Northampton Saints
News: Sale 16 Fightback in the Fog against Saints 27
By Jonathan Whitefield
December 1 2012
It’s often said that the Inuit have over 100 words for snow. However, it looked like anyone trying to describe the match tonight would have to use more words than that to describe the fog that hung over Salford. Many questions hung around, just like the fog. Would the returning Saintsmen put a rocket up Saints collective back sides? Would the incoming John Mitchell do the same for Sale? Would Saints be rueing leaving the gate open for the Shepherd to leave St James’s flock? How long until Courtney and Samu introduced themselves to Mr Cipriani? We would see (or not as the case may be).
Aviva Premiership Round 10
Sale Sharks v Northampton Saints
Salford City Stadium Friday 30th November 2012
KO 19:45
Sale Sharks 16 Northampton Saints 27
Unfortunately, the last question would not be answered, as Cipriani and Johnny Leota both pulled out of the game for medical reasons, leading to a shuffle in the back line with Cueto slipping in at centre, and MacLeod coming in at flyhalf. And so, to the kick off. Saints came out first, I think, given that they were in their fog camouflage strip (aka light blue). After what seemed like an age, Sale made their way out to the park. At least, I think they did. It looked like there were some people on the pitch? Was it all over? No…
The first half was terrible to watch on TV. Any high camera angle was just a white haze, and anything low down was too shaky to watch well as the cameras tried to follow what was going on. If there was any play on the far side (Saints left in the first half), forget it. So, someone kicked off, and someone caught the ball. Sale immediately tried to lose the ball in the fog by hoofing it high and testing one of Saints’ returnees, Ben Foden. He did well to catch it, and a clever kick by Lamb put the Sale team on the back foot with a lineout around 6 metres from their own line. Given that it was on the far side, I have no idea what happened next. Replays showed that Sale try to go high again, and then Lamb tried for a long pass. In the middle of the Saints line is a Sale shirt, but it was knocked on. At this point, I lost my TV feed.
When it came back, Saints were 3 points to the good after a penalty from Lamb. A few more plays happened, with someone doing something, and being tackled by someone else, that sort of thing. Something happens, and Saints get a lineout on the Sale 22. Waldouck got the ball as Saints tried to play it down the line, but receives Tuitopu at the same time. Again, I have to wait for replays to see what happened, but it looks like Tuitopu’s shoulder clips Dom’s chin, and down he goes. Dom gets back up again though, and soldiers on.
Yet more kicking goes on when play resumed. At least I think there was, going by the sounds on the TV feed. With what little of the pitch I can see, I realised that play was firmly in the Saints 22, and suddenly Sale are looking dangerous. Cam Sheperd went on the charge, but luckily was looking over the wrong shoulder and the try chance is missed. However, Sir was playing advantage, and MacLeod makes it all square from the tee after 15 minutes.
Then came the epitome of “out of nowhere”. Lamb restarts, and it’s cleared easily by Sale. From the resulting lineout, Saints put the drive on. A superbly timed offload to Jamie Elliot means he breezes past the Sale defence and goes over in the corner. Lamb added the extras, but one wonders how well he could actually see the posts! 10-3 to Saints after 20 minutes.
More phases of play came and went, at least I assume they did. They could have been randomly moving the camera around for all I knew! The next thing that actually makes any sense is a chip attempt by Ben Foden after some kicking tennis. Sale recovered, but the ball squirted out of the ruck on halfway. Great steal by Clark, who managed to offload through the hands of Roberts, and, what’s that coming out of the mist? Is it a Tongan? Yup, Tiny manages to get his hands on the ball, and after a gallop of 30m or so, dives over in the same corner for his first try of the season. The conversion from the same place as before is made good by Lamb. Saints up 17-3 after 25 minutes. Things were looking good here. I say looking, but I still couldn’t see anything…
After a few more confusing minutes of staring at a white screen, an interesting stat comes up. I say interesting, but anything on the screen at this point would have been more interesting than what I could see! After 30 minutes played, Saints have not yet been awarded a scrum, but at the same time, Sale have lost 2 from 2… Make that 2 from 3 as the ball popped out the back on the Sale side. It was messy and the Saints forwards pile in, driving the maul over the Sale line. The ball is held up, and it was time for Saints first scrum. Not a good start though, as they give away a free kick for an early hit.
Time for some more back and forth in the fog. The Saints seemed to have the more sensible idea and keep it tight. Not just sensible for the weather, but because the Saints pack are, well, being the Saints pack. After a few phases of play in midfield, Lamb takes a sensible decision and went for the drop goal attempt. A luckily placed ref says it went over, which is just as well, as the TV replays showed nothing, and I’m sure the touch judges couldn’t see much either! With 7 minutes left in the half, Saints led 20-3.
At this point, Sale started waking up. An attempted drop goal by Powell (yes, the forward), went horribly wrong (obviously), Saints cleared their lines again. With less than a minute left on the clock, I think I worked out that we were back around halfway, and it looked like Sale had a scrum. Nice bit of ambition from the Sale back line, but it gave the wrong result. From an attempted scissor move, Cueto (I think) took his eye off the ball anticipating the tackle. Result – ball on the floor, picked up by May, who outran MacLeod to score Saints third try almost under the posts. No problems for Lamb, and as Sir sounded the half time whistle, Saints led 27-3.
I’m sure that there were very contradicting talks in the dressing rooms. JM & SD were probably cursing everything that Sale had tried and failed, and JM & DW were trying to persuade Saints to hold on first, and score a BP second. The way things looked (or not…) the most favourable result for Sale would be if the ref stopped it before 60 minutes had passed and abandoned it.
We all know by now that the JM&SD half time talk was the more effective, as Sale made the far better start, with Miller scoring in the near corner. I actually saw this one – was the fog lifting, or were my eyes just used to straining through the gloom? MacLeod couldn’t replicate Lambs success from out wide, so after only a few minutes, the score was 8-27.
Nope, the fog wasn’t lifting. I still couldn’t see a thing for the next few phases of play, which ended with a penalty attempt from MacLeod, which he made a better job of than that conversion. Sale now down 11-27 with 10 minutes played, and crucially, 10 minutes to the abandon yes/no cut off. It seems that that was a brief wakeup call for the Saints, but some sustained pressure in the Sale half (finally) doesn’t pay off. As we neared the 60 minute mark, a few huge drives by the Saints pack reminded Sale that they were still awake. However, they then go back to sleep again and give away a silly “truck and trailer” penalty within yards of the Sale line. As 60 minutes comes and goes, it was time for the usual raft of replacements on both sides.
Whole lot of not a lot then happened over the next 17 minutes. Some attempts at line breaks by both sides, but nothing too spectacular that I could see. However, with less than 3 minutes to go, Sale push a penalty to the far side of the Saints line. The maul was driven over the Saints line, to an eerie silence. Then it dawned on me – no one was cheering because they couldn’t see what just happened! Neither could the ref, apparently, so it was time for the entertainment of the TMO. Only a couple of angles were of any use, but the question asked was if there was any reason that the try could not be given. There wasn’t, and Sale scored in Elliot’s and Tiny’s corner. A rushed conversion attempt by MacLeod didn’t go over, and left Sale needing to score another try to get that valuable LBP.
Finally the fog started to lift and I could see what was going on. As a treat, I’ll explain everything that I saw from this point on in detail. The referee blew the final whistle. Final score Sale 16 – 27 Saints.
So, Saints got the win, but not the TBP. Was that a mist opportunity? Is there a wisp of hope there? Or are there still supporters that will be gloom-y about today’s result? They could be – it looked like Saints had fog-otten how to play in the second half, but some re-murk-able play helped them to second in the table. Wouldn’t it pea soup-er if we could keep up the winning momentum?
I’m sorry, but it wouldn’t be an amusing report if someone didn’t try to get fog jokes in, would it?
Digg
Delicious
Facebook
Reddit
Stumbleupon01/12/2012 01:55
If you do not already have an account Click here to Register.
No alcohol for January. I'm a dryathlete in aid of cancer research.
Dryathlon
Still, despite not getting a WBP, a win is a win and the journey home was a lot swifter than the one getting there.
Come on you Saints !!
alive and well in Shrubbery Terrace
Missed bonus point? I tend towards the nicely missed banana skin.
----------------------------------------
Please sponsor me for Saints with Heart [www.justgiving.com]
*I could agree with you - but then we'd both be wrong...*
and on a welsh note ,I agree eif. When peel went to sale i couldn't believe others were preferred in the welsh team as Peel seemed to be the last of the true all round scrum halves. perhaps when not selected his confidence and ambition also slipped away.
More Northampton Saints headlines
- End of season how the squad was used analysis
- This weeks rugby 1st - 5th July
- Weekend Rugby 27th/28th June
- Weekend Rugby 19th - 20th June 2026
- Weekend Rugby 12th - 14th June 2026
- Weekend Rugby 5th - 7th June 2026
- Weekend Rugby 29th - 31st May 20206
- Weekend Rugby 22nd - 23rd May 2026
- Weekend Rugby 15th - 17th May 2026