Saints v Worcester Match Thread - Teams Up

By Saint Ted
January 28 2022

This is the Worcester Warriors v Northampton Saints match day thread

Who:

Worcester Warriors v Northampton Saints

When:

Sunday 29th January 2021 15:00

Where:

Sixways Stadium

How do I watch:

This game is not on TV in the UK

Tickets available from Warriors Website

Officials:

Referee: Ian Tempest
Assistant referees: Dan Jones and Rob Warburton
No.4: Ryan Collier
TMO: Craig Maxwell-Keys

Teams:

Not considered for selection:
Matthew Arden, Emeka Atuanya, Callum Burns, Piers Francis, Jake Garside, Oisín Heffernan, Alex Moon, Taqele Naiyaravoro, Courtnall Skosan, and Kayde Sylvester.

International Duty:
Tommy Freeman, George Furbank, Courtney Lawes, Lewis Ludlam

Full story for T'Offy

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Saints v Worcester Match Thread - Teams Up
Discussion started by Marching On , 28/01/2022 12:04
Marching On
28/01/2022 12:04
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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2022:02:09:11:17:46 by Saint Ted.

Matthew
28/01/2022 13:12
Grayson on bench, presumably forced by no Furbank in the 23. Hope he gets some minutes. Good to see Tuala and Sleightholme are fit enough to start and Proctor to bench, and I like the look of that back row!

COYS

Saint Maul
28/01/2022 13:39
I'm expecting Diamond's appt will have a bounce effect resulting in a physical and committed Worcester performance.

LeicesterSaint
28/01/2022 13:41
That's a decent looking team - presume Grayson can also cover 15 at a push unless Collins shifts back with Proctor on the wing?

I'm gonna sound like a stuck record here but I still think Hutch is the 13 and Dingwall is the 12 (appreciating the numbers on the back don't define completely where/how they play)!

Most of all big congrats to Dingwall, sounds like he's been becoming a leader in the team for a while despite being relatively inexperienced.

St Saltaire
28/01/2022 14:38
Glad to see James Grayson selected for squad and agree that the back row looks good. Looking forward to a good performance.

ramseysaint
28/01/2022 20:33
Bit of a surprise to see Fraser getting the captaincy, good luck to the young lad.
Does anyone know if he's holding on to the hope of an England cap and therefore not getting selected for Scotland?

Dragonboy
28/01/2022 21:21
Quote:
ramseysaint
Bit of a surprise to see Fraser getting the captaincy, good luck to the young lad.
Does anyone know if he's holding on to the hope of an England cap and therefore not getting selected for Scotland?

I don’t see it as a surprise at all Ramsey. I thought 2 years ago that he was destined to be a Saints captain and that he would be in the mould of Gary Pearce Dylan Hartley and Bruce Reihana. Solid dependable and quietly authoritative. Something we’ve been lacking in the last few years.

ramseysaint
28/01/2022 21:32
Quote:
Dragonboy
Quote:
ramseysaint
Bit of a surprise to see Fraser getting the captaincy, good luck to the young lad.
Does anyone know if he's holding on to the hope of an England cap and therefore not getting selected for Scotland?

I don’t see it as a surprise at all Ramsey. I thought 2 years ago that he was destined to be a Saints captain and that he would be in the mould of Gary Pearce Dylan Hartley and Bruce Reihana. Solid dependable and quietly authoritative. Something we’ve been lacking in the last few years.

I was surprised seeing T, Alex and Tom all on the team sheet, don't get me wrong it was a pleasant surprise as I have rated him for a while as well.

Saint Ted
28/01/2022 21:39
Dylan stated on one of the podcasts with hask that he saw Dingwall as the future saints captain, he may have said England as well but my mind is sketchy as best on that one.

Dragonboy
28/01/2022 21:50
I’m guessing it’s looking ahead to the future while still having the experienced heads in the team with him.

Saint Gordo
29/01/2022 07:43
Quins lost to Bath??? Is this going to be banana skin weekend?

And if Saints lose to Worcester? End of days.

SaintsDuncan
29/01/2022 09:23
Quins have been riding their luck for a few weeks now and Green has had a couple of (by his standards) shockers of late

Berkshire-Saint
29/01/2022 10:40
Pleased to see Dingwall as captain in Ludlams absence, it is important to develop a young leadership group for the future as it is currently a weak point of ours and can only be a positive going forward

Longers
29/01/2022 11:09
Quote:
Berkshire-Saint
Pleased to see Dingwall as captain in Ludlams absence, it is important to develop a young leadership group for the future as it is currently a weak point of ours and can only be a positive going forward

Ditto.

