Samoan forward from the World Cup in Semo Sititi, and they’ve got a pretty impressive unit - not one to be taken for granted.
However, if Saints have any ambitions of going further, it is a unit that needs to be removed from the equation as swiftly as possible. Ambition is probably the right word for the Saints 22 named on Wednesday afternoon:-
15 Nick Beal
14 Oriol Ripol
13 Bruce Reihana
12 John Leslie (captain)
11 Ben Cohen
10 Shane Drahm
9 Matt Dawson
1 Tom Smith
2 Steve Thompson
3 Robbie Morris
4 Matt Lord
5 Mark Connors
6 Andrew Blowers
7 Darren Fox
8 Grant Seely
16 Dan Richmond
17 Chris Budgen
18 Mark Soden
19 Brett Sturgess
20 Johnny Howard
21 Mark Tucker
22 Paul Grayson
So after the sick bay being overloaded on Sunday, a major reshuffle, with ambition being the key word when you look at the back line. If the forwards can get enough ball, then the intention is clear - tries, and as many of them as possible. Chris Hyndman and Mark Robinson are rested completely, with Shane Drahm and Paul Grayson swapping roles between bench and fly half, and there are returns for the long lost Oriol Ripol, and the hopefully fit again Matt Dawson.
In the forwards, Robbie Morris returns from a back injury in place of the ineligible Tevita Taumoepeau, Matt lord and Mark Connors play the last men standing roles in the second row, and Grant Seely returns from his injury to the back row. It’s possibly slightly harsh on Mark Tucker, one of the outstanding contributors to the win at the Madejski, but you cannot fault the intentions.
Four tries and a win must be the absolute minimum. With that wildcard in place of tries deciding positions if all points are level, then the fourth try should be the starting point. Saints to - must - win well, and add more intrigue to the permutations.
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