Saracens
N'Hampton Saints v Saracens: In Search of the Peregrine
Big Hugs for the MOTM
By Darrahgirl
April 26 2010
I promised little DG that if we won well at Wembley, we’d take a trip to Franklin’s Gardens this weekend which is why we found ourselves yet again on our way up the M1 on Saturday lunchtime rather than doing the housework.
Given the recent interest in rugby ornithology, I thought it would also be a good opportunity to try and spot the famous Northampton peregrines which apparently nest on the lift tower. There were plenty of birds to see on the way – 2 gorgeous buzzards and a pair of cormorants for starters but the sky around the lift tower was clear and blue and empty.
If last weekend was spring, this was high summer. Franklin’s Gardens looked ready for a party – everyone in shirtsleeves and shorts enjoying a drink in the sunshine. I can’t help feeling just the tiniest bit envious of the Saints’ fantastic facilities. As the football team also had a home game, the whole town seemed to be out enjoying the weather. I invested in my first 99 of the season – delicious!
For the fourth meeting of the season between the 2 sides, Dr Venter had picked what appeared to be our strongest available team (having finally conceded that Jackson gives us more options) but the Saints too were at full strength with the return of Hartley, Ashton, Foden and Lawes & looked on paper a class act. Franklin’s Gardens was rightly full to the brim for what promised to be an entertaining game between 2 sides who were scoring tries for fun.
The game started promisingly when Sarries were awarded a penalty at the first scrum, soon to be negated when Northampton won a penalty at the next. Myler’s kick to touch resulted in a Northampton maul which Sarries pulled down illegally (the first of several similar offences). Myler kicked the penalty and after 5 minutes Northampton were 3-0 ahead.
From the restart Sarries threw the ball around without gaining much ground until Brits made about 10m into the Saints half. The ball was whipped out to the left wing through the hands of Jackson, Penney, Goode & Powell where Joubert scored in the corner and Jackson landed a super conversion. After 6 minutes Sarries were in the lead 3-7.
Another Sarries attack was thwarted and Myler’s high clearance missed everyone. The ball came back to him in the Sarries 22 where Botha conceded a penalty in front of the posts which Myler couldn’t miss. 12 minutes gone, 6-7.
The first strands of indiscipline began to creep in. Sarries won a scrum in a good attacking position in the Saints 22 which was immediately reversed to a Saints penalty, presumably for some backchat and the chance was gone. Shortly after, Sarries lost their first pf several lineouts (having secured the first 2 quite easily). An ambitious kick for a deep touch by Jackson bounced dead on the hard ground and Northampton gained a scrum back in the Sarries’ half. Northampton began to attack the Sarries’ try line with Sarries defending well. The luminous green-booted Clarke for some reason ran sideways when a try was definitely on and the purple booted Ashton was lurking but Mr White had already awarded Saints a penalty in front of the posts which Myler kicked to give Northampton the lead again, 9-7 after the first quarter.
Straight from the restart Sarries retaliated when Northampton didn’t role away and Glen restored the lead with a simple kick, 9-10. This seemed to galvanise Northampton. They went back to their best weapon, the maul and won another penalty for illegal interference. Mr White ominously spoke to Joubert and a yellow card seemed to be looming. Foden launched an attack but was well stopped. Saints gained a penalty for their efforts after what appeared to be a deliberate knock on from Vyvyan amid howls from the Saints supporters but Mr White didn’t go to his pocket. Fortunately Myler missed the kick.
From the 22 drop out, Northampton went for the maul again but this time Sarries found a way to stop it legally. Tiny launched an attack from deep to huge cheers but was well tackled. Hartley was prominent as Saints again headed for the try line. Foden picked up the ball from the ruck and found Ashton out wide but good defence by Penney & Goode put him in touch. Not that it mattered, Sarries lost another line out and gave the impetus straight back to Saints. Reihana carried the ball on the right wing and found Ashton on his shoulder. Botha misread the pass and took Ashton out before he got the ball. Mr White had no compunction about awarding the penalty try. Now Sarries are no stranger to the penalty try but for once this wasn’t conceded at the scrum – although the result was the same and Botha was off to the bin. Myler converted and Saints led 16-10 with 6 minutes left to the interval.