Am I correct in thinking that Dingers was picked out early on and praised by Boyd for some comments made before a game/half time?

Berkshire-Saint
29/01/2022 11:31
Quote:
Longers
Quote:
Berkshire-Saint
Pleased to see Dingwall as captain in Ludlams absence, it is important to develop a young leadership group for the future as it is currently a weak point of ours and can only be a positive going forward

Ditto.

Am I correct in thinking that Dingers was picked out early on and praised by Boyd for some comments made before a game/half time?

That wouldn’t surprise me at all, I really like his style, let’s his actions do a lot of the talking, seems positive and encouraging and speaks when necessary but equally seems to know when it’s better to just say nothing and get on with it. Obviously we only get a snapshot but that’s the impression I get.
I remember some articles where he has praised Boyd for the trust he puts in him allowing him to develop

Saint Gordo
29/01/2022 15:03
This is now great. Snow coming down and Saints on TV....

Saint Gordo
29/01/2022 15:06
Biggar almost screwed the pooch there. Saved himself and finally Wuss concede field position. Hope this is not foreshadoiwing how the match will go....

Saint Gordo
29/01/2022 15:15
Saints looking good except for a certain absence of energy, accuracy, brains, and purpose........

Saint Gordo
29/01/2022 15:22
Almost 20 minutes in and no possession to speak of. Good thing Wuss are not a dynamic attacking team or Saints would be in trouble.

Saint Gordo
29/01/2022 15:32
Saints first real attack threat turns into a try. Shouldn't have to work so hard for this. Especially after spending most of the first 20 on defense. Scrum is still a problem. Mitchell looking poor so far....

Deesaint
29/01/2022 15:39
Lot of huff and puff from Warriors
Diamond watching from stand so a lot of players probably playing for their future
But no real threat to Saints defence
Lacking attacking ideas

Great individual try by Hutch

Best part of the game so far
Ribeye’s clearance kick
Landed on his backside

Lots of stops for injuries
Stopping any continuity

Saints set pieces struggling

Saint Gordo
29/01/2022 15:41
Mate, agree Ribbans has the two highlights! That clearance kick, a thing of (relative) beauty. Also his handbags with Duhan van der Merwe.

Do you think he could replace Mitchell today? He can kick better....

Deesaint
29/01/2022 15:42
Saints score by Sam
Only second visit to Worc half

Though we are playing against a strong wind
As demonstrated by the banana trajectory of DB’s missed conversion

Deesaint
29/01/2022 15:44
Quote:
Saint Gordo
Mate, agree Ribbans has the two highlights! That clearance kick, a thing of (relative) beauty. Also his handbags with Duhan van der Merwe.
Do you think he could replace Mitchell today? He can kick better....

Not sure about his spin pass from the base of the scrum
Likely to go anywhere

Saint Gordo
29/01/2022 15:48
Mitchell started the wrong way with that blocked clearance kick. Seems slow today. Hutch playing well.

Deesaint
29/01/2022 15:50
Worc are on the ball at every breakdown
We are not managing that area very well
Need to get there quicker

Nice try by AM
Doing what he does well

Making up for some previous ineffective play

JohnI
29/01/2022 15:51
Quote:
Saint Gordo
This is now great. Snow coming down and Saints on TV....

On TV??

Deesaint
29/01/2022 15:52
HT 3 - 19

Saint Gordo
29/01/2022 15:54
Quote:
JohnI
Quote:
Saint Gordo
This is now great. Snow coming down and Saints on TV....

On TV??
We are in America watching on Peacock. Shows all matches live. Not live on the BT app?

JohnI
29/01/2022 15:55
Radio Northampton about 12 minutes behind on reporting the match. Wth going on today

JohnI
29/01/2022 15:57
Quote:
Saint Gordo
Quote:
JohnI
Quote:
Saint Gordo
This is now great. Snow coming down and Saints on TV....

On TV??
We are in America watching on Peacock. Shows all matches live. Not live on the BT app?

Nope unfortunately, Newcastle v Gloucester tonight

Saint Gordo
29/01/2022 16:00
Quote:
Deesaint
HT 3 - 19
Weird half, eh? According to ESPN Saints had 42% possession, but seemed like a lot less.
Mitchell took a clean line break at midfield and had an open cantor to the line. I think he was looking to pass then saw a hole larger than the Grand Canyon and went through it. Good to see in a game in which (I think) he is not playing terribly well, to still take his chances.

Augustus and Ribbans are playing well though Saints have not played terribly well in the scrum and lineout. Saints scrum should not lose against the head to Worcs.

