Dreech in Geech-land

By Jonathan Stockham
February 13 2006

Northampton Saints came away from the Causeway Stadium without the now traditional defeat in High Wycombe. But they failed to come away with a victory either and had to settle for a share of the points with an only slightly weakened Wasps side.

Guinness Premiership Sunday 12 February 2006

 

Result: London Wasps 19, Northampton Saints 19.

 

To quote Red Dwarf, “It’s cold and there’s no atmosphere.”  OK, they were referring to outer space but the description could so easily be applied to The Lost Causeway today, where a less than capacity crowd on a dreech (Scots for wet and miserable) afternoon suffered the poor catering and crowd facilities that we at Franklin’s Gardens are fortunate to take for granted. The fare on offer on the pitch was slightly better but the biggest surprise was that Wasps made late team changes to include internationals Lawrence Dallaglio, Eoin Reddan and Jonny O’Connor in the starting line up and Matt Dawson on the bench, all “fresh” from appearances for their countries only the day before. Is that allowed?

 

Heavy rain had been falling all morning and continued steadily up until kick off. The pitch looked somewhat bereft of grass in places and the football line markings were far more prominent than the rugby versions. Why?

 

After a few choruses of Wagner blasting over the PA as 3.00 pm approached, the visitors were introduced by the usual Wasps discourtesy of “The Road to Nowhere.”  And they think no-one notices that the ground is at the end of a cul de sac? Ah, maybe that’s the joke!

 

Wasps kicked off with the wind at their backs and after Saints conceded a couple of early penalties, Alex King knocked over a kick to make it 3-0 to the home side after 6 minutes. However, Saints were not to be outdone and from the restart the ball was scrabbled back into the hands of Jon Clarke who soared through the Wasps defence like a red kite after a rabbit and touched down under the posts to make the conversion a formality.

 

3-7 to Saints after 7 minutes.

 

Three minutes later Saints conceded another penalty, this time for dragging down Dallaglio in the line out and King took the 3 points on offer. 6-7 after 10 minutes.

 

Saints nearly repeated the trick from the restart. Ben Lewett was chasing the kick off well and again the ball came back to Saints. Again, Clarke collected the ball but this time put in a touch finder on the Wasps’ 5 metre line.  Saints stole the line out and worked the ball along the line. Wasps rush defence limited the visitors options but from an ensuing Saints scrum, the ball was flung out wide to Bruce on the left wing with space to go over for the try. Sadly, the last pass was judged forward so “nil points.”

 

The Saints forwards were putting in the hard yards and were certainly a match for their opponents. Indeed they were had the better possession and territory and Wasps spent much of the first half pinned down in their 22 and having to rely on Alex King clearance kicks. Carlos Spencer was kicking sensibly and finding touch well rather than punting upfield.

 

On 25 minutes, Carlos, fortunately recovered after worrying the Saints faithful after staying flat out after a knock on the head, put up a towering up and under after Saints won a line out. Van Gisbergen at 15 for Wasps knocked on and his team then conceded a penalty for playing the ball in an offside position, Bruce took the straightforward kick at goal and the score moved on the 6-10 in Saints favour.

 

Wasps tried to get level or better as the half time whistle approached and launched a series of attacks on Saints line but determined defence by the visitors kept the home team out, with King obligingly missing a penalty kick at goal. The score remained 6-10 as the teams went off for their half time cuppa.

 

Interesting things to note:

 

Robbie Kydd is versatile and took to playing 15 like a duck to water.

 

Rhino Rudd has the ability to crash through tackles as he proved today to good effect.

 

The Saints pack are a tough and capable unit.

 

Carlos got the second half going and kicked long, too long as the ball rolled on into the advertising hoardings and Wasps were awarded a scrum back on halfway. From the tail, Dallaglio threw a wild pass out to Abbott in the midfield who failed to release when tackled by Saints. Up stepped Bruce to coolly kick the 3 points from 40 metres out. 6-13 to Saints!

 

After 9 minutes, Bruce had another attempt after Wasps were pinged following a period of scrappy play by both sides but from 45 metres, even with wind assistance, it went slightly left.

 

He didn’t fail 3 minutes later when Wasps offended again and added another 3 points, again from about 40 metres. 6-16 to Saints and a first victory at the Causeway started to look likely.

 

Now one thing we all know or should learn is that any side led by Lawrence Bruno Nero Dallaglio will not lie down and accept their fate. Even though the big man himself had quiet game, not getting too involved in the muddy jobs, his side upped the ante and launched a series of attacking moves. They patiently recycled the ball until they were satisfied that the moment had come and created a huge overlap on  the right wing. Van Gisbergen having acres of space to scamper over for the try. King added the extras and in the blink of an eye it was 13-16. Nail biting stuff!

 

Saints were very nearly over for a try from the restart (again!) but the Wasps defence just got back ahead of Sharky Robinson’s chip ahead to touch it down.

 

The now traditional wave of substitutions began and Lewett limped off to be replaced by Darren Fox.

 

It was now Saints turn to attack and they spent several minutes camped on the Wasps line. From one Wasps scrum the ball was nearly won 2 metres out under the posts but someone in GB&G said something the ref didn’t like and Wasps escaped with a penalty kick. Good position wasted by Saints and a lot of hard work went unrewarded.

 

On 32 minutes some bloke called Matt Dawson took to the field for the home team and Simon Emms and Dylan Hartley replaced their front row colleagues.

 

Wasps now took control and put Saints under increasing pressure, winning penalty decisions from Mr Debney. Saints defence was rock solid but some of it infringed the Laws. However, one penalty advantage, played through 5 phases in Wasps favour, ended when Saints robbed them of the ball but the ref brought play back to the site of the original penalty award for Wasps. Five phases?  Contrast that with the Kiwi ref in Wales v Scotland this afternoon who called “advantage over” after only one phase by Wales following an indication of a penalty for offside. Consistency please?

 

From one penalty, Wasps opted to scrummage and as the ball was passed out to King, Carlos caught him high, receiving 10 minutes in the bin for his trouble. Van Gisbergen took over the kicking duties to bring the score level at 16-16 after 28 minutes of the half.

 

Sam Harding now replaced Paul Tupai and Saints worked their way upfield, winning a penalty decision 5 metres into the Wasps half. Bruce had found his range well by now and moved the score on to 16-19 on 32 minutes. Could Saints, with 14 men, hold on to win?

 

The home side were clearly not going to be defeated if they could help it and marched forwards. Saints were pinged, Dawson tapped and ran, the ball was fed to King once field position had been gained and he drop kicked to bring the scores level again.

 

Saints now upped a gear and Clarke burst out of defence but a knock on handed the initiative back to Wasps. Saints continued to press but to no avail and the match finished with the sides taking 2 league points each from the 19-19 draw.

 

So, Wasps were not as weakened as they had been indicating earlier in the week but still had a few “stars” missing. But then, so did Saints, who will be more disappointed by this draw than the home side as they had the better match in terms of possession and territory. The pack was secure in most areas but creeping indiscipline in the second half allowed Wasps to keep the score board ticking over.

 

Still, undefeated in 2006 and not a bad result against one of the top teams this season.

 

Thanks to Gary of SSC for the Red Dwarf quote.