By Duncan Wood
May 7 2002

Wayne Smith will meet up with his old colleague Peter Thorburn on Wednesday and both will be looking to put one over the other!. Dean Ryan has named a 24 man squad but delayed revealing his starting lineup.

Bristol Shoguns vs Northampton Saints
Wed 08 May, at Memorial Stadium

Results Summary between 1987 and 2002
Played 16
Bristol Won 6 - 37.5%
Northampton Saints Won 10 - 62.5%

TEAM GREATS
Biggest Win for Bristol, 46 - 16, 16 Apr 2001
Biggest Win for Northampton Saints, 35 - 12, 14 Mar 1998

PLAYER GREATS
Bristol top try scorer vs Northampton Saints, Paul Hull, 3 tries
Bristol top points scorer vs Northampton Saints, Felipe Contepomi, 49 points
Northampton Saints top try scorer vs Bristol, Harvey Thorneycroft, 4 tries
Northampton Saints top points scorer vs Bristol, Paul Grayson, 118 points

LAST MEETINGS

25 Nov 2001, Bristol vs Northampton Saints, 23 - 20, Franklin's Gardens
16 Apr 2001, Bristol vs Northampton Saints, 46 - 16, Memorial Stadium
25 Nov 2000, Bristol vs Northampton Saints, 6 - 24, Franklin's Gardens
12 Feb 2000, Bristol vs Northampton Saints, 23 - 19, Franklin's Gardens
05 Nov 1999, Bristol vs Northampton Saints, 19 - 29, Memorial Stadium
14 Mar 1998, Bristol vs Northampton Saints, 12 - 35, Franklin's Gardens
26 Oct 1997, Bristol vs Northampton Saints, 22 - 15, Memorial Stadium
05 Apr 1997, Bristol vs Northampton Saints, 20 - 11, Memorial Stadium
14 Sep 1996, Bristol vs Northampton Saints, 21 - 29, Franklin's Gardens
04 Mar 1995, Bristol vs Northampton Saints, 13 - 24, Memorial Stadium

It may be an end of season meeting but there is still lots to play for with Northampton occupying 7th place in the league table, one place and two points ahead of Bristol. Avoiding Leicester in the playoffs is a big incentive to win.

The last meeting between the two teams was decided in controversial circumstances with Lee Best snatching a late score despite Northampton's protests that there had been a previous infringement.

Add to the mix that this game has been rearranged from December 23rd when it is alleged that Northampton didn't fancy playing on a very cold, hard Memorial Stadium pitch and there is plenty of spice to this one.

Northampton have had an up and down seson. They started poorly but, then again, they were trying to overcome the loss of the likes of Lam, Pagel, Bateman and Rodber.

Since the arrival of Wayne Smith, however, they have got their act together and managed to get to the Tetleys Cup final before being swept aside by London Irish. They are a side packed with classy internationals and probably haven't done themselves justice this season.

Bristol will be looking to complete an East Midlands double having overcome Leicester on Sunday. They are down to the bare bones of the squad with plenty of players missing through injury and I'm sure that there are plenty of bumps and bruises from the Tigers match. Dean Ryan is able to welcome back Andrew Sheridan and Jamie Williams and they take their place in a matchday squad of 24.

Tim Payne, Darren Crompton, Julian White, Saul Nelson, Neil McCarthy, Garath Archer, Alex Brown, Andrew Sheridan, Craig Short, Jim Brownrigg, Ben Sturnham, Chris Morgan, Michael Lipman, Agustin Pichot, Ross Blake, Felipe Contepomi, Matt Carrington, Jason Little, Andrew Higgins, Phil Christophers, David Rees, Brendon Daniel, Lee Best, Jamie Williams.

If Bristol can pick up where they left off against Tigers, they will be a force to be reckoned with. However, they cannot let the powerful Saints back row rule the roost or let the mouthy Matt Dawson exert his influence on the referee!

Bristol will be looking to sign off in style in front of their own fans and I'm looking to them to win this one.