JohnI
29/01/2022 16:01
Quote:
JohnI
Radio Northampton about 12 minutes behind on reporting the match. Wth going on today

Sorted. Fell out of bbc and when I got back in it started where it left off

Deesaint
29/01/2022 16:09
Quote:
Saint Gordo
Quote:
Deesaint
HT 3 - 19
Weird half, eh? According to ESPN Saints had 42% possession, but seemed like a lot less.
Mitchell took a clean line break at midfield and had an open cantor to the line. I think he was looking to pass then saw a hole larger than the Grand Canyon and went through it. Good to see in a game in which (I think) he is not playing terribly well, to still take his chances.

Augustus and Ribbans are playing well though Saints have not played terribly well in the scrum and lineout. Saints scrum should not lose against the head to Worcs.

I think Waller is under huge pressure in the scrum and has given away the penalties

Worc have clearly identified Ribeye in the lineout and have done well to challenge him
Once we have thrown to T or Woody it hasn’t been a problem

For me the area we really need to improve is the breakdown
Letting an old boy like Kesic steel the ball is unforgivable

Saint Gordo
29/01/2022 16:14
Yeah, Waller is struggling. Breakdown work is poor, almost lazy.

By the way have you noticed Biggar grabbing his shoulder a few times? Good thing he kicks with his feet....

Merlin-k
29/01/2022 16:17
Can’t be too far from me Saint Gordo, watching on Peacock and snow coming down describes my day

Deesaint
29/01/2022 16:17
I think Boyd has wired Biggar up with a electric shocker
Every time he starts backchatting the ref
Boyd shocks him
That’s why he keeps grabbing his shoulder

Deesaint
29/01/2022 16:19
Another scrum penalty against Waller

Saint Gordo
29/01/2022 16:24
Quote:
Deesaint
I think Boyd has wired Biggar up with a electric shocker
Every time he starts backchatting the ref
Boyd shocks him
That’s why he keeps grabbing his shoulder
Perfect!

Deesaint
29/01/2022 16:24
Great try saving tackle by AM

Saint Gordo
29/01/2022 16:26
Quote:
Merlin-k
Can’t be too far from me Saint Gordo, watching on Peacock and snow coming down describes my day
Yeah mate, northern NJ.
Before going out to clean the snow, would have wanted to see a nice clean game by Saints. Unfortunately, not today.

JohnI
29/01/2022 16:27
Saints taking foot of the gas in this half and putting some silly mistakes in. Scrum beginning to become an issue for some reason

Deesaint
29/01/2022 16:30
Try for Worcester
After numerous scrum following not straight throw by Sam on our own 5m

Conv missed

Deesaint
29/01/2022 16:32
Warriors have definitely come out with a better attitude second half
We haven’t come out the changing room yet

Saint Gordo
29/01/2022 16:33
Saints are getting pretty lucky on defense. Were lucky not to give up a second try there. Saints not playing well and Worcester starting to take advantage. Lineouts are pish poor.

Not much quality play from any of the backs, really.

Deesaint
29/01/2022 16:33
Right cock up on lineout
Worc held up over our line

Definitely second best this half

JohnI
29/01/2022 16:34
Wakey wakey saints. Mistakes beginning to tell and pressure coming onto us because of mistakes. Worcester done nothing for nearly an hour and suddenly saints mistakes giving them belief.

Saint Gordo
29/01/2022 16:36
I think it's time to pull Mitchell. Whiffed on that second Wuss try. But he is not the only one slipping off tackles and conceding pens.

Merlin-k
29/01/2022 16:36
Quote:
Saint Gordo
Quote:
Merlin-k
Can’t be too far from me Saint Gordo, watching on Peacock and snow coming down describes my day
Yeah mate, northern NJ. .

Northern NJ as well. You can probably hear my yelling at the TV!

Deesaint
29/01/2022 16:37
Warriors try
Nice move from lineout on our 22

Mitchell drops off tackle
Walk through

Conv missed

13 - 22

Apart from T our backrow is very slow
Should have been in the space used by try scorer

Walks11
29/01/2022 16:38
Quote:
Saint Gordo
Saints are getting pretty lucky on defense. Were lucky not to give up a second try there. Saints not playing well and Worcester starting to take advantage. Lineouts are pish poor.
Not much quality play from any of the backs, really.