“Shlack” (sic) Brits discarded his scrum cap (it was hot out there) and Sarries dug deep for the last few minutes of the half. Du Plessis put in an excellent tackle on Tiny and eventually Sarries won a penalty which Glen kicked into touch.
I scanned the skies during the half time break but of Peregrines there were none.
The game restarted promisingly with a penalty to Sarries after Penney & Saull combined well. Jackson kicked a super goal from wide out and narrowed the gap to 16-13. Botha rejoined the play. Sarries started throwing the ball around but a long pass from Barritt was intercepted but knocked on. However Mr White had spotted an offside and not to be outdone, Myler kicked the penalty from wide on the right.
From the restart Sarries launched another attack. Tagicakibau broke on the right wing and passed to Burger who carried well finding Jackson who passed on to Goode. Powell was lurking on his inside shoulder and scored a well worked try. Jackson kicked another tricky conversion from wide on the left and after 45 minutes Sarries were back in the lead, 19-20.
Burger received a bit of his own medicine with a big hit from Dowson and glory be Sarries won a line out. Sarries won another penalty when Saints went off their feet but Jackson spoiled his 100% record when the kick went wide. Saints replaced Fernandez Lobbe with Neil Best, to great applause. Sarries attacked again, starting as many of their attacks did, deep in their own 22. I don’t remember a single aerial kick all afternoon. After 55 minutes Jackson went for a drop goal which missed and resulted, rather unfairly I thought, in “typical Sarries” comments from some of those around us (little DG & I were an oasis of Sarries’ pink in a sea of Northampton green). Ryder replaced Botha (who was getting a bit over excited). Saints launched another attack again trying to find Ashton on the wing but this time it was Goode who brought him down.
Sarries won a penalty, then a line out. Things were looking up. Goode launched Tagicakibau who found Saull and Joubert. Joubert kicked the ball on and the dangerous Brits ran after it from deep only to be blocked by the referee when a try looked on.
With an hour gone, Saints were awarded another penalty when rather ominously the Sarries front row stood up in the scrum which Myler again kicked to put them back in the lead 22-20. Jackson’s restart was careless and didn’t go 10m. From the resulting Northampton scrum, Sarries were awarded a free kick which was quickly run into the Saints 22. Lovely passing between Brits, Powell, Goode, Penney and yes Brits again forced a Sarries’ penalty for offside which Jackson kicked. With 17 minutes to go the lead had changed hands for the 7th time, Sarries were back in the lead 22-23 but really this was not good for the heart!
From the restart, Saints launched another attack but Sarries were tackling like men possessed. Hartley was floored by a superb double handed tackle then Myler found a brilliant long touch right on the Sarries’ 5m line. Given the shakiness of the lineout this was dangerous. Mujati replaced Murray for Saints and Sarries inevitably lost the lineout and put themselves back under more pressure. Saints passed the ball through the backs wide out to Reihana on the wing who looked like he was going to score but a try saving tackle from Goode put him in touch. The result was back to square one, another Sarries’ lineout on their own 5m line, this time on the other side. Gill replaced Aguero and Ratuvou came on from Powell. Whether or not that made the difference who knows but this time the line out was won. Sarries drove the maul almost to half way and the danger was cleared.
With 10 minutes to go, the heat and the pace of the game was starting to tell. Brits was down with cramp but recovered well when Sarries’ best scrum so far secured good ball (anything to do with the arrival of Gill I wonder?). Sarries attacked strongly through Tagicakibau then Ratuvou then Burger whose kick ahead forced Foden into an uncharacteristic juggle. The ball went loose and Sarries won the ball from the ruck. Saull found himself a few metres out with 4 men outside him. Now Saull usually knows where the tryline is but for once he seemed to hesitate. Penney, anticipating the try scoring pass had already begun his run down the wing and inevitably the pass went forward and Sarries had butchered a sure fire chance. Burger, who was just about out on his feet, was replaced by Melck and Saints brought Easter on for Wilson. Sarries won the ball from a Saints scrum and this time Saull found Penney who stretched over the line and scored in the corner. Jackson couldn’t land the conversion which would have given the security of an 8 point lead but 22-28 was heady heights given the way the scores had seesawed so far.
