Northampton Saints
News: LV=: Dragons vs Northampton Saints - Match Preview
By PelerinStJames
November 16 2012
After a last-gasp reverse against Harlequins in the opening rubber of this competition last weekend, Northampton Saints travel to South Wales to take on Newport Gwent Dragons for a Sunday afternoon fixture. Regular COYSDC contributor, PelerinStJames, takes a look ahead to the match...
NEWPORT GWENT DRAGONS vs. NORTHAMPTON SAINTS
LV= Cup (R2) : Sunday 18th November 2012 - 3.15pm (Sky)
RODNEY PARADE, NEWPORT
MATCH PREVIEW
Yes, I know, it’s late, I didn’t turn up at the start and am no doubt writing good stuff in small bursts before throwing it all away in the last paragraph. But it’s just that I need the pressure of a deadline before I can get writing. No doubt some of you will be calling for my head, PSJ is just not good enough, his grammar is all over place, the spelling – come on – use spell checker if you can’t do it yourself, he’s too reliant on alliteration, there’s not enough humour, his humour has gone stale, his confidence has gone, he never made it writing on other sites, so why would he make it here, its time the editors sorted him out, they’ve been doing this job for years, perhaps they should go too.
On the other hand, you may be giving me the benefit of the doubt, PSJ has written some crackers, just that this season, he’s struggling with a finger injury, his PC is as old as the hills, but if the Ed’s give their support, he will be back.
Perhaps some of you are even starting to consider who can replace me for next year, who is the world class writer that’s out there who COYSDC could sign? How much money is left in the sites’ salary cap? Do any of the regular contributors have a brother who could write the next preview?
Ah, the joys of putting yourself in the spotlight, everyone has an opinion, everyone has a view, but isn’t that what this is all about? We all come here to share the experience, to vent our frustrations, or celebrate our victories, to navigate our way through the ups and the downs of the season within the Saints community. Sport after all is just unscripted drama, man pitting his skills against fellow man, team against team, 80 minutes of uncertainty all to discover who is the best on the day. Wouldn’t it be just plain boring to win every game by 50 points with no mistakes, and no debate? Where would we be without the excitement, the tension and the unknowing, that has characterised the Saints season so far? What would we have to talk about?
Most of our games have been won or lost by a single score, nothing has come easy and it has been plain to see that so far, the team has yet to fully click into gear and play for a full 80 minutes. We now find ourselves with a recent record of only 1 win in the last 5 and our early season string of victories seemingly forgotten. That said, I am not so sure we are a long way away from finding our elusive rhythm and consistency, and nothing would help this more than a healthy injection of confidence with a big win this weekend. Options have been limited recently due to the long list of injuries, but it would seem that atleast Lawes and Foden are not far away from a return, and so there is no better time for the team to put right the wrongs of the last few weeks and return to winning ways down in Wales.
Of course, if you thought our run was bad, then please spare a thought for this weeks opponents, Newport Gwent Dragons, who have only won 2 games this season and endured a series of relatively heavy loses. There is no doubt however that a visit from English will fire up the locals and they will be looking to take advantage of the Saints current form. I cannot claim to be much of a student of the Welsh game, however a region that is fed by such historic clubs as Ebbw Vale, Pontypool, Newport and Cross Keys should surely be performing far better than its recent history suggests. These were clubs that, in the dim and distant days of my childhood, were all regularly featured on Rugby Special, and still conjure up images of passion pride and points on a winters Sunday afternoon. Their team news is that they have brought back some senior players for this game in Rob Sidoli, Phil Price and Lewis Evans up front, whilst behind them, former Saint and Welsh international Will Harries should play against his former club.
As for the Saints, well personally, I would have loved to have seen last weeks’ team be given the chance to redeem themselves. However given the importance JM attaches to the LV Cup, and the fact that there are several players returning to the squad from weeks off and International duties, I would think that this is unlikely to happen. Assuming that none of the previously injured players are back to fitness yet, my prediction for the team is as follows.
15 Tom May
14 Ken Pisi
13 Tom Stephenson
12 Luther Burrell
11 Jamie Elliott
10 Ryan Lamb
9 Lee Dickson
1 Alex Waller
2 Mike Heywood
3 Paul Doran- Jones
4 Manu Samoa
5 Mark Sorenson
6 Phil Dowson
7 Calum Clark
8 GJ van Velze
For me, given our ever so stretched resources at 15 and 10, this team would give some of the youngsters another game to test their mettle, whilst allowing those coming back the an opportunity to play ahead of next weeks return to the Premiership against London Welsh.
It’s a fine balance, when, where and how to rest established players and play the younger ones, but ultimately it is about the result and this is why I think JM will play such a strong side. The need to arrest the slump will be of paramount importance and with the players no doubt wanting to vent their frustrations either of last weeks loss, or their international release, I am hoping to see a powerful Saints performance on Sunday, in which we come away with a resounding victory. It would be great for once to be able to watch the last five minutes without chewing my fingernails and wondering if we can either hold on to our slender lead or indeed comeback to win another close game. That, however remains to be seen on Sunday afternoon, assuming I can get to the sofa on time!
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Bravo. An excellent (and novel) way of presenting the present.
Btw, I'm back to having to "quote this message" in order to reply.
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We sure have some talent out there in the COYSDC interweb.
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