Lineout especially close to line in attack and defence is pretty shocking week in week out. We aren’t going to be in any sort of contention until this is sorted one way or another. We are having another period where we struggle when the ball dries up. Patience and solid defence required olease, and start playing in the Wuss half

Deesaint
29/01/2022 16:40
Mitchell’s kick charged down
Nearly try 3

Deesaint
29/01/2022 16:41
Gotta be a try
Any reason why not

Deesaint
29/01/2022 16:42
Try Fish
Now come on Saints

Deesaint
29/01/2022 16:43
13 - 29

Dan Con

Saint Gordo
29/01/2022 16:43
Rather fortunate the Worcester back missed the clearance kick to put Saints in position for the lineout and maul. Big relief getting the fourth try. Glad to see Grayson come on.

Walks11
29/01/2022 16:43
Made hard work of it but that should be that you’d hope

Deesaint
29/01/2022 16:44
DB leaves
10 minutes for Grayson

Walks11
29/01/2022 16:47
Sounds like Tempo providing his usual baffling performance

Saint Gordo
29/01/2022 16:47
How many pens near our own line can Saints give away?

Deesaint
29/01/2022 16:48
Saints looking to help Worcester get back into game
Turned over at breakdown then backchat
Marched back 20 metres

Deesaint
29/01/2022 17:00
Game moves towards final whistle
With saints being turned over at the breakdown

5 points
We went to sleep in the second half
Lost our intensity
Started doing silly things

But we really need to get the basics right
Scrum
Lineout
BREAKDOWN

Let’s hope Diamond can turn around Warriors fortunes
Particularly now we have played them

For those in NJ
Come and get your cold weather back
Gecko’s are freezing in the trees down here

Cheers

St Marcus
29/01/2022 17:01
5 points. Job done and other results this weekend going our way so far. Be good if Newcastle can do us a favour later.

Saint Gordo
29/01/2022 17:04
Who was doing the backchat?

Glad the game is over, especially with a BP win. Very frustrating to watch. Team did not do well and virtually noting from the backs at all. A lot to dissect, at least it's from a win not a loss. But showed everything which have been frustrating from this team for the last few seasons.: Poor scrum, poor lineout, weak breakdown, and surprisingly limited play from the backs. Proctor not very good defensively in his comeback. It's now after 12:00 noon. Time for a pint before going after the snow.

Saint Gordo
29/01/2022 17:07
Quote:
Deesaint
But we really need to get the basics right
Scrum
Lineout
BREAKDOWN


Let’s hope Diamond can turn around Warriors fortunes
Particularly now we have played them

For those in NJ
Come and get your cold weather back
Gecko’s are freezing in the trees down here

Cheers
Frozen Geckos - not just for breakfast any more.

Statesman
29/01/2022 17:15
Positives - we won in difficult conditions with a lot of key players missing. Hutch try brilliantly finished.
Negatives - just about everything else.
Scrum went backwards all afternoon - against Wuss!!
Line out - total shambles
Breakdown - 2nd best.
Restarts - under pressure from pretty much every restart.
Dumb penalties putting us under pressure.
Dropping the ball at key moments again.
Waller/Collins - sorry but not Prem standard in my view.
Fortunately Wuss were poor.

Walks11
29/01/2022 17:16
Don’t really want to be playing our best rugby against Worcester in January, just saying!.. ugly 5 points away it may be but at this stage, 5 points is all it’s about

higgy365
29/01/2022 17:17
Fair play, with their coaching changes I saw this as a banana skin for us so that’s a tidy little result in my book. Saints Twitter also says it’s our fifth away win of the season which isn’t too shabby either.

Plenty of room for improvement and things to work though too. Let’s hope we come out of the 6N period in the form we’re heading into it.

Merlin-k
29/01/2022 17:25
I’m going with COVID disruption. They haven’t had a proper training session and their fitness will have been off.

SuffolkSaint
29/01/2022 17:36
A significantly disrupted preparation week, players returning from covid and multiple players missing.

5 point win away from home.

Job done

Sir Hector
29/01/2022 17:51
Well I’d happily take the points and move on. There’s always good and bad in a performance and the bad provides the work-ons. Pleased that Dingers got a win, I think he was Eng U20 captain so his potential was spotted early, He’s the sort of player we want in the club, solid and reliable first, with enough class and flair to take his chances when they come. Hopefully he’ll stick around and be another one club man.

Marshal Ney
29/01/2022 17:54
finally at the end of this thread some positive comments - to read some of the stuff above one have thought we were loosing and rubbish. We are not - we got five points away despite absences injuries and covid interrupting training

So lets have a great big cheer for our boys. Well done.

Stockers
29/01/2022 17:58
Quote:
Marshal Ney
finally at the end of this thread some positive comments - to read some of the stuff above one have thought we were loosing and rubbish. We are not - we got five points away despite absences injuries and covid interrupting training
So lets have a great big cheer for our boys. Well done.