Could we hang on? Men were flagging everywhere. Every break in play saw someone’s calves being stretched as the effects of cramp began to bite. Saints replaced Myler with Geraghty. Immediately he injected more pace and threat into their midfield with several probing runs. Ansbro replaced Clarke.
With 5 minutes to go the scrum was reset 3 times to more anguished howls from the Saints supporters. Eventually, to even greater dismay, Sarries were given a free kick. The tired men in red launched another attack through Goode and Joubert and Tagicakibau at the end of which the valiant Joubert was hobbling and was replaced by Reynecke and after a moment of panic in little DG (her favourite saying at the moment regarding Hougaard is “he’s an idiot” – the young take no prisoners), Hougaard replaced a rather dazed Barritt.
A superb penalty kick from Geraghty found touch right on the Sarries’ 5m line. This was almost unwatchable. The Saints fans were baying for blood. From the line out the ball went back and forth through the backs but Sarries stood firm. Tackle after tackle came in but following a ruck close to the Sarries line Foden went over. Just 2 minutes left. Geraghty took forever over the conversion. And missed! 27-28 and just a minute left.
Something very strange happened. Hundreds of Saints fans got up from their seats and began to leave the stadium!
Hang in their Sarries. Win the restart, recycle the ball & kick it out! Well not quite, Saints gathered the ball and threw everything at the Sarries defence but they couldn’t get over the half way line and eventually Dowson knocked on. Times up! Win the scrum and kick it out! And they did.
The Sarries Team came out to thank the supporters as usual. The incredible Mr “Shlack” Brits ran over to the fans below us shaking everyone’s hand and even kissing a guy with a big black flag. He’s a star! Joubert was given the unusual honour of being voted man of the match by the Northampton crowd.
So Northampton’s proud unbeaten home record was gone at the final attempt. Sarries became the first team since Newcastle Falcons (now there’s another rugby bird) on 28th Feb 2009 to win in the Premiership at the Gardens. We might just have to go and do it all again in 3 weeks time but on this form who’d bet that we can’t?
On the way back to the car I scanned the sky but the Peregrines remained elusive – maybe they’ll turn up for the semi final?
NorthamptonFoden, Ashton, Clarke (Ansbro), Downey, Reihana, Myler (Geraghty), Dickson, Tonga’uiha, Hartley, Murray (Mujati), Fernandez Lobbe (Best), Kruger, Lawes, Dowson, Wilson (Best).
SaracensGoode, Tagicakibau, Powell (Ratuvou), Barritt (Hougaard), Penney, De Kock, Jackson, Aguero (Gill), Brits, Du Plessis, Vyvyan, Botha (Ryder), Burger (Melck), Saull, Joubert (Reynecke)
Scorers:Northampton: Tries: Pen try, Foden. Conv: Myler Pens: Myler 5
Saracens: Tries: Joubert, Powell, Penney, Conv: Jackson 2 Pens:Jackson 3
Scores 3-0, 3-7, 6-7, 9-7, 9-10, 16-10, 16-13, 19-13, 19-20, 22-20, 22-23, 22-28, 27-28
Referee: Chris White
Attendance: 13,541
Man of the Match: Ernst Joubert
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Stumbleupon26/04/2010 12:54
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2010:05:06:18:19:38 by TonyTaff.
No alcohol for January. I'm a dryathlete in aid of cancer research.
Dryathlon
One more match to go, then we meet again...
*I could agree with you - but then we'd both be wrong...*
Hopefully you will have the chance to rewrite the story again on the 16th May but with a different ending.
Look forward to the next meeting. regards
And now even mentioned in despatches!! x
Brilliant!!
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