NORTHAMPTON SAINTS

By chance we get the opportunity to seal the deal against the team that has tried best to keep in touch with us all season, Exeter Chiefs. The Chiefs have Premiership ambitions of their own and whilst on the face of it they are already out of the race this season - whatever happens on Saturday Saints require just seven points in the remaining four games - they will be doing their very best to lay down a marker for next season by upsetting the prospective champions on their own patch.

In some respects Exeter have nothing to lose, the pressure and expectation is all on the Saints, so it will not be easy but roared on by what is expected to be a sellout crowd I think Saturday might be the day we confirm that return to the top flight. At the time of writing the weather forecast may not be ideal for the carnival atmosphere, there is a chance of snow, so it will be winter woolies rather than Bermuda shorts. However with just a few tickets left a packed Franklins Gardens and hopefully with that promotion sealing victory I am sure all Saints hearts will be warmed by that final whistle. Then (hopefully) the party can begin.

BRUCE

Apart from the potential promotion there is something else to celebrate on Saturday, Bruce Reihana plays his 150^th game for the club. In just over four years since he came over from Waikato Bruce has not only made himself a vital cog in the Saints machine but he has for me summed up what the term ‘Saintsman' means. We all know what Bruce does on the pitch but what he does for the club goes deeper than that. We have heard from some players in recent times just how much the club means to them etc etc etc only for them to pack their bags and move on at the first opportunity when the going got tough. Bruce is made of sterner, and much more loyal, stuff. I am sure he would have had several offers on the table when we were relegated last year but he has stuck with the Saints through thick and thin trying to get the club back to the top. Along with others he accepted his part in the problem, who can forget that final game speech last season, and set about becoming part of a successful solution. A new contract sees him here for at least another couple of years to come, let's hope more productive times are ahead. With a lot of youngsters currently coming through the ranks as far as the club is concerned there can be no greater role model than Captain Bruce. So well done Mr Reihana and here's to a few more chants of ‘Bruce, Bruce, Bruce' in the seasons ahead.

PLYMOUTH

Mud, mud victorious mud. It seems Saints are getting quite used to all this quagmire wet weather play as the ground out victory in the mucky stuff down in Plymouth showed on Saturday. The win secured an EDF Trophy Final place and the big day out at Twickenham on Saturday 12^th April.

Reading around the message boards this week I see a lot of people are already planning their travel and getting their tickets arranged for the day at HQ. However with a noon kick off I do think that everyone should bear in mind that you should be looking to get to Twickenham at least a half hour before that and there may not be a lot of time to visit other ports of call (yes I mean pubs) along the way. If you are ‘lucky' enough to be at the top of the new South Stand then perhaps you should plan to get there even earlier as it is a long climb to the top (I'm sure at the recent England Wales game I passed a couple of Sherpas catching their breath on the final ascent).

Talking to people this week I know a lot of Saints supporters are purely interested in our game only then come final whistle, and hopefully cup presentation, they are heading off elsewhere to celebrate, should the lads win, then finally wending their way back to the Gardens in the evening. This might present another problem in itself as when we are all trying to leave the bulk of the days crowd will be trying to get in. So it may take a little patience but I'm sure with a little bit of pre-planning on everyone's part we can all have a good day.

SIX NATIONS

Well done to Wales on winning the Six Nations Grand Slam on Saturday. I cannot say Warren Gatland is my personal cup of tea given what he had to say about the running of Saints whilst he was in charge at Wasps but all credit to him. He turned round a side that were probably hoping for mid-table at best given their disastrous World Cup to win the whole caboodle undefeated. From a stuttering start against England when they looked all but dead and buried at halftime they got better and grew in stature game after game.

Gatland's biggest coup though was probably appointing Sean Edwards as his assistant. As I mentioned a few weeks back he puts the fear of failure into any side he is involved in (why oh why did England let him slip through their fingers) and the quote of the week has to go to the Welsh player who proclaimed they only won the Grand Slam because they were so scared of upsetting Sean.

As for the other teams well England who despite the win against Ireland and somehow finishing second still look like they have of an underlying trend of going nowhere. Despite initially being a fan of Ashton if change is to be made it has to be now. You could say the same of Ireland and Scotland, both sides had their day but did not look anything like consistent settled sides.Italy disappointed apart from their last gasp win against the Scots but Nick Mallet is early into the job and in twelve months time they could be a problem for all of the bigger nations.

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