+1

TimperleySaint
29/01/2022 18:37
I feel like I watched a different game to most of you lot! Second half was awful I agree. We switched off on everything.

But first half we were excellent. Wuss came out with something to prove and our defence was excellent and didn't give them a sniff. Good discipline and they got no momentum even with huge possession stats.

Then when we had the opportunity we scored 2 great tries.

Mitch scored a great opportunistic try to top it off.

Lineout continues to be poor which I just don't understand when we have wood, ribbans, API, T in there.

Scrum seemed solid in first half too. I don't get how it can just fall off a cliff though.

..........

I love Mitchell but alongside his so so kicking it drives me insane when things go wrong at a scrum, ruck or maul. He seems to wait for someone else to sort it out. Just take control man!

SaintsAsh
29/01/2022 18:45
A good bonus point win, I too saw it as a potential banana skin. Lots of disruption in the camp and we are still 6 points clear of Exeter, none too shabby.

Let us hope we can hit first gear towards the end of the season.

Saint Gordo
29/01/2022 18:56
Quote:
Statesman
Positives - we won in difficult conditions with a lot of key players missing. Hutch try brilliantly finished.
Negatives - just about everything else.
Scrum went backwards all afternoon - against Wuss!!
Line out - total shambles
Breakdown - 2nd best.
Restarts - under pressure from pretty much every restart.
Dumb penalties putting us under pressure.
Dropping the ball at key moments again.
Waller/Collins - sorry but not Prem standard in my view.
Fortunately Wuss were poor.
In the first half Saints scored two of the four tries total against 14 men. And they were scored after Worcester lost their starting fly half.
To me, this was not a good game by Saints by any measure. The saving grace was Worcester were worse. This was likely the worst game Mitchell has played in a long time and, with this game he may have played his way out of any England reckoning at all. Not sure who was player of the match because my feed shut off right after the closing whistle, but I frankly can't think of anyone who approached 'good'.

Chris Hoddle
29/01/2022 19:12
Back home up north now. We defended very well in the first half and stopped three driving mails from line outs. Took our tries well. Same old story made too many musta on our own ball that gave them a way in. However we still held out for a good win. Dans banana kick to the corner was really quite something
5 points and a week off now to prepare against tigers

http://chrishoddle.smugmug.com/photos/i-TsCHdzK/0/M/i-TsCHdzK-M.gif

Rugbyman01
29/01/2022 19:32
Expected us to win regardless of performance. Worcester are not a good side and we generally win these games.
Benchmark for improvement is the Leicester game after last timeout, that will be a measuring stick to see any progress.

Deesaint
29/01/2022 21:04
Quote:
Stockers
Quote:
Marshal Ney
finally at the end of this thread some positive comments - to read some of the stuff above one have thought we were loosing and rubbish. We are not - we got five points away despite absences injuries and covid interrupting training
So lets have a great big cheer for our boys. Well done.

+1

Are people now not allowed to hold an opinion
Unless of course it’s one that you like

ramseysaint
29/01/2022 21:11
We're only three points off second place at the moment folks.

Saint Maul
30/01/2022 09:49
Great to get 5 points away.

The tough fixtures during the 6 Nations will tell us a lot about our character and fight where we are missing a few key players like Ludlam, Lawes and Biggar.

St Marcus
30/01/2022 10:19
And congrats to Dingers for captaining the side yesterday. He has always come across as a potential future captain, cool head, great reader of the game, someone who the other players and pundits speak highly of. Our best back for me so far this season - think his game in attack has developed nicely to go with his excellent defence.

Stockers
30/01/2022 12:53
Quote:
Deesaint
Quote:
Stockers
Quote:
Marshal Ney
finally at the end of this thread some positive comments - to read some of the stuff above one have thought we were loosing and rubbish. We are not - we got five points away despite absences injuries and covid interrupting training
So lets have a great big cheer for our boys. Well done.

+1

Are people now not allowed to hold an opinion
Unless of course it’s one that you like

Nonsense! You have an opinion, I have an opinion. You are perfectly entitled to express that opinion, as am I. I thought we were engaged in a discussion. I'm certainly not trying to shut anyone up!

Corkst
30/01/2022 14:37
Quote:
Marshal Ney
finally at the end of this thread some positive comments - to read some of the stuff above one have thought we were loosing and rubbish. We are not - we got five points away despite absences injuries and covid interrupting training
So lets have a great big cheer for our boys. Well done.

Welcome back to the forum. I'm assuming (although I could be completely wrong) that the continued absence of a particular poster has prompted this. Hopefully more will follow that are lurking.

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