Powergen Cup : Tigers vs Saints Match Preview
By Chris Wearmouth
December 2 2005
And so to the cup that Sky forgot. If the casual rugby follower restricted themselves to the offerings available through the dish then they would be under the impression that the Premiership clubs had a week off before returning to European action next week.
Instead we have the ‘pleasure’ of seeing our license fee money going towards filling the BBC airwaves with our second trip of the season to Welford Road, this time in the Powergen Cup. I say ‘pleasure’ because, as they have demonstrated several times this season, Auntie is a little rusty when it comes to covering live rugby.
At least the likes of Davies, Guscott et al have had the opportunity to dust off their clichés and play with an analysis gadget or two over the past couple of weeks. But as was demonstrated by the Llanelli/Newcastle Powergen match six weeks ago, it is one thing to sit in a warm studio having had plenty of time to collect your thoughts. It is another completely to do the same in the live Saturday situation, particularly when your fingers are frozen solid by the December chill.
The BBC has a chance to redeem itself this Saturday, although how many of us will see it is open to question, primarily because the majority of us will be there! I for one will be coaxing my frozen fingers into action on a regular basis, aided in no small part by the Tigers’ awesome offerings in the pressroom. (Sorry, I just had to include that part!)
Also with a chance to redress themselves are the Saints players. Saturday is the first chance to avenge the opening day defeat suffered by the team, a game in which we were lucky to score nil, by all accounts. And there’s nothing worse than scoring nil in a derby, as Leicester fans will also say, given their experience at the Gardens a couple of years ago.
Just what effect the September result will have on either side remains open to question. It certainly gives us an easy team talk! And were this Saturday’s game in the Premiership I would be extremely apprehensive. But as has been mentioned in recent threads on this ‘ere message board, the change of competition did us the world of good at the end of September. Come on, hands up who really thought we would beat Worcester at Sixways?
However, the Saints and Tigers go into the game with roles reversed compared to recent years. We have the consistent form – five straight defeats – whereas they have been fluctuating in recent weeks, with losses to Worcester and Sale offset by the only try-scoring bonus point of the round achieved against London Irish last weekend.
That was at Welford Road, and as many commentators have mentioned, the roundabout next to Morrison’s isn’t exactly where you would want to go to attempt to halt a losing streak. Not that we have to. If we can just avoid losing by more than seven points and match the try scores we’ll find ourselves with a trip to Cardiff.
That’s jumping the gun though, and the last time we were in this situation, needing a result up there to go to a major occasion, we were massacred. That was back in 1993 in Buck Shelford’s last game, and also on the BBC. Not the best pointers for what would become our greatest result of the season.
“Hmmm,” I bet you’re thinking at this point. “What a sunny soul you are today.” The truth is that I don’t know what to expect from this weekend, except one hell of a hard afternoon. Still, at least Saints are bolstered by the return from international duty of Steve Thompson and Sean Lamont. Both have been in fine form for their respective countries, albeit with differing results – except against the All Blacks of course – and if they can have a similar impact as Ben did last week then we will be much improved.
Lamont’s presence means that Seamus Mallon misses out, as Jon Clarke pairs up with Rhodri Gomer Davies in the centre. Wally comes in for Dan Richmond, who like Mallon misses out on the 22. Other changes up front include David Gerard in for the injured Matt Lord, and Sam Harding swapping places with Darren Fox. Ben Lewitt deservedly keeps his place at six. Sharky Robinson also exchanges shirts with Johnny Howard. There is also the return of Colin Noon onto the bench, although I think that Luke Harbut is unlucky to miss out, having done nothing wrong when he’s come on in the past couple of matches. And after seeing him limp off last week, there will be the welcome sight of Pat Barnard lining up alongside Wally.
Here it is in plain English.
NORTHAMPTON SAINTS:
15 BRUCE REIHANA (capt)
14 SEAN LAMONT
13 Jon Clarke
12 Rhodri Davies
11 BEN COHEN
10 CARLOS SPENCER
9 MARK ROBINSON
1 Chris Budgen
2 STEVE THOMPSON
3 Pat Barnard
4 Damien Browne
5 DAVID GERARD
6 Ben Lewitt
7 SAM HARDING
8 Daniel Browne
Replacements:
16 Dylan Hartley
17 Colin Noon
18 Grant Seely
19 Darren Fox
20 Johnny Howard
21 Luke Myring
22 John Rudd
Mind you, Leicester have also been strengthened by the end of the Autumn international series, even if Moody and Tuilagi miss out. Martin Corry replaces Brett Deacon at No 8 and new England second-row Louis Deacon comes in for James Hamilton. Harry Ellis and Geordan Murphy are also back – the latter’s return seeing Ollie Smith move to the centre.
LEICESTER TIGERS:
15 Sam Vesty
14 Leon Lloyd
13 Ollie Smith
12 Matt Cornwell
11 Geordan Murphy
10 Andy Goode
9 Harry Ellis
1 Alex Moreno
2 George Chuter
3 Darren Morris
4 Louis Deacon
5 Ben Kay
6 Brett Deacon
7 Shane Jennings
8 Martin Corry (captain)
Replacements:
16 James Buckland
17 Michael Holford
18 James Hamilton
19 Luke Abraham
20 Neil Cole
21 Dan Hipkiss
22 Seru Rabeni
This isn’t a defining game in Saints’ season. But it does provide a yardstick. Three months ago we were humiliated, not to mention brought back to earth with a serious bump, as the Premiership opened. Since then we’ve had a mixed bag of results, with the five-game losing run preceded by a month-long winning streak. The last three matches have been lost by a whisker on the scoreboard, and have been turned in no more than five or 10 minutes each time.
Like I’ve said earlier, I don’t know what to expect from Saturday, and as such am not going to take part in any prediction game. Suffice to say however that a narrow defeat could be the biggest victory so far.
P.S. I would say see you up there, but the food, soup and coffee for us pen pushers is just